ã€ŠTo Kiss An Idolã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1: Character depiction

    Nivritti Rathod ¨C An Indian girl with long ck hair who joins K&Q Mediapany as Script Coordinator. She works for the ASD boyband.

    Nam Kyung-Soo ¨C A tall handsome man who is the leader of ASD. His stage name is King. He is the most respected idol in South Korea.

    Shin Korain ¨C The oldest member of the ASD. His beautiful facial features and angelic voice are the talks of the town. His stage name is Coin.

    Man Young-Chul ¨C The sassiest member of the ASD. Everyone is scared of him as he always speaks his mind. He is the song producer of the group. His stage name is Young.

    Joh Him-Chan ¨C The sweetest member of the ASD. His dancing skills are so sharp that his one movement is enough to kill a person. His stage name is Johan.

    Pae Jeong-Eun ¨C The cutest of the seven ASD members. He is a jack of all trades. He can dance, he can sing, he can choreograph, he canpose. That¡¯s why his stage name is One.

    Kang Thae ¨C The most handsome member of ASD. Girls die just to get a glimpse of him. His stage name is Kat.

    Jee Jung-Hwa ¨C The maknae (the youngest member of the group). He is the naughtiest among all. He is the most loved idol in South Korea. His stage name is June.

    .....

    Hu Bong ¨C A sweet, middle-aged man who is the CEO of thepany. He treats all the band members as his kids. He started thepany from scratch and now it is one of the most sessfulpanies in Korea.

    Choi Chung-Ho ¨C A middle-aged man who is the best in his field. He works as a story producer for the K&Qpany. He takes Nivritti under his wing.

    San Jae-Hwa ¨C A beautiful girl who works under Nivritti. She is a scriptwriter like her but is inexperienced.

    Seong Dae ¨C A man in his early forties. He is the script Editor for ASD. Though Nivritti works under Choi Chung-Ho, Seong Dae is her immediate supervisor.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2: The Cynophobia

    The only constant in life is change. Some people beg for change after a life-altering event whereas change appears in some¡¯s life without any prior intimidation.

    Nivritti tried changing her hair colour, changed her job, yet something was missing, her past was still following her. She was still looking for a change that would give her peace of mind.

    For the past year, she was living in hell, no matter how far she went her past followed her. She changed home in Delhi multiple times, then shifted to Bangalore and was ready to uproot herself again.

    So, she took up a job in and far away from India. She took a job in South Korea. Fearing for her privacy, she didn¡¯t tell anyone about her new job or where was she going, not even her family or friends.

    She woke up early even before her rm rang. It was her first day at her job. She took a shower, prepared toast, had her breakfast and coffee and left her home.

    The day she arrived her cab driver informed her that her house was 15 minutes away from her office. She chose to walk there. The morning was cold, and she had a mask on. She grabbed her overcoat closer and walked the distance. The cold air on her face was numbing, the sensation she exactly needed.

    ¡°Wow!¡± eximed Nivritti nervously. She was standing outside the big ss building. It had a big K&Q letter on the front. It was one of the biggest mediapanies in Korea.

    .....

    For a few moments, she kept looking at the building. The beautiful building was captivating. The morning sun was shining on the sses. The building was bathing in golden light. It was hard to avert eyes from that. She stood there for a minute and took in all the beauty of the building.

    It was her first day. She was nervous as well as excited. She entered the building and went to the ¡°SCRIPT DEPARTMENT¡± on the 11th floor. She could hear her heartbeat. She exhaled loudly and introduced herself to the head of the department, Choi Chung-Ho.

    The kind-looking, middle-aged man weed her, showed her, her cubicle and informed her about a meeting in the conference room which was required by every member of the script team to attend.

    ¡°Settle down everyone,¡± announced Chung-Ho and requested everyone to take a seat in the conference room.

    Everyone fell quiet except a middle-aged woman who teased him, ¡°English?¡±

    Chung-Ho smiled and answered, ¡°yes, now these meetings will be in English. We have a new member in our midst. Please wee Nivritti. This is her first day on the job.¡±

    ¡°Hello everyone,¡± said Nivritti and she bowed to all of them. They all smiled at her as she showed them respect.

    ¡°Now for the meeting, you all know that Rencontre ising soon,¡± Chung-Ho said.

    Nivritti had heard about Rencontre. She knew every year it was held but it was a great event, and everything was about performing songs, what that had to do with the script team. She looked confused. Chung-Ho noticed that.

    Chung-Ho started, ¡°Every one of you know that we write content for their music videos, daily videos, anniversary celebration ideas for all the group. The two boys group and three girls group depend on us. This year is special. We have to divert our attention to ASD. Don¡¯t worry we will keep doing the same we have done all these years. But this time ASD i.e., Artist of Singing and Dancing, our seven-member boy band are in their eighth year. You all know it is said to be a seven-year crush on all idol groups. Most bands disband by then but not our boyband.

    ¡°The day of their anniversary, which we celebrate as ¡°Rencontre¡± is in six months. ASDians, their dedicated fanbase will expect something special from us. Of course, our boys will be performing for them, but we need to do something special too. So, the production team has charged us withing up with a banging idea.

    ¡°You guys all have 24 hours toe up with ideas. You can pitch as many ideas as you want. The person with the best idea will pitch it in front of the CEO.¡±

    All gasped at thest sentence. They never had to report to the CEO directly before. This would be a great chance to get in the limelight. This would be great for the resume.

    ¡°So, we will meet tomorrow with the ideas. Nivritti, it¡¯s your first meeting. Any questions?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Um... me?¡± her name out of Chung-Ho¡¯s mouth surprised her. She didn¡¯t know he was observing her.

    ¡°Yes, you?¡±

    She exhaled loudly and said, ¡°ah... okay here it goes. They will be performing as they do every year, right? You said that.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°So, you want us toe up with ideas in addition to that or to rece it?¡± asked Nivritti.

    Chung-Ho smiled at her. ¡°Very good question.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mr Choi.¡±

    ¡°We want something special in addition to the performance,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Okay, noted.¡±

    ¡°So, guys we have six months to prep for the Rencontre. All other bands will take a seat back and all of you focus on ASD. The meeting is adjourned. Write the script for today and start working on your ideas, anyone of you could go in front of the CEO. This is your golden chance. Good luck everyone,¡± Chung-Ho finished his briefing.

    All starteding out of the room and went back to their seats. The script editors gave explicit instructions to their script coordinators. All were busy working at their stations.

    Nivritti was seated on her seat busy churning ideas after ideas. She opened a document and started typing ideas after ideas in them. She would delete some if she didn¡¯t like them, or add some things to the already typed sentences. She kept scratching her brain for ideas. She knew she was good at thinking quickly, but these ideas were getting harder toe by.

    She was working patiently and diligently but a soft yelping sound was making it difficult. She typed in a word and there it was, a yap.

    ¡°Oh, shut up! Let me think,¡± she talked to herself.

    Again, a yelp.

    ¡°Oh no, not again. I have to find a therapist to deal with my cynophobia. I am hearing faint dog sounds. I am going crazy,¡± she mumbled.

    There it was again a faint bark. Now she knew that she was not hearing sounds. Some dog was near her, but where? She stopped breathing the moment she realised. Stealthily she looked down, a cute white Japanese Spitz was staring at her. Instantly her brain signalled her feet to lift themselves up.

    She opened her mouth, but nothing came out of it. She looked around for help unable to speak. Everyone was busy with their work, no one paid her any attention. She could not move, could not speak, just kept staring at the dog.

    The cute puppy was looking like a dragon to her. She was sweating with fear. She started shivering. She remembered her training on how to calm herself down. She started breathing through her mouth, taking in big gulps of air, and exhaling the same amount. She kept gulping with fear.

    She was frightened but that puppy kept looking at her cutely. But all she could feel was fear. His cuteness was making her afraid. He stood on his hind legs and tried to reach her feet. That was thest thread. Her brain was in fight and flight mode. She chose flight. Her brain told her to run.

    Without giving it any more thought, she jumped off her chair which made the dog cry and run away yelping. She ran in the opposite direction. She kept looking backwards to make sure that the dog was not following her.

    Both the dog and Nivritti were running in opposite directions. The room went chaotic after that. Everyone stood up to find out how did a dog enter their department. They saw Nivritti running away from the dog.

    Nivritti kept looking behind and did not notice that someone has entered the department. She was looking at the dog and ran into a chiselled chest. She looked up and her mouth fell. She knew that man. She had seen his posters. She thought she would never meet up with him in her life but there he was standing before her. Not only standing before her, but he was also holding her shoulder. He stopped her from falling.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3: The Scolding

    Nivritti was not paying attention to where she was going, all she knew was she wanted to get away from that dog as if her life depended on it. She just kept ncing behind her and running towards the door. But before she could reach the exit, she bumped into someone.

    That person held her shoulder and stopped her from getting hurt. She looked at him. For a minute she had no idea what to do. And then she recognised the man.

    The tall, handsome man, dressed in a white shirt and brown chinos was the leader of ASD, Nam Kyung-Soo. Everyone knew him as King. For a minute she could not stop staring at him. He was just gorgeous. His porcin skin was glowing. His cute eyes and sharp nose were highlights of his face.

    No matter how gorgeous the man before her was, she could not stop her mind to feel safe. She was still afraid. Her face was screaming with fear.

    After a minute she realised that she was staring at his face. She realised that his hands were resting on her shoulder. She jerked herself away from him. She was sweating before, but now her forehead was all wet due to nervousness and fear.

    While she was busy staring at Kyung-Soo, she noticed four men running past her. One of them ran to the dog and lifted him in his hands. She instantly recognised them as Pae Jeong-Eun, Kang Thae, Jee Jung-Hwa and Man Young-Chul. She did her research before starting her job. So, she knew who everyone was.

    She knew Young-Chul was the scary one. He was the one who everyone was afraid of. He never feared anyone and always spoke his mind. And he loved dogs. She was afraid of him. She wanted to wipe her sweat, but her hands stopped working.

    .....

    She looked at Jeong-Eun, Thae and Jung-Hwa. Everyone was heart-stopping to look at. Their beauty was out of the world. She gasped as she saw four beautiful men walking her way. Jeong-Eun was way cuter than everyone, but Thae was the most handsome. His facial features were sharp and would stop anyone¡¯s heart with just one look. He was carrying the dog in his arms. Jung-Hwa was equally handsome but had mischief written on his face.

    Before those four men woulde close to her, she realised two more men stood near Kyung-Soo. Her eyes widened as they fell on Korain¡¯s face. The heart-shaped face, sharp eyes, sharp nose, full lips were mesmerizing. She recognised thest man as Joh Him-Chan. She had heard only good things about him. He was skilled in dancing and equally good-looking.

    She was surrounded by eye candies, yet her mind was busy thinking about the dog. Thae wasing close to her while carrying the dog in his hands. Her feet again wanted to run away but she had no way. It was blocked by three gorgeous men and four were approaching her.

    Thae was breathing heavily. His eyes were red. His nose was ring. He held the dog tightly in his arms as if it was the most precious thing to him. He was continuously staring at her. He squinted his eyes, scrunched his nose and came face to face with her.

    ¡°Are you an idiot?¡± shouted Thae. Nivritti could just look down. She was not even able to look into his eyes. She just kept gulping and breathing heavily. She clenched her fists tight due to fear. ¡°How dare you hurt my ¡®Yong¡¯, my sweet ¡®Yong¡¯? What kind of person are you?¡± Thae kept ripping into her. The whole floor was outside the room listening to what was happening in the script department. No one else was talking. Only Thae was shouting. ¡°You hurt an innocent animal that can¡¯t even defend himself. How can someone be so cruel? If something happens to him, I won¡¯t forgive you and make your life hell.¡± He gritted his teeth.

    She kept staring at the floor listening to him scolding her in front of the whole office but due to her fear, she was still unable to speak. Him-Chan and Korain were standing near Kyung-Soo and Nivritti.

    The first one to speak was Korain. ¡°That¡¯s enough. Calm down, Kat. First, send ¡®Yong¡¯ to the vet for a check-up. Let¡¯s see what he says and then issue threats.¡± His angelic voice soothed everyone. Thae was almost calm after just a few sentences.

    ¡°But Hyung,¡± protested Thae.

    ¡°He is right, Kat,¡± nodded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Fine, if you guys say so,¡± said Thae. He then looked at Nivritti who was still staring at the floor, ¡°what are you doing here still standing, get lost.¡±

    Thae went ahead and handed the dog to his staff. They immediately exited the room and ran with Yong in their hands. It was clear that they were taking him to the vet.

    Nivritti walked slowly to her seat. Every eye was on her. Thae was still giving her the stink-eye.

    ¡°I hate her,¡± barked Thae who was still staring at Nivritti.

    ¡°Calm down, Kat,¡± ordered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°She hurt Yong, Hyung,¡± replied Thae.

    ¡°It was not intentional,¡± Kyung-Soo tried to make him understand but he was too angry. He loved that dog, and everyone knew it.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± muttered Thae and started moving out of the room. Now the corridor outside the room was empty. Everyone returned back to their department. But they saw Nivritti getting scolded. It was her first day and she was the talk of the town. She was hating that.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°To the practise room, Hyung,¡± replied Thae, softly.

    ¡°What about our script?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You need all of us here for that?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°You get the script and meet us in the practice room. I will take everyone there,¡± Him-Chan chimed in.

    ¡°Thanks, Johan. Take everyone there. I will meet you in a jiffy,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay,¡± said Him-Chan

    Every other member started walking away from the script department and went to the practice room which was on the first three floors of the building. It was by design so that their footsteps would not disturb other departments in their work.

    Kyung-Soo approached Chung-Ho. ¡°Annyeonghaseyo, Choi-ssi.¡±

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo, King. That was something,¡±mented Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I apologise on his behalf. He should not have shouted in your department,¡± apologised Kyung-Soo, politely.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Here for the script?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes. For the daily video we post on ¡°Nettube¡±,¡± Kyung-Soo rolled his eyes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so excited,¡± teased Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Ha-ha, no, it¡¯s just our schedule is jam-packed. Rencontre is in six months, and we have to practice a lot,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I can understand. Let me print copies for you,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Please also send me soft copies,¡± requested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    While Chung-Ho was typing on hisputer and giving printmands, Kyung-Soo turned around to look at Nivritti. He felt bad for how Thae treated her. To his surprise, he saw a tear drop from her eyes. Very stealthily she kept wiping her tears, but the tears never stopped. They kept streaming down her face.

    Nivritti could feel that all eyes were on her. She felt everyone was judging her, talking about her, thinking about her. It was too much to bear. It was her first day and she was scolded by one of the important people in thepany. Not a single day was over, and she already made an enemy.

    She looked around. Wiped her tears and ran away towards the exit stairs. She closed the door behind her to cry away from prying eyes. Kyung-Soo noticed that.

    ¡°May I ask something?¡± Kyung-Soo asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Chung-Ho without removing his eyes from his system.

    ¡°Who is she? I never saw her before,¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ohh... she is the new recruit from India. This is actually her first day,¡± replied Chung-Ho, sadly.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. Everyone lifted their head to look at Kyung-Soo and to find out why did he shout. He then lowered his voice and said, ¡°and Kat shouted at her on her first day?¡±

    ¡°Yes, new country, new people, new job, etc are already hard to get adjusted to but getting shouted at on the very first day is the hardest. I hope she is strong,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Me too,¡± Kyung-Soo said thoughtfully.

    ¡°I have sent the soft copy to your phone and grab the printouts on your way out,¡± said Ching-Ho. He kept working while talking to Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Khamshamnida, Choi-ssi,¡± said Kyung-Soo. Chung-Ho smiled and nodded at him.

    Kyung-Soo walked to the copier room, grabbed the copies of the script, and started walking towards the lift to go to the practice room but he couldn¡¯t stop thinking about why she ran from her seat towards the stairs. He looked around and found no one in the corridors. Everyone was busy with their work so very stealthily he walked towards the stairs where he found her. She had her face hidden in her palms and was crying while facing towards the wall. For a minute, he hesitated but then moved towards her.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4: The Kiss

    Nivritti didn¡¯t want to cry in front of everyone. She kept wiping her tears so that no one could see her, but she was aware that people were thinking about her, talking about her. After all, she was the one who was scolded by one of the most famous people on the.

    She could take no more, so she stood up from her seat and ran outside. A few people saw her running away crying. They felt bad for her but were also angry as she hurt a small dog, a cute helpless dog. Kyung-Soo too noticed that she ran away.

    He saw her wiping her tears multiple times. He was feeling bad for her. He left the script department and went on his way to the lift, but something came over him. He wanted to check on Nivritti. He went to the stairs. She was still crying.

    He moved his hands to touch her shoulder, but she was sobbing uncontrobly. He didn¡¯t want to startle her. He didn¡¯t even know what to say or how would she react if he touched her. After all, a member of his team shouted at her in front of her team, that too on her very first day on the new job. He could not even try to understand how humiliating that must have been.

    He pulled his hand back. He fumbled with his hands as he had no idea what to do. Should he talk to her or leave her alone? His team member would be waiting for him. He kept pondering over what to do.

    Finally, he decided to talk to her. He had to know if she was okay. He could not bear to hear any more sobs from her.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, softly.

    .....

    He didn¡¯t expect what happened next. It took him by surprise. As soon as she heard his words, she turned towards him and buried her head in his chest and started sobbing.

    Kyung-Soo let out a gasp as she hugged him because he was not ready for such a reaction. Well, he was not sure what reaction he would get but this was something else. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he was too tall for her and kept crying on his chest.

    He was shocked but he understood the reaction. That after being humiliated in front of the whole department that too on someone¡¯s first day if anyone would say even a kind word to them that would make anyone react in the same way.

    The soft, white cashmere shirt felt great against her cheeks, and she foundfort in the softness of the fabric. He had no idea what took over him. He let the papers slip from his hands and wrapped his arms around her and without thinking twice pulled her close to himself.

    Kyung-Soo gasped as he felt her close to himself. She was still sobbing. He closed his eyes and let her calm down on her own. They stayed in each other¡¯s arms for minutes. Kyung-Soo¡¯s hands were wrapped over her long-braided hair. He could swear he never touched such soft hair before in his life.

    He let his head fall over her head and enclosed herpletely in his embrace. Slowly her sobs subsided. She wasing back to herself. She was taking deep breaths and sniffling asionally. She was on the verge of stopping crying.

    Suddenly she realised she was hugging someone. She was too scared to find out who. She was new to the office then who took pity on her that they came to console her. But she had to see who the person was.

    She pushed him away and looked up. Her jaw fell to the floor. She regained her senses but was about to lose her mind. One look at the man who wasforting her, and her eyes widened with shock. She froze with fear.

    Her eyes then fell on the wet shirt. She knew that the shirt was soft, which meant it was expensive. She again got scared because she thought that Kyung-Soo will again scold her for destroying an expensive cloth. All she could do was apologise for what she did.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I am very, very sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to spoil your clothes,¡± cried Nivritti. She had no idea what came over her. She just pulled her long sleeve, covered her palm with it and started wiping her tears off his shirt.

    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s fine,¡± said Kyung-Soo. But Nivritti was not ready to listen. She kept rubbing his shirt with her sleeve. To stop her, he grabbed her wrists and made her look at him but she kept her head low.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry,¡± said Nivritti with tears in her eyes. Her tears were falling on the ground making it wet drop by drop.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok,¡± Kyung-Soo tried to console her.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to do that,¡± sobbed Nivritti.

    ¡°You already said that,¡± said Kyung-Soo with a smile on his face.

    ¡°No, I meant I never wanted to hurt your dog,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°What? How?¡± asked Nivritti still unable to look him in his eyes. She was also unaware that her hands were in his hands. He was not ready to let go.

    ¡°Just like I know that you are afraid of dogs,¡± answered Kyung-Soo.

    As soon as she heard his reply, she looked into his eyes for the first time. Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart skipped a beat after looking at her face which was red after crying, her cute red nose, her big brown eyes, her full lips, and her hip-length ck hair tied in a braid. His mouth fell open and started gasping for air.

    ¡°How did you know?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked. The way Kyung-Soo was staring at her was making her nervous.

    ¡°So that¡¯s true,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You guessed?¡±

    She gulped and licked her lips as she always licked her lips unconsciously when she was nervous or scared. But this gesture of hers made Kyung-Soo widen his eyes and he gulped hard.

    He was staring at the cute girl before him unable to speak. But she asked him a question, and he must reply. ¡°I... I saw you running away from a puppy,¡± he stammered. He then cleared his throat, focused on his voice and continued, ¡°no one runs away from a puppy, they are just cute but you did and the fear on your face said everything. Why didn¡¯t you tell everything to Kat when he was shouting at you?¡±

    ¡°I was really scared, and he had that dog in my face,¡± replied Nivritti and she again licked her lips. Kyung-Soo exhaled loudly. ¡°Oh my God! That poor dog, I hurt him,¡± sniffled Nivritti.

    ¡°He is fine, it was just a tap. Worst scenario, it was a bruise,¡± consoled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Are you sure? Did you hear from your vet?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°No, but I saw the chair hitting him. It just touched him a little; he is going to be fine. Trust me,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I hope so.¡± She again licked her lips unconsciously. This time Kyung-Soo lost all control over him.

    He pulled her slightly closer and said through gritted teeth, ¡°you need to stop doing that.¡±

    ¡°Doing what?¡± she asked. She looked surprised as she had no idea about what she did.

    ¡°Licking your lips,¡± barked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡± It was getting more confusing with every passing minute. She had no idea what he was talking about.

    ¡°You keep licking your lips, it¡¯s very distracting,¡± educated Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? I don¡¯t lick my lips. Wait! What do you mean distracting?¡± asked Nivritti.

    Finally, she realised that her wrists were still in his hands. She tried to pull her wrists, but she failed. She looked at him and again tried to pull her hands but in vain.

    ¡°Yes, you do. You have been licking your lips since you started talking. I think it¡¯s an unconscious gesture that you don¡¯t know about,¡± informed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Will you please let go of my hands?¡± she pulled again but Kyung-Soo tightened his grip.

    Without hearing her he continued, ¡°and by distracting, I mean that I really want to hear what you have to say but because of your lips all I can think of is this...

    He pulled her wrists pulling her close to him, moved one of his hands on her waist and another one on the back of her neck and softly ced his lips on hers and kissed her. Kyung-Soo could not exin what came over him, he had never done anything like that ever in his life.

    But the feeling he was feeling was indescribable. He wanted time to stop so that he could keep living this moment for eternity. For the time being, he forget that he was a world-famous musician, he forgot that he was the leader of a world-famous boyband and if someone would find him like this it will be the scandal of the millennium.

    His heart was ready to race out of his chest. Her skin, her soft hair, her lips, her taste, the kissing sensation were other-worldly. Kyung-Soo had dated girls before, but no one had such sway over him.

    On the other hand, while Nivritti was feeling fear, nervousness, humiliation before and was shocked by his sudden action, slowly a sudden feeling of peace took over her. She was unable to understand why she was letting him kiss her, moreover why she was kissing him back.

    The sweet and soft kiss suddenly changed into a passionate one, his hand moved onto her head feeling her soft and silky hair whereas her hands moved along his arms andnded on his neck. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

    To kiss her Kyung-Soo had to bend a little but as soon as the feeling took over him, he grabbed her tight and lifted her with ease with his one hand without breaking the kiss. Her response of kissing him back was driving him crazy when all of a sudden, there was music, loud pop music.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5: The Kiss, Interrupted

    Nivritti was unable to think. She was swept up in the moment. She was kissing a stranger which was unlike her. Why was she kissing him back, she had no answer to that. She was not only kissing him but was matching his pace.

    Kyung-Soo was kissing her with urgency as if his life depended on it. He was drowning and she was like a breath to him. He didn¡¯t want the kiss to stop. The sensation he was feeling all over was overwhelming.

    His tongue was inside her mouth, exploring every single inch. Even her taste was amazing. The most enticing part was her smell, her sweetvender smell. Kyung-Soo wanted more. He had her in his arms. He moved forward and softly ced her back against the wall without breaking the kiss. His hands were inside her braided hair, her soft braided hair. The hair, the kiss, the taste, the smell were driving him crazy.

    He was about to move his hand along her lower waist when everything stopped. All the feelings were halted by a sudden sound, a musical sound. For a second he didn¡¯t recognise the music, but that music brought Nivritti from kissnd. She immediately pushed him away andnded on the floor.

    She realised that she just kissed the biggest name in K-pop which was a huge mistake. She again racked her brain about what just happened. Wait! She didn¡¯t initiate the kiss, he kissed her first. But all her thought process was being disturbed by the sound.

    She was grateful for the sound as that brought her back and helped her to avoid making any more mistakes. Who knows what had happened if they didn¡¯t hear that sound?

    Kyung-Soo looked at her frustrated. He wanted to kiss her more, but he was forced to stop. She too pushed him away after hearing the music. He closed his eyes and reached inside his pocket. He took out his phone which was ringing loudly. Now Nivritti understood what that music was.

    .....

    Then the gravity of the situation hit her. She kissed Kyung-Soo, she kissed The King. If anyonees to know what happened in the stair corridor her life would be over. She ran away from her past and tried starting a new life, but the new life was tainted on the very first day.

    Her heart sank. Would she have to look for another job? Would she have to shift again? Would she have to run again? Well, she was an expert in running. Give her a problem, and she would provide one with a solution but when it came to her life, instead of facing a problem, she always preferred to run away from it.

    Her heart was racing fast. She could not tell if that was after being breathless because of the kiss or because of fear. Kyung-Soo kept ncing at her and then at his phone. He wanted to talk to her but his phone kept ringing.

    The ring had brought both of them back to reality and both had no idea how to deal with that. Kyung-Soo looked at the phone. The disy read ¡®Young¡¯. He knew he had to take the call.

    ¡°Why... why did you do that? Why did you do that?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked and nervous. When he hugged her, she calmed down, but she was back again being afraid after he kissed her.

    He wanted to answer her, talk to her, ask everything about her as he wanted to learn everything about her but before he could open his mouth, she looked at him, opened the door and ran away.

    ¡°Hey! Stop!¡± He called after her, but she was gone. ¡°Please, listen to me,¡± he shouted after her but had to keep his voice down as he didn¡¯t want anyone to know what happened there. It was already her first day, Thae scolded her, then he himself kissed her, and he didn¡¯t want to pile up on that anymore.

    His annoying phone kept ringing. He was already frustrated as he did not get to continue the kiss and he was getting angrier and angrier after hearing his phone ring.

    He rolled his eyes and picked up the phone. ¡°What?¡± he barked on the phone.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± asked Young-Chul over the phone.

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± gritted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Well, you sound angry,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    Kyung-Soo took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He knew it was no one fault that he had to stop kissing her. But all he could think about was the kiss. ¡°Everything¡¯s fine. Why did you call?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°We have dance practice, and you went to get the scripts ages ago. Are you really, ok?¡± inquired Young-Chul, worried.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m ok. I am on my way,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Come fast, Johan is getting impatient,¡± warned Young-Chul.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be there in a minute,¡± replied Kyung-Soo and disconnected the call. He closed his eyes, hung his head low and took a few deep breaths. ¡°What have I done?¡± he murmured and exhaled loudly.

    He then looked around and found the script all around his feet. He ced his phone back in his pocket and started picking up the papers. He arranged them ording to the page number and exited the stairs.

    He pondered over if he should go talk to her and decided for it. He went back to the script department and looked for her. She was nowhere to be found. His head hung with disappointment. He thought he could talk to her and reassure her that she had nothing to be afraid of. But her seat was empty, she was nowhere on the floor.

    Disappointed, he was about to leave the script department when Chung-Ho noticed him.

    ¡°What are you still doing here, King?¡± asked Chung-Ho. Everyone looked at him. The girls smiled as they loved looking at him whenever he used toe to get the script. ASD members always made a point to collect their scripts by themselves as they didn¡¯t want anyone to go through the trouble for them. They were humble that way.

    ¡°Oh, nothing. I thought I missed a page and wanted to look in the copier room but now I looked, and everything is in order,¡± he lied.

    ¡°Oh!¡± eximed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I will take your leave, Choi-ssi. See you tomorrow,¡± Kyung-Soo bowed down.

    ¡°Okay, bye.¡±

    He again looked around, but he could not find her. With a heavy heart, he went towards the lift and went to the practice room on the ground floor. All the time lift kept climbing down he kept thinking about her. He noticed in the mirror that his hair was dishevelled. He ran his fingers through his hair to tame it. But all he could think about was her fingers caressing his hair while they were kissing.

    Suddenly the lift pinged, and the doors opened. He was on the ground floor. He went to room no. 5. Everyone was waiting for him.

    ¡°You arete,¡± chimed Him-Chan as soon as he saw Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I know. The script fell from my hand and flew everywhere. I was gathering it,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hmm...¡± groaned Him-Chan. ¡°Shall we start?¡±

    ¡°Let me put this down first,¡± said Kyung-Soo. Him-Chan just nodded. Kyung-Soo ced the script on a table, and they all started getting ready for dance practice. All their phones and wallets were ced on a table, and they lined up before the mirror. The choreographer yed the music and the rigorous dance practice started.

    Meanwhile, Nivritti exited the stairs and ran to the washroom. She looked around and found that the washroom was empty. She ran to a stall and locked it. She kept breathing heavily for minutes. Her heart was ready to jump out of her chest.

    ¡°You utter idiot! Stupid! Stupid!! Stupid!!! Oh, what if he tells someone? My life would be ruined. No one will hire me. They will call me a slut. You idiot!¡± she kept screaming at herself. ¡°Wait! Why would he tell anyone? He has more to lose. For me, it will be a firing offence but for him, it will be a scandal. Oh, I hope so. Please, God, give him sense to not talk to anyone.¡±

    Her heart was thumping hard, her mouth was dry. She wanted to cry but there were no tears. This was a great opportunity for her, she didn¡¯t want to lose it because of a single mistake.

    She rubbed her temple to soothe herself. She exhaled and inhaled a few times to control her heartbeat. When she no longer could her heartbeat, she knew it was okay toe out of the stall. She decided to wait a day and see if he babbles about the kiss to anyone. If he did, she would have to find a new job away from the east part of the world.

    She came out and saw herself. She gasped. Her hair was all over the ce. Her face had multiple lines of tears, her eyes were a little swollen, and her nose was red. She was looking hideous.

    ¡°Wait! He kissed me when I was looking like this. He must be blind,¡± she thought. ¡°Or maybe a yboy.¡±

    She turned the tap on and sshed water all over her face. The cold water was soothing. Her face was hot after crying and kissing and water brought the temperature down. She dried her face with tissue paper and then started working on her hair. She unbraided her hair, ran her fingers through it to control them, used water to tame rouge hair and then braided it again.

    She took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. The eyes were a little swollen, and the nose was slightly red. No matter what, she had to return to work. She was away from her station for a long time. She cannot be tardy on her first day.

    She was already a part of an unfortunate event of the day, she didn¡¯t want to draw any more attention to herself.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6: The Day Went By

    Nivritti took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. She then walked to her cubicle and sat down. She looked around, everyone was trying not to look at her. She was missing for a long time and it was clear from her face that she was crying.

    Everyone wanted to look at her but at the same time avoided looking at her. They had no idea what to think about her. Was she really such stone-hearted that she would hurt a puppy? But then how Thae treated her was equally wrong.

    She noticed a cute girl sitting next to her who was trying hard not to look her way. The beautiful girl kept ncing at her and then would avert her eyes immediately. She even opened her mouth a few times to talk to her but was afraid of something.

    Nivritti could take no more so she asked her, ¡°May I help you?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t want to bother you. I just wanted to ask, are you okay?¡± the cute girl asked sheepishly.

    ¡°I am fine, thank you for asking,¡± replied Nivritti with gratitude.

    ¡°You were crying, weren¡¯t you?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, concerned.

    .....

    ¡°I... I... um... yes,¡± Nivritti stammered first as she had no idea what to say, then she decided to go with the truth.

    ¡°Well, I am sorry on his behalf. He is a good person. He just loves that dog so much,¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I know. I read it somewhere,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like dogs?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, confused.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that. I have cynophobia,¡± educated Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, the fear of dogs,¡± eximed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I am sorry that you had to face your fear on the very first day of your job. The first day is scary in itself,¡± apologised Jae-Hwa. She was feeling sorry for Nivritti.

    ¡°You have no idea. My first day is not going great,¡± Nivritti¡¯s face hung low with sadness.

    ¡°Well, it seems you need a friend,¡± offered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I need one very much,¡± said Nivritti urgently.

    ¡°My name is San Jae-Hwa. Think of me as your new friend,¡± Jae-Hwa moved her hand toward Nivritti.

    ¡°That¡¯s so sweet of you. I am Nivritti.¡± Nivritti happily took her hand and shook it.

    ¡°I know, Choi-ssi introduced you and don¡¯t worry in future I will save you from dogs,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    Her innocence melted Nivritti¡¯s heart. ¡°Thank you so much. You brightened my day. You have no idea how much I needed it.¡±

    ¡°You are very wee. So you came up with any ideas?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I was too preupied with dogs and getting scolded,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. You should start working then. We have to present our ideas tomorrow. There is not much time,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Have you thought of something?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I am not good withing up with ideas on my own. If you give me an idea I will borate on it but generating new ideas is not my forte. I will leave the CEOpetition to you,¡± said Jae-Hwa. Disheartened.

    Nivritti realised there was something else. ¡°Don¡¯t ept defeat. Try and think. I am sure you wille up with a kick-ass idea.¡± She tried tofort her.

    Jae-Hwa was taken aback. ¡°No one believed in me like this before.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? You are talented that¡¯s why you are here doing this job. They hired you because they saw something in you.¡±

    Jae-Hwa smiled but there was sadness in her smile. ¡°I am a result of nepotism, to tell you the truth. My father works in the production department,¡± she exined.

    ¡°Your father got you in the door, but you got this seat on your own,¡± assured Nivritti.

    ¡°I never thought like that. You are right. He just got me the interview. I cracked the interview on my own,¡± said Jae-Hwa with confidence.

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡±

    ¡°You are beautiful, inside and out,¡± blurted out Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ha-ha, thank you.¡±

    ¡°We should go back to work. I will show you around during lunch, deal?¡± said Jae-Hwa, happily.

    ¡°Deal.¡±

    Finally, Nivritti smiled. She was feeling light after talking to Jae-Hwa. Jae-Hwa too was feeling confident after what Nivritti said. Everyone always taunted her because of her father but for the first time, she believed that she was something on her own. They both started working on ideas.

    They both worked hard, raking their brain toe up with ideas. Slowly lunchtime approached. Jae-Hwa took her to the 7th floor. The food court was situated there. The whole office had breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner there. It was jam-packed with people.

    Jae-Hwa ordered a kimbap and Nivritti ordered a sandwich. They both stood in a corner and ate their food. Nivritti could feel all the eyes looking at her. The news of her scolding spread like wildfire. People were looking at her funny.

    ¡°Ignore them,¡± said Jae-Hwa. She too noticed all the people gossiping about Nivritti and her scolding.

    ¡°I am trying to,¡± replied Nivritti, breathing heavily.

    ¡°Finish your sandwich. I will give you a tour of our floor,¡± Jae-Hwa tried to change the topic.

    Soon both finished their food, had water and climbed up to the 11th floor. Jae-Hwa showed her around. There was a mini kitchen in every department on that floor for people who brought their own food. There was a conference room in every department. But the script department had a small copier room. It was filled with printers and copiers.

    After the tour, they went back to working on Rencontre.

    In the meantime, room no. 5 was sting with music. The smell of sweat was covered with different deodorants. The boys¡¯ clothes were wet with sweat. Their hair was flowing in all directions. They were breathing heavily. They kept drinking water to bnce the water content of their body. the AC was in full st yet their body was dripping with sweat.

    They had to work extra hard today because Kyung-Soo kept messing up. If they had to move their left hand, Kyung-soo would move his right. If the dance involved moving the left foot forward, Kyung-Soo would move the right foot forward. Every now and then, Nivritti¡¯s face would sh before his eyes. His lips would tremble thinking about the kiss.

    He was in room no. 5 but his mind was still in that stair corridor. His hands were still wrapped around her waist, her neck, her hair. No matter how many times he tried, he could not get her out of his mind. The whole day he kept thinking about their kiss.

    Suddenly Him-Chan approached him, ¡°what are you doing, Hyung? You are making so many mistakes today. Are you ok?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sorry. I am just not feeling like myself today. Sorry guys. Let¡¯s do this again,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. He shook his head and concentrated hard on his dance moves. He made fewer mistakes after that. He controlled his focus but could not control itpletely.

    ¡°Enough for today. We have to shoot the daily video too,¡± announced Him-Chan.

    ¡°Yeah right, everyone, clean up and let¡¯s take a look at the script,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°We will leave in half an hour. King Hyung and Coin Hyung, don¡¯t forget you two have your interview today,¡± Jeong-Eun helped them to remember. He was always active like that.

    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s get ready and move to the video shooting site,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    All collected their belongings and their script and started packing. Some were reading the script and rehearsing. some went to take a bath. Every practice room was fitted with a bathroom so that Boys and girls could freshen themselves after a long day of hard work.

    After taking a rest for half an hour, everyone had taken a bath and was ready to move to the shooting site. But Kyung-Soo was still thinking about the girl he kissed. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to say sorry for what he did.

    ¡°You all leave and wait near the car. I will be there in a minute,¡± announced Kyung-Soo. As soon as he said all his members halted in their path, they were concerned for him. He was losing focus all day and now he said he wanted a minute.

    ¡°Where are you going? Are you okay?¡± asked Korain.

    He could not say anything as he had no excuse. He finally epted defeat. ¡°Nowhere, where would I go? I was just about to walk slowly. I am too tired today.¡±

    ¡°You work too much, Hyung. You need to take care of yourself,¡± said Jong-Hwa. Everyone knew how hard he worked on every aspect to make his team the best in the world. They all loved him, respected him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, June. I am fine,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo at his concern.

    ¡°Let me pick you up. You won¡¯t have to walk then,¡± suggested Jong-Hwa.

    ¡°No, no, you too must be tired after dancing. Let¡¯s walk,¡± said Kyung-Soo and wrapped his arms around Jong-Hwa¡¯s shoulder. They both walked side by side and exited the room.

    He really wanted to see the girl again but he had no excuse to visit the script department again. He made a note about visiting the next day and talking to her. He half-heartedly left the building and went to the shooting site and interviews after that.

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7: The Day Finally Ended

    For the whole day, Nivritti had two thoughts on her mind, one Kyung-Soo should never speak about what happened and second, she muste up with an amazing idea to pitch tomorrow. She had a few stupid ideas and a few good ones, she just had toe up with a brilliant one.

    She kept raking her brain and kept typing on her system. She could hear Jae-Hwa do the same. She was happy that she was at least trying else she had already given up. She was not even ready to participate because she thought herself to be not up to the mark. As she got the job because of her father, she started believing that she was somehow less talented than everyone else.

    Her first day was a disaster but she wanted her second one to be a great one. She needed a win. All kept looking at her as if she was a culprit and she needed to change that. She wanted everyone to treat her like their equal.

    The evening arrived and it was time to leave for home.

    ¡°Did you get any ideas?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Some. You?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, I have a few ideas, but I don¡¯t know if they are good,¡± Jae-Hwa was still sceptical.

    .....

    ¡°Well, present them tomorrow and let Mr Choi decide,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°You are right. I am d I talked to you,¡± said Jae-Hwa, happily.

    ¡°I am d you talked to me. Everyone else has been treating me like a leper,¡± Nivritti was disheartened.

    ¡°Give them time. Once they get to know you, they wille around,¡± assured Jae-Hwa, politely.

    ¡°I hope so.¡±

    ¡°Where are you living? May I give you a lift?¡± offered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh no! my apartment is nearby. I prefer walking,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°See you tomorrow then,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, you will.¡±

    ¡°Bye,¡± Jae-Hwa hugged Nivritti.

    ¡°Bye,¡± Nivritti too embraced her.

    They both broke the embrace and went their separate ways. Nivritti exited the building while Jae-Hwa went to the parking lot for her car. Nivritti started walking towards her house still thinking about ideas that she would present tomorrow. As it was a busy hour, it took her 20 minutes to reach her home as crossing the streets was difficult at that time. There were too many vehicles as everyone from different offices was returning to their homes.

    She climbed the stairs of her apartment building, punched in the code of her main door, and entered her house. She hung her bag and overcoat on the hangers by the door and took off her shoes. She sat on the couch with a thud and let her head rest on the couch.

    She closed her eyes and rxed. The day never went the way she hoped. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. She was here to work and live her life peacefully but nothing like that happened. In fact, everything was the opposite, everything was chaotic.

    After resting for a while, she went and changed her dress and slipped intofortable pyjamas. She tied her braided hair in a bun and went into the kitchen. She cooked herself potato curry and rice and went to take a bath.

    The pollution of the city was all wiped away. The hot water bath was refreshing. Her mind was at ease now. She tied the towel around her hair and let it soak in all the water from her hair. While the towel did its work, she ate her dinner and washed the dishes.

    She took off the towel and ced it on the drying line that was on her balcony. She opened herptop and started working on ideas. The soothing bath and full stomach were making her drowsy, but she had to work.

    Suddenly her phone lit up and started ringing. She groaned as she knew who called her. The disy read ¡®Headache¡¯. She picked up the call and her lookalike, her sister, appeared on the phone.

    Nivritti came to Korea without telling anyone where she was going. She was running from her past. Her sister was adamant about finding out where she went. Nivritti was not ready to divulge her location just now but was in the mood of teasing her sister.

    ¡°Yes, detective,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Stop teasing,¡± pouted Apeksha.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you stopped working on the problem,¡± mocked Nivritti.

    ¡°What problem?¡± asked Apeksha, annoyed.

    ¡°To determine which country I shifted to,¡± Nivritti smiled sarcastically.

    ¡°Tease me all you want, I will find out where you went,¡± said Apeksha with determination.

    ¡°Right! and then you will announce it to the world,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°I will do no such thing,¡± frowned Apeksha.

    ¡°You babble mouth,¡± Nivritti was in no mood to stop the teasing.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± shouted Apeksha, annoyed.

    ¡°How¡¯s mom and dad?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°She is here, talk to her,¡± Apeksha gave the phone to her mother.

    ¡°Hi, mom!¡± greeted Nivritti.

    ¡°Hi dear, how are you?¡± asked her mother.

    ¡°Great!¡±

    ¡°Ate?¡± asked her mother.

    ¡°Just had my dinner,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°What? So early? That means your time is ahead of us,¡± noted Apeksha. For the first time, she had a clue about the whereabouts of her sister.

    ¡°There she is. Detective!¡± mocked Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, shut up!¡± shouted Apeksha and rolled her eyes at her.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Nivritti out loud. ¡°Someone is infuriated.¡±

    While both sisters were busy teasing each other, their mother took the phone and seriously asked Nivritti, ¡°are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I am fine, mom,¡± replied Nivritti with equal seriousness.

    ¡°Why do you have to hide?¡±

    ¡°You know why,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t youint to the authorities about that?¡± the frustration in her mother¡¯s voice was clearly audible.

    ¡°There are other lives involved mom,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°That I understand, but you have to stay away from your family, how is that fair?¡± inquired her mother.

    ¡°I will find a solution, soon. Don¡¯t worry,¡¯ assured Nivritti.

    ¡°No, you will keep running away, you do that best,¡± scolded her mother.

    ¡°Mom!¡± now Nivritti was annoyed.

    ¡°Come home dear, we can save you,¡± pleaded her mother.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want my problem to be your problem,¡± stated Nivritti.

    ¡°But your problem is our problem, that¡¯s what is the responsibility of parents,¡± her mother tried to make her understand.

    ¡°Mom! I am all grown up. I can take care of myself. You take care of that headache,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey!¡± shouted Apeksha.

    ¡°Are you really okay?¡± asked her mother.

    ¡°I am absolutely fine, mom,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, I believe you. How was your first day?¡±

    ¡°Good, very good,¡± Nivritti lied.

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. Now, go rest,¡± said her mother.

    ¡°Yes, mom.¡±

    ¡°Talk to you tomorrow,¡± her mother blew her a kiss.

    ¡°Of course, mom,¡± she smiled at her mother.

    Apeksha snatched the phone from her mother and shouted, ¡°Hey! at least tell me the continent you are in.¡±

    ¡°Fine, Asia, happy?¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Not at all. Just disconnect the call,¡± Apeksha was frustrated as she thought Nivritti was still lying. Only if she knew that Nivritti was telling the truth.

    ¡°Ha-ha, annoyed headache.¡± Laughing, Nivritti disconnected the call. Talking with her family refreshed her mind and ideas started flowing in. She worked for a bit, and she received the answer to her problem. Her mind gave her a beautiful idea. She typed theplete idea on herptop and took a printout. She carefully ced it in her purse so that she would not forget to take that to the office with her.

    She retired to her bed where she found the book, she was readingst night, Little Women. She fell asleep while reading the book so there was no bookmark. She searched for the page where she wasst night and found it.

    She started reading the book, but her mind kept racing toward her adventurous first day. She kept thinking about how she was in awe of the building and thought that the day started with so much promise but changed into a mess. She thought back at how Thae scolded her, but suddenly her mind moved to her kiss with Kyung-Soo.

    She scolded herself, ¡°stop thinking about it. You very well know what is going to happen next. The first time that happened it took you three years to get over it. And why the hell did you kiss him back, you stupid girl? You need to stay away from him as far as possible.¡±

    She closed the book, grabbed a pillow, enclosed it in her arms and fell asleep.

    Meanwhile, Kyung-Soo recorded the daily video with his teammates and went for the interviews. After editing both were posted on ¡®Nettube¡¯ and as usual, they went viral. The whole team was again trending on ¡®Communicator¡¯.

    .....

    All the boys returned back to their mansion where they lived together and retired to their rooms. They took bath and then started doing their chores. One was doingundry, one was doing the dishes, another one was cooking, another one was helping in cutting vegetables, and the rest were cleaning the house.

    Afterpleting his chore, Kyung-Soo went to his room and started working on his system. He had to look through his calendar and arrange everyone¡¯s schedule.

    Suddenly there was a knock at his door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± said Kyung-Soo. Jung-Hwa appeared before him.

    ¡°King Hyung, everyone is waiting for you at the dinner table,¡± announced Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like eating. You guys eat without me,¡± said Kyung-Soo without any expression.

    ¡°But Hyung...¡± Jung-Hwa protested.

    ¡°Go June.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Jung-Hwa started walking out when suddenly Kyung-Soo stopped him.

    ¡°June?! How¡¯s Puchu? What did the vet say?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh, he is fine, not even a scratch over his body. He was just scared,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    Suddenly Kyung-Soo¡¯s mood changed, and he was happy. ¡°That¡¯s very good news.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, everyone¡¯s scolding Kat Hyung because he screamed at that girl today,¡± informed Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Good, he deserves that,¡± Kyung-Soo was angry at Thae.

    ¡°Now your mood seems better, will youe to eat with us?¡± requested Jung-Hwa with all the cuteness he could muster.

    ¡°Okay fine, let¡¯s go,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    Jung-Hwa exited the room and Kyung-Soo followed him. He thought to himself, ¡°I need to tell her about Yong. She was so sad when she realised, she had hurt him. Wait a minute; I don¡¯t even know her name. I am such an idiot; I kissed a girl, and I don¡¯t even know her name and that too without her consent. What would she be thinking about me? I am not a bad person; I don¡¯t do such things. I have never done such a thing before in my life. Why couldn¡¯t I restrain myself from kissing her lips? Phew... her lips. What? Why am I thinking about her lips? Stop it, Kyung-Soo. Oh, God! Please help me. What is happening to me?¡±

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8: The Morning Meeting

    It was still dark when Nivritti woke up. She could hear some noise near her. She didn¡¯t want to wake up. It was a hectic day and she wanted to sleep in. She thought the noise was her rm. She reached for her phone and looked at it, annoyed. She thought Apeksha was calling her again to annoy her.

    But the moment she looked at her phone she jumped out of her bed. The past she was running from was barging in again. She ignored the call, opened her sim slot, and broke her sim in half. The phone was silent now. She exhaled loudly and sat on her bed.

    She realised that it was still India¡¯s sim that she was carrying and using. That¡¯s how her past came knocking. She made a point to get a new sim the next day. Meanwhile, all the functions of the phone were working except getting calls on her number. Though she could talk on video via many apps as her Wi-Fi was always working. She was grateful for her new job as theypletely took care of her needs.

    She didn¡¯t have to find a home in this strange ce, her office did that for her. They provided her with a fully furnished house that too nearby the office. She only had to pay rent to the bank ount provided to her. she never knew who owned the house. All she knew was that K&Q organised everything for her. They even helped her with her work visa.

    They came as a boon in her life as she was happy to leave India. But slowly her past started staining everything. Already she had the worst day and then her problems started piling on.

    She threw the sim in the garbage can and made a note on her phone to get a new local sim the next day. She confirmed that her rm was still on and went back to sleep. But her sleep after that was a disturbing one. She would wake up after intervals as her mind was alert now.

    Her rm rang at six in the morning. She groaned and shifted to her side. She hit the snooze button as she wanted to sleep more. the whole night after that phone call, she had a difficult time sleeping and now she was tired. She had an important meeting today and she was tired.

    .....

    She hoped that she would have a great second day but now it seemed that it would be exactly like her first day, a disaster. She slept for another ten minutes, and her rm began ring again. Annoyed, she sat up on her bed and hit the cancel button on her rm.

    Sleepy, she went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. She ced her arms on her cheeks and closed her eyes. She would kill for a good sleep right now, but she had to go to work. She finished her business, brushed her teeth, and took a shower.

    After the shower, she was feeling slightly energetic. She tied her hair in a braid, wore a robe and went to her kitchen. After pondering over what she should eat, she cooked two eggs and toast and filled her travelling mug with piping hot coffee. The aroma of coffee jolted her out of her sleep.

    In a hurry, she finished her breakfast and dumped the te in the sink for cleaning itter. She got dressed up in a blue shirt and white flowing skirt. With her white overcoat on and she left her house with her purse and her coffee mug in her hands.

    She kept sipping the coffee all her way. Being early morning, the traffic was slow. It would pick up pace in half an hour. Nivritti was going to the office early as she had to type all the ideas that were in her purse on her office system so that she could mail them if necessary. She had the chance to go before the CEO if everything went right and she was nervous just thinking about it.

    As soon as she left her house, her phone was useless, she made a point to connect her phone to the Wi-Fi the moment she would reach the office in the afternoon, during lunch, she would go and get a new sim.

    After she reached the gates of the K&Q building, she reached for her ID in her purse. One swipe at the turnstiles and the doors opened. She walked up to the lift which was otherwise engaged. She pressed the call button and stood there waiting.

    While waiting, she ced her ID back in her purse and then looked at her phone. She searched for the Wi-Fi connection. She found several of them, but none wasbelled Script department. She realised that the 11th floor was too far away to get a Wi-Fi signal. She must wait till she reaches her department.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± a tall figure stood next to her and greeted her. She thought someone from her department came early like her.

    ¡°Good Morn...¡± she looked up to see who it was. The rug slipped under her feet. The handsome Kyung-Soo was standing next to her. Her voice got lost in her mouth. She suddenly choked up. She kissed him yesterday and he was now standing before her, smiling at her.

    What do to? How to tackle this situation? She had no idea. All she could think about was running away which she did best. She started moving away from him, instinctively. It seemed her feet had a mind of their own. She ran towards the stairs and ran away leaving Kyung-Soo standing near the lift, puzzled.

    Kyung-Soo could not sleep all night thinking about the kiss. The girl had a hold on to him. She was something different. He never acted the way he acted in front of her. Her unconscious gestures were too much for him to handle. The way she licked her lips wanted him to lick her lips too.

    And the way she kissed him back was out of the world. The feeling when he was close to her was peaceful. Every time he would close his eyes, her brown eyes would appear to tease him. He wanted to wrap her long hair in his hands and pull her even closer.

    The whole night he kept dreaming different scenarios of what he would do if he saw her again. Early morning, he opened his eyes and breathed heavily. He could not stop thinking about her. he had to think about a lot of things, he had so much work to do but the girl refused to leave his brain. She made a home there without asking permission.

    He rubbed his temple and looked at her phone. It was only 5.30 in the morning. He knew he would be able to sleep so he got up from his bed. After sshing water on his face and brushing his teeth, he thought of getting some work done.

    He had to look at a few contracts, sign a few papers, organise team members¡¯ calendars and a lot more work. He started with contracts but also opened his mail to read some of the mail he received for coborations. He would read everything and then would forward everything to the respective team to handle. It was an integral part of why ASD was so sessful.

    He would read a sentence and then his mind would wander to the corridor where he kissed her. he would shake his head ande back to reality but soon he wouldnd back in his dreand. For an hour, he tried working but that girl would not leave him alone. He didn¡¯t even know her name. He wanted to know everything about her.

    He pushed his chair back and stood up. He took a bath, ate instant noodles, and left a message for his team members that he was leaving for the office as they all were still sleeping.

    He took his Land Rover and reached the K&Q building but before he could make a turn and pulled the car into the parking lot. He saw her, the girl who was driving him crazy. Her gorgeous legs in heels made his heart jump in his chest.

    She was busy fishing something out of the purse, so she was not aware of her surroundings. Her face was neither red nor swollen, though it was white due to cold. She looked like a fairy in a white overcoat.

    He had to talk to her. He parked his car in front of the building and threw his car keys to the guard standing at the entrance.

    ¡°Park it, please,¡± he requested and ran inside. He took his badge and entered the turnstiles. He hesitated for a minute to get close to her as he had no idea what he would do next. She pressed the button for the lift and was waiting while staring at her phone.

    Was she waiting for someone¡¯s message? Did she have someone in her life? He kept thinking. ¡°Oh god! What if she has someone? I kissed a girl who is involved. Maybe she is just checking her phone. I should talk to her and find out. First, I should get her name. Yeah, I should start with that.¡±

    He stood next to her and greeted her, ¡°Good morning.¡± She too smiled and looked at her but as soon as their eyes met, her smile vanished. It seemed as if she saw a ghost.

    He was surprised to see her running away. She ducked into the stairwell and ran away.

    ¡°She knows she had to climb up to the 11th floor, right?¡± he said loudly. ¡°What just happened? Why did she run away? Do I have something on my face?¡± He took out his phone and opened his front camera. Everything was okay. He was looking nice, then why did she run away?

    He must talk to her, find out what was she thinking.

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9: The Exchange Of Ideas

    The area near Kyung-Soo still smelled likevender. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and took in the sweet smell of perfume, Nivritti left behind. Why did she have to run away from him? What did he do? He just greeted her. Or was it because he kissed her? He wanted to follow her and ask her about everything, but people started pouring in.

    The lift came and the door opened before him. He had to get into it, he had a meeting with the CEO after all. The CEO called him to discuss Rencontre with him. He had to go to the 21st floor. He entered the lift followed by a few people. Girls were swooning over him. They could not stop giggling at him.

    He was aware of the attention he got everywhere he went. It was like a routine for him. Everyone wanted to be close to him but that girl, that girl ran away from him. It was a strange behaviour he never expected from anyone. She saw him and ran away as if she saw a serial killer in front of her. What was that about, he had to know.

    People kept getting off the lift and he rode the elevator all the way up to the 21st floor. He knocked at the door but there was no answer. He looked around, but the CEO¡¯s assistant was not there. She must be on her way. He again knocked and the door opened. A stout, middle-aged man opened the door. There was not a single wrinkle on his face, but his hair was all white due to the stress of running a bigpany.

    He was on his Bluetooth speaker talking fast in Japanese. Being the head of a hugepany, he made a point to learn at least twonguages. So, he knew, Mandarin and Japanese and of course, his mother tongue, Korean. He smiled at Kyung-Soo and gestured for him to sit. Kyung-Soo bowed down to him and Hu Bong nodded at him with a huge smile.

    He then went back to talking on the phone. After a few minutes, he disconnected the call and ced his Bluetooth set on his table.

    Kyung-Soo again bowed down to him and greeted, ¡°annyeonghaseyo, Hu-ssi.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo, King. So early?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°Could not sleep,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Everything okay?¡± Bong was concerned.

    ¡°You have no idea,¡± thought Kyung-Soo. And then he decided to lie, ¡°yeah, yeah, everything is fine. You wanted to meet with me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the script department is working on something special for Rencontre,¡± informed Bong.

    ¡°We are not performing?¡± Kyung-Soo was shocked.

    ¡°Of course, you are performing, that is the main event, but this year is the special, seven-year curse and all. So, I thought of doing something more,¡± educated Bong.

    ¡°What do they have in mind?¡± even Kyung-Soo was curious.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± smiled Bong.

    ¡°What?¡± Kyung-Soo was now confused.

    ¡°They are still working on the idea. Choi-ssi will finalise it today and I want you toe with me to approve the idea. I know mostly Younges to these meetings, but I want you this time,¡± informed Bong.

    The moment Kyung-Soo heard the name of the script department his mind raced to the girl. The beautiful fairy he saw today and kissed yesterday. He would get to see her again. Maybe he could ask her everything he wanted to. He was over the moon. ¡°Of course, whatever you say,¡± he replied politely.

    ¡°Okay then, be ready for my call. I will inform you as soon as Choi-ssi gives me the green signal,¡± said Bong.

    ¡°I will be,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo. He bowed down to Bong and left his cabin. He went back to his practice room and started waiting for his team member to arrive.

    In the meantime, Nivritti ran to the stairs and started climbing them as if her life depended on it. After climbing two stories, she stopped and looked back. No one was following her. She was all alone. She ced her back towards the wall and caught her breath. She closed her eyes, clutched her purse near her chest and kept breathing heavily for a few minutes.

    ¡°Shit!¡± she murmured. ¡°What the hell, girl?¡± she shouted at herself. ¡°Okay, I know you are an expert in running, but why did you run like an idiot? What would he think about you? You ran as if you were disgusted by him. Grow up! Learn to face your problems.¡± She closed her eyes and gulped hard. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I will, just not today. I need a peaceful day, for once, please God, just a day, just a good day. Is that too much to ask?¡±

    She knew she could not climb eight flights of stairs. She decided to take a lift. She opened the stairs door and entered the 3rd-floor lobby. She waited for a lift and reached the 11th floor. She was the first one to arrive in her department. She took a minute to find herposure. She exhaled loudly and started her system. While her system was starting up, she took out the papers she had her idea typed on and started typing them in her system.

    It was a rough draft, yet it took her time to type in. She was so immersed in her work that she didn¡¯t notice that the office started filling in. Jae-Hwa came and stood next to her.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± greeted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Hi!¡± Nivritti smiled at her.

    ¡°You look tired, didn¡¯t you sleepst night?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, concerned.

    ¡°You have no idea,¡± stated Nivritti.

    ¡°Working on your idea?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Something like that,¡± Nivritti lied.

    ¡°So, you have the One?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I think so, hope Mr Choi likes it. What about you?¡± questioned Nivritti.

    ¡°I too have an idea, but I don¡¯t know if he will like it,¡± said Jae-Hwa, disheartened.

    Hey, everything is fine. Let¡¯s just hope for the best for now, okay?¡± Nivritti tried to cheer her up.

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    Jae-Hwa went to her cubicle, still with a smile on her face and started her system. They waited for everyone to arrive. Everyone was excited to present their ideas to Chung-Ho. Girls knew that Young would attend the meeting, so they were excited to meet him more than they were excited to meet Hu Bong.

    When everyone was present, Chung-Ho stood up and announced, ¡°Good morning, everyone, let¡¯s start the meeting. Let¡¯s meet in the conference room.¡±

    Everyone stood up and started streaming inside the conference room. The seniors took up the chairs and juniors were left standing. Nivritti was technically a senior, but she walked inst with Jae-Hwa. The moment she saw everyone, she froze. She was confident in her idea but had no idea how to face everyone.

    They all saw what happened yesterday. No one liked her, everyone thought she hurt the dog. Thae even scolded her in front of the entire floor. She had no idea how to remove that stain from her name. She was not speaking to anyone, and no one was speaking to her except Jae-Hwa. She had to tell everyone that she has cynophobia, then only everyone would forgive her.

    When everyone wasfortable, Chung-Ho started the meeting. ¡°So, you all know why we are here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi,¡± everyone said in unison.

    ¡°All of you have ideas ready?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi,¡± again everyone shouted at once.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it then.¡± He picked up a marker and stood near a whiteboard. ¡°Seong-Ssi. Let¡¯s start with you,¡± demanded Chung-Ho. He looked at a smart-looking man in his forties. He worked as the script editor. He mostly edited scripts for ASD.

    ¡°Okay, I was thinking that we could ask boys to visit an old age home and distribute gifts,¡± said Dae, the

    ¡°What? Seong-ssi. I hoped for better from you. They have done that multiple times. I want new ideas,¡± Chung-Ho was disappointed. He then addressed another script editor, ¡°Hae-Ran?¡±

    ¡°Um... I was thinking about all the groups of K&Q could talk to each other in a single meeting. It will be a huge hit. They can talk about their uing projects and so on,¡± Hae-Ran presented her idea.

    Chung-Ho ced the marker on his lips and thought for a minute. ¡°That¡¯s good. Very good. It will obviously be huge, but we want something which only boys should do. Our emphasis should be on ASD. But this is a good suggestion. Let me write that on the board.¡± Chung-Ho immediately wrote her idea on board. Hae-Ran was happy.

    One by one he started asking the script team for ideas and he was showered with good and bad ideas.

    ¡°We can ask them to interact with fans on the streets,¡± said one person.

    Chung thought and replied, ¡°hmm... that would be chaotic. We will have to spend a lot on security and who knows how safe our boys will be.¡± He rejected that idea.

    Many ideaster it was Jae-Hwa¡¯s turn, ¡°we can ask them to do a fashion show before their performance. We can coborate with big designers. That way we can make money too.¡±

    ¡°Good idea, Jae-Hwa.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Choi-ssi,¡± she was on cloud nine. Her idea too went on the board. She looked at Nivritti and smiled at her. Nivritti gave her a thumbs up and smiled back.

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10: The Tiff

    Everyone was sharing their ideas, but Nivritti was standing still, silent. The only time she reacted was to cheer Jae-Hwa. Chung-Ho being as observant as ever noticed that. He knew she was still reeling with feelings about what happened yesterday. All she needed was a littlepassion and encouragement.

    ¡°Do you have any ideas to share with us, Nivritti?¡± asked Chung-Ho, calmly.

    She was avoiding eye contact with everyone. She just nced at him and without looking into his eyes, silently answered ¡°yes¡±.

    ¡°Go on then,¡± Chung-Ho gave her a nudge.

    She looked around, all eyes were on her. She exhaled loudly and calmed herself. She would asionally look at Chung-Ho and started describing her idea. Everyone was looking at her which made her nervous, but Chung-Ho nodded at her, and Jae-Hwa held her hand which gave her confidence.

    She kept speaking and speaking and describing her idea. Jaws dropped on the floor. Everyone who was looking at her with contempt had awe in their eyes after hearing her idea. Her idea was awesome. The board didn¡¯t matter anymore after her idea.

    Chung-Ho kept staring at her with his mouth open. After she was finished, she looked at him and gulped hard. But no one spoke. Everyone kept staring at her.

    .....

    ¡°So, anyment?¡± she asked Chung-Ho.

    Her question jolted him out of his shock. He knew Nivritti was brilliant but was seeing her brilliance for the first time. Her previous employers had nothing to say but good things about her. They even said that they were sorry that she was moving on. The performance review she received from her previous employers cemented her position in the K&Q mediapany.

    ¡°That was brilliant, Nivritti,¡± shouted Chung-Ho. ¡°Why were you so reluctant to share your idea?¡±

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t she be, no one has talked to her since yesterday. Every one of you treated her like a leper,¡± Jae-Hwa scolded everyone.

    ¡°Jae-Hwa,¡± Chung-Ho calmed her down. He then looked at Nivritti. ¡°Listen Nivritti, I know you are feeling uneasy as this is only your second day on the job and after what happened with Kat yesterday, you are scared. But remember we are here for you; you just need to keep working hard and presenting beautiful ideas,¡± said Chung-Ho with all the love he could muster.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr Choi,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Now, do you know where the photocopy room is?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Jae-Hwa gave me a tour of the building yesterday,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°You need to make a few copies of your presentation; Hu-ssi will need to approve your idea and you need to present it to him. If he rejects them, then we will keep working on the ideas on the whiteboard but present them just like you did now. Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t be alone, senior members of the script team, finance team and marketing team will be there. Also, our CEO is a very kind man so don¡¯t get nervous,¡± informed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Absolutely, Mr Choi. How many copies should I make?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Make at least fifteen for now. And please ask for help if you need it,¡± Chung-Ho patted her shoulder with adoration.

    ¡°Sure, Mr Choi.¡±

    ¡°The meeting is adjourned, we will meet again if something goes wrong with Nivritti¡¯s idea. All of you return to your seats,¡± announced Chung-Ho.

    Nivritti was the first to exit the room. She ran to her cubicle and sat down in her chair. She exhaled a big puff of air and let go of her tension and nervousness. Suddenly she felt that everyone was staring at her, that all the eyes were on her. she looked around and every one stopped looking at her and went to their seats. They all were impressed by her.

    ¡°Congrattions,¡± Jae-Hwa hugged her from the back to congratte her.

    ¡°I can hear my heartbeat,¡± Nivritti was still nervous but slowly her heartbeat was slowing down.

    ¡°Girl! I can hear your heartbeat,¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ha-ha. I was so nervous,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Everyone saw that. But you were great,¡± Jae-Hwa was ecstatic for her.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Chung-Ho went to his seat and picked up his phone. He called the CEO and informed him that they were ready with the idea and that he shoulde down to the script department. As soon as Bong received the news, he called Kyung-Soo and asked him to reach the script department and wait for him in the conference room.

    Nivritti made a few changes to her idea and structured the sentences better than before and gave themand to print. She ran to the copy room to get her printouts. It took her some time to wait for fifteen copies. After she was done with the copies, she went back to her seat.

    ¡°Nivritti!¡± Chung-Ho addressed her.

    ¡°Yes, Mr Choi,¡± Nivritti stood up to look at him.

    ¡°Are you ready with the copies?¡± inquired Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Mr Choi.¡±

    ¡°Could you go to the conference room and set your copies before every seat so that everything would be ready before Hu-ssi arrives?¡± asked Chung-Ho politely.

    ¡°Sure, Mr Choi.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, we will start the meeting as soon as Hu-ssi arrives,¡± enlightened Chung-Ho. Nivritti just smiled at him and nodded.

    She stood up taking all the copies in her hand and went to the conference room. She neatly arranged all the paper and started keeping a copy in front of every chair. She was looking away from the door busy arranging the papers when she heard the click of the doorknob.

    She thought Chung-Ho came to see whether she was doing her job properly. She turned around and her eyes widened. Kyung-Soo was standing before her. He waspletely blocking the door, she had nowhere to run this time.

    She kept staring at him with an open mouth, but nothing came out of her mouth. He was wearing a ck turtleneck and brown pants. The ck colour against his beautiful skin was making him radiant. One look at him and her throat dried.

    She cleared her throat, mustered some courage, and asked, ¡°what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°You called me,¡± replied Kyung-Soo, casually.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± eximed Nivritti.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t the script team call a meeting?¡± questioned Kyung-Soo. She understood what he was saying, he was there for the Rencontre meeting.

    ¡°No one said anything about idols attending the meeting,¡± Nivritti was shocked. She thought she just had to present her idea before the CEO but now she had to present it before Kyung-Soo too. The man she was unable to face, she would have to face him for the whole presentation.

    ¡°One member of our team usually attends these meetings,¡± informed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh okay, well the meeting is not going to start for a few minutes. Mr Hu has not arrived yet. So, you can wait here,¡± said Nivritti.

    She was done with cing all the papers on their proper seat, so she started moving toward the door. She tried walking past him and out of the room but before she could reach the door Kyung-Soo locked the door and looked at her.

    Nivritti was taken aback. She never thought he would do anything before so many people. Anyone could enter the conference room at any given moment. ¡°What do you think you are doing?¡± panicked Nivritti.

    ¡°Calm down. I just want to talk to you about what happened yesterday,¡± said Kyung-Soo coolly.

    She knew what he wanted to talk about, but she was not ready for it. She wanted to forget the previous daypletely. ¡°Before you speak, let me be very clear; this is the first time I¡¯m meeting you. I have never seen you face to face before in my life. So, I have no idea what happened yesterday or what you want to talk to me about,¡± Nivritti put her foot down.

    ¡°What?¡± Kyung-Soo was shocked and confused. They kissed yesterday, he clearly remembered that. He can never forget that kiss, but this girl was saying that this was the first time she was seeing him. Did she lose her mind? He scratched his head, ¡°do you suddenly have amnesia? You cried in my arms and kis...¡±

    Before he couldplete his sentence, she got on her toe and ced her palm on his mouth to shut him up.

    ¡°Yeah, be louder. Just this floor heard you, let¡¯s announce it to the world,¡± she gritted her teeth.

    He smiled and removed her hand from his face but never let go of her hand.

    ¡°So, you remember everything,¡± smirked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Fine, I remember everything. But it will be beneficial for both of us to forget what happened and make sure it never happens in future. Do you understand me?¡± whispered Nivritti, urgently.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. Why would I deny something that actually happened?¡± Kyung-Soo was unable to understand this girl. Whatever she was speaking was confusing him even more.

    ¡°Oh my God! Are you for real? Okay fine, we kissed, and it was a mistake which will never ever happen again,¡± shouted Nivritti yet it was more like a whisper.

    After hearing the word ¡®mistake¡¯ Kyung-Soo released her hand automatically and kept staring at her angrily.

    ¡°Mistake?!¡± He scoffed. ¡°I¡¯ll admit that kissing you without your consent was wrong but while we were kissing nothing felt wrong.¡±

    Nivritti knew whatever he just said was right. Nothing about that kiss felt wrong. But she had to avoid making more mistakes, she had to get away from him. ¡°Listen Nam Kyung-Soo, that is too long, can I call you NK, okay I will call you NK.¡± Kyung-Soo just nodded. ¡°You acknowledge that there is a power dynamic between us.¡±

    Kyung-Soo was still confused. ¡°What are you talking about? I am an employee of K&Q just like you. What power dynamic?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but you are an employee that can get me fired but I can never do that.¡± She pointed toward both herself and Kyung-Soo and said, ¡°so, this... will never be sessful.¡±

    He smiled at her and stepped forward, ¡°so, you think something can happen between us.¡±

    Nivritti exhaled in frustration and looked below. She then screamed in whispers to Kyung-Soo, ¡°oh my God! Are you dumb? Okay, I was trying not to be rude, but let me be blunt, I don¡¯t like you. God! I hate young people.¡±

    As soon as she finished speaking, she crossed Kyung-Soo, unlocked the door, and ran away from there leaving Kyung-Soo perplexed.

    ¡°Young people?!! What did she mean by young people? How old does she think she is? 80? She is younger than me, right? Oh shit, now I don¡¯t know her age as well as her name. I am an idiot,¡± he scolded himself.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11: The Idea

    Kyung-Soo was waiting for his team members to arrive when his phone rang. It was Hu Bong. He realised it was time for the meeting with the script team. He jumped with happiness. He would get to meet her.

    ¡°You are happy and here early,¡± a voicemented from behind him.

    He turned and saw his team members arriving. He smiled and said, ¡°you guys arete.¡±

    ¡°No, we are on time. You never said why are you here early,¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°Oh, Hu-ssi called me, he wanted me to attend the meeting with the script team,¡± informed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You?¡± Young-Chul was shocked.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry, Young. He just said the script team had something special this time. It¡¯s about Rencontre,¡± expostted Kyung-Soo.

    .....

    ¡°Don¡¯t be sorry, I am happy, those meetings are boring AF,¡±ughed Young-Chul.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± Kyung-Soo was taken aback.

    ¡°Yeah, Choi-ssi stands up and speaks and speaks. I fell asleep many times,¡± Young-Chul rolled his eyes.

    ¡°Really! Only Choi-ssi speaks?¡± Kyung-Soo was slowly losing interest in the meeting.

    ¡°What do you think? He is the head of the department. He exins everything like a pro,¡± exined Young-Chul. Kyung-Soo closed his eyes and remembered Nivritti¡¯s face. He now didn¡¯t care about the meeting. He just wanted to look at her again.

    ¡°Okay, you guys start with the practice, I will be back soon,¡± said Kyung-Soo and started walking out of the room.

    ¡°Okay,¡± said Young-Chul.

    Kyung-Soo had no idea if she would be in the meeting. All he knew was that if he went to the script department, he could catch a glimpse of her and that would be enough for him. Excited, he entered the lift and pressed the button for the 11th floor.

    He entered the script department and looked around; all were busy with their work. He looked for Nivritti, but she was absent. He was disheartened. The reason he came to the meeting was nowhere to be found. Even the CEO had not arrived.

    He thought of waiting for everyone in the conference room. With his head held low, he entered the conference room and his eyes fell on the legs of a girl. They were the same legs. She was not wearing her overcoat now. He saw that she was wearing a blue shirt and white skirt. His eyes fell on her footheels. They were pink and smooth. She was cing some papers on every seat.

    He was over the moon, the girl he wanted to talk to was before his eyes that too alone. His heart jumped out of his chest. He had no idea how to start the conversation. There was so much he wanted to talk to her about.

    ¡°Ask her name. Ask her name.¡± His inner voice shouted at him. He closed the door behind him, and the girl turned.

    She was shocked to see him. For a moment she lost her voice and then asked him what he was doing there.

    He tried to be witty and then they had a tiff. He even locked the door so that she could run away from him as she did in the morning, but she scolded him, called him something along the line of a child and ran away from there, again.

    ¡°What did she mean by young people? Oh god! I have so many more questions now,¡± said Kyung-Soo as he saw her running away again.

    While Kyung-Soo was pondering over what Nivritti said to him, she came out of the conference room and ran to her seat, stealthily. She sat in her seat and grabbed her bottle of water. She sipped and gulped hard. Her heart was racing fast. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

    ¡°Nivritti!¡± said Chung-Ho.

    She jumped out of her seat.

    Chung-Ho was surprised at her reaction. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, fine,¡± she lied.

    ¡°Done with the copies?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Mr Choi. I have ced them in the conference room and Mr Nam Kyung-Soo is in the conference room.

    ¡°What?¡± Chung-Ho was surprised. Every head lifted up after they heard the name ¡®Nam Kyung-Soo¡¯. Everyone was surprised that they didn¡¯t notice hime in. It was rare for him to attend the script meetings. He would asionallye to get the scripts but never attend a meeting.

    ¡°He is here. These meetings are often attended by Young,¡±mented Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I asked him here,¡± amanding voice spoke from the entrance of the room. Everyone looked at the voice and immediately stood up and bowed down to Hu Bong.

    ¡°Hu-ssi, annyeonghaseyo,¡± greeted Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo, Choi-ssi,¡± Bong greeted back.

    ¡°You asked King toe?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°This will be a different event, I think the leader should approve the idea,¡± exined Bong.

    ¡°That¡¯s actually a very good point,¡± smiled Chung-Ho.

    ¡°So, let¡¯s go. Finance team and marketing team will be arriving soon?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°Yes, Hu-ssi. I have informed them. They are on their way,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Good! Get your team then,¡± said Bong and walked inside the conference room.

    ¡°Seong Dae, Hae-Ran, Jae-Hwa, you all be joining Nivritti in this meeting,¡± announced Chung-Ho

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi,¡± all nodded in unison.

    They all stood up and went inside the conference room. Nivritti noticed that Hu Bong had his hand over Kyung-Soo¡¯s shoulder and was smiling at him. It appeared as if the father was proud of his child. She smiled at the scene. It was too pure.

    Hu Bong noticed the arrival of the script team and they all took their seat. Hu Bong sat next to Kyung-Soo and the script team sat in front of them.

    Kyung-Soo was happy to see that she came back. She was part of the script team that was allowed to sit in the presentation. He was impressed too as this was just her second day. Being a part of an important team that too on the second day was outstanding.

    He could not take his eyes off her. She had minimal make-up on, yet she was beautiful even though she had dark circles. She used to work all day, all night on aputer, it was obvious that she would have dark circles. Her blue shirt wasplimenting her wheatish skin. her braid was softly resting over her right shoulder and reached till her stomach. He knew the length of her hair, hell, he even touched her hair. It was as soft as her skin.

    Nivritti was actively avoiding his gaze. She kept looking at her papers but was aware of Kyung-Soo¡¯s gaze.

    She was so rxed when the rest of the team arrived. For a few minutes, all exchanged greeting and the atmosphere was happy. The marketing team and finance team chose to sit next to Kyung-Soo. After everyone was seated, Chung-Ho stood up. Kyung-Soo remembered the words of Young. ¡°Only Choi-ssi speaks and the meeting is always boring.¡±

    He exhaled loudly and tightened his seatbelt for the boring session. But he was also happy that she was sitting before him to distract him.

    ¡°First of all, thank you foring here to listen to the idea prepared by our team. The idea is in its budding state, nothing is rigid. Improvements can be done at ater stage. Please refrain from asking questions during the presentation. Time for questions will be at the end of the presentation.¡±

    He then looked at Nivritti and announced, ¡°this is Nivritti; she is our new script coordinator from India. This is her idea.¡± Kyung-Soo was more impressed now. Second day and she had the best idea. Chung-Ho continued, ¡°She joined us two days ago so don¡¯t be too harsh on her. Well, you can be a little harsh as she has a lot of experience in this field.¡± All smiled at his tease.

    ¡°So, your name is Nivritti,¡± Kyung-Soo thought and smiled at her.

    Avoiding his gaze, she stood up and Chung-Ho went back to his seat. ¡°Hello everyone,¡± she bowed down. ¡°I would like to begin by thanking all of you for giving me the opportunity to work here.¡± She took a deep breath and started her presentation, ¡°So, for every ¡®Rencontre¡¯ you have been doing live videos, posting short videos, performing concerts FOR ASDians but this year we want you to do all those things WITH them.

    All looked at her confused, but she continued, ¡°We want them to participate in the ¡®Rencontre¡¯.¡±

    ¡°What? What?¡± The finance team was worried.

    ¡°As you know many writes fan fiction, many edit ASD videos, many acts and insert themselves in ASD video beautifully so we want them to use their skills WITH ASD. Seven lucky ASDians will be given chance to write a five-minute video, direct the members in it and edit the same. So basically, ASDians will get to spend a whole day with their biases. We will release the video and behind the scenes on each day of the celebration, i.e., 7 days, 7 videos and 7 behind-the-scenes videos. Rules for the participant will be following.¡±

    She picked up the sheet of paper and started reading the rules. Everyone looked at their copies while she kept reading

    ¡°1. You can only use one member from the team in your video.

    2. Video cannot exceed the time limit of 5 minutes or word limit of 650 words so the script should be written ordingly.

    3. ASDians will only direct but cannot act in the video.

    4. Intimate scenes or violent scenes or adult scenes will be grounds for rejection.

    5. Script writing software provided by K&Q should only be used.

    6. Six blog sites with Script writing software will be set up ording to the continent.

    7. Entry fee for thepetition is $20.

    8. Winners will have to travel to Korea and stay in Korea for two days.¡± She ced the paper down.

    ¡°So mostly, this is a gist. We can borate on it further if you like the idea of celebrating with ASDians rather than performing for them.¡±

    She finished her presentation and looked at everyone.

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12: The Feasibility

    Kyung-Soo was too immersed in her presentation. He was not ready for her to speak. He thought Chung-Ho would give the presentation but to his surprise, she spoke the entire time. She was confident, well-spoken, held the attention of the room with ease, all in all, a good speaker.

    He was fully engrossed in her idea. It was something new, they never did anything like that.

    After she was finished with her presentation, no one spoke for a while, all kept thinking about it deeply. Chung-Ho was getting concerned as he didn¡¯t want to see the idea getting rejected, it was after all a brilliant one.

    Jae-Hwa looked at Nivritti, she was on the verge of biting her nail, but she kept standing stationary in her position waiting for an answer. Even Jae-Hwa¡¯s heart was beating fast thinking about Nivritti.

    Hu Bong crossed his fingers and ced his forefingers over her chin and suddenly spoke, ¡°So, finance team, is this idea feasible?¡±

    His voice made everyone think fast. Everyone was still pondering over her idea, some were still reading her idea again in the copy she provided them.

    A grey-haired, smart-looking, bespectacled man from the finance team looked at Hu Bong and spoke up. It was clear that he was doing some calctions in his brain. ¡°Um... Okay... if we bring 7 people to Korea, uh... first of all, we cannot even guess which countries they will be from so we cannot calcte travel expenses, for now, then 7 rooms for two days, their food and travel to local shooting sites, 7 different camera crew, maybe we need to hire a few actors that would depend on the script. Ahh... there are a lot of unknown variables for now. It looks expensive but we have never done anything like this, it will be something new that our fans require, so I¡¯ll say yes, it is feasible.¡±

    .....

    The script department was happy to hear that. Then Nivritti interjected, ¡°If I may, we have roughly 40 million ASDians paying $20 so the revenue generated will be $800 million. Let¡¯s just say to be on the safe side, only 20 million ASDians participate then too we get $400 million. And why do you want to keep participants in separate hotel rooms, keep all of them in a single room; let them exchange their stories of how their biases treat them, what were their experiences, get their consent, send a camera crew inside and release the video as a bonus feature.¡±

    Bong jumped from his seat with excitement after Nivritti¡¯s exnation. ¡°Oh... I love this idea. Also, we will be selling concert tickets, merchandise; it is feasible.¡± He pped his hands loudly.

    But Kyung-Soo was not ready to let Nivritti enjoy so soon. He looked directly into her eyes and smirked, ¡°I don¡¯t approve of this idea.¡±

    Everyone was taken aback. The finance team was in, the CEO was in, then what happened to Kyung-Soo? Everyone looked at Kyung-Soo in disbelief. Nivritti was shocked as to why was he against her.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Bong returned to his seat and asked.

    ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m in a position of power because I have to speak on behalf of boys, and I know they don¡¯t like to act. They are performers, singers, dancers but not actors,¡± said Kyung-Soo directly staring at Nivritti.

    She immediately remembered her power-dynamic talk she had with him a few minutes ago. She now understood everything. He was retaliating.

    Nivritti thought, ¡°he is taking revenge, well I¡¯m ready too.¡±

    She interrupted before anyone could say anything to Kyung-Soo, ¡°No, you are not; you are not in any position because you are not their spokesperson.¡±

    Every head turned from Kyung-Soo and looked at Nivritti. The new girl had guts, she was challenging Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes, I am. I¡¯m their leader,¡± protested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°A leader¡¯s job is to discuss things with his team, not impose his decisions on them and I don¡¯t see you picking up your phone and discussing with them you are just assuming what they will say but I have trust that they would love to interact with ASDians,¡± challenged Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes widen as she counteracted him in front of everyone. He was the leader of the most sessful group in Korea and a new girl was lecturing him about what it meant to be a leader.

    Kyung-Soo smiled at the back of his head and thought, ¡°yesterday you were a puddle of tears and look at you today making me speechless.¡±

    ¡°She is right, let¡¯s call boys and ask them their opinion, King,¡± exhorted Bong. ¡°This will be good for us as we have never done such a thing before. You interact with ASDians in every fan meeting but letting them work with you for a day would be first among all K-pop groups. We could be a pioneer in treating our fans right.¡±

    Kyung-Soo epted defeat after Bong exined it to him. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll give them a call.¡± Kyung-Soo stood up and went outside to call his group. He went next to a quiet area near the copy room and dialled Korain¡¯s number.

    Meanwhile, Chung-Ho looked at all the seats that were upied and those that were not. He calcted the number of copies they would need. He stood from his seat and whispered to Nivritti, ¡°we would need two more copies. Go, Run.¡± Nivritti nodded and Chung-Ho signalled Jaw-Hwa to go with her.

    Nivritti and Jae-Hwa moved toward the copy room when Nivritti saw Kyung-Soo talking on the phone with his team members. She hesitated for a second but then went inside the copy room.

    She ced the paper in the copier and printed themand to print two more copies. She noticed that Jae-Hwa was staring at her with astonishment. She wanted to ask something but had no idea how to.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°How could you talk to King like that? Were you not afraid?¡± Nivritti was shocked yet impressed.

    ¡°What is there to be afraid of? He is just an employee like us,¡± she deliberately spoke loudly so he could hear.

    ¡°Hey! Lower your voice. He is just outside. What if he gets you fired?¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti rolled her eyes and raised her voice slightly, ¡°I don¡¯t care. If I get fired, I get fired. I don¡¯t deal with childish tantrums. Let¡¯s go.¡± She was done with the copier. She grabbed Jae-Hwa and forced her to walk toward the conference room.

    Kyung-Soo came out of the corner and stared at Nivritti. He shook his head in confusion.

    ¡°Childish tantrums!!! When did I throw tantrums? And why does she keep referring to me as a child? What the hell is her age? 90?¡± mumbled Kyung-Soo. ¡°God! I have so many questions.¡±

    He followed them and went inside. She was cing two more copies around the conference table. The finance team and marketing team moved away from Kyung-Soo so that the whole boy band could seat together.

    After Nivritti was done cing the copy of her presentation, she came back to her seat, and all started waiting for the ASD team to arrive.

    Slowly they all heard amotion outside the room as everyone was excited to see the whole team together before their eyes. One by one the whole team started entering the conference room and all the girls stood outside the room to have a look at them for once. The boys politely bowed down to everyone and took their seats.

    Chung-Ho stood from his seat, opened the door, and just gave everyone a death stare. Every member of the script department returned back to their seat and themotion died down.

    The first to enter the room was Jee Jung-Hwa. The cute boy bowed down to everyone and sat next to Kyung-Soo. One by one every member started entering in taking their seat next to their team member. Thest one to arrive was Kang Thae.

    First, he bowed down to Bong and then Chung-Ho. Before he could greet everyone, his eyes fell on Nivritti.

    He clenched his jaws and his fist as soon as he saw her. His blood boiled. All he could remember was that she hurt his dog. With red nose and wide eyes, he stared at her. All the team members were sitting but he could not move after he saw her. His whole body froze with anger. He gritted his teeth and shouted at her, ¡°how dare you stand in front of me after what you did yesterday?¡±

    Immediately Young-Chul stood up and scolded Thae, ¡°Kat, stop.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Thae shouted. ¡°I don¡¯t want her here. I look at her face, I think about Yong, and I get angry.¡±

    Kyung-Soo looked at Nivritti. She was looking at the floor, unable to look Thae in his eyes. He knew she was feeling guilty. Then he realised that she had no idea that the dog was fine. ¡°Shut Up, Kat! Our Yong is absolutely fine, did you tell her that before shouting at her?¡±

    She was silently listening to Thae because she knew she hurt the dog but as soon as she heard Kyung-Soo¡¯s words, she looked at him. He was speaking while looking at her. For a few seconds, they keep looking into each other¡¯s eyes as if he was telling her that none of it was her fault, and she was guilt-free.

    ¡°You scolded her because you thought Yong got hurt and again you are scolding her even when he is fine. Make up your mind Kat,¡± Kyung-Soo scolded him.

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13: The Approval

    The moment Thae entered the room he lost his mind. He refused to sit down. All his team members waited for him, but he kept standing near them. He started spewing hate for Nivritti.

    Thae was ripping her apart and everyone just kept listening on. The whole script team, the marketing team, the finance team, none of them had any idea how to stop Thae. Only his team members stopped him, well tried to stop him. But he was not ready to listen. Kyung-Soo even scolded him, but Thae was not done.

    Nivritti was feeling guilty, so she epted every word that Thae said but then Kyung-Soo pointed out that the dog was not even hurt, he was fine. Kyung-Soo scolded him again.

    But Thae was not ready to back down. ¡°I don¡¯t care. Yong was lucky that he didn¡¯t get hurt. He was running all around the office. He stopped near her, she could have picked him up, made sure he was safe but no she hit him with her chair. He is just a baby. How can a human be so cruel? Do you even have your humanity or you are just mean and nasty?¡± Thae¡¯s words were like a dagger to Nivritti.

    Nivritti let him speak yesterday, she let him scold her as she thought she was in the wrong. But it was clear that she didn¡¯t hurt the dog and Thae was holding her responsible for the thing that never even happened. Slowly she was losing her cool.

    All members kept pulling Thae¡¯s hand trying to make him sit but in vain. He kept standing and staring Nivritti down. Hatred was written all over his face. He called her nasty. She anything but nasty. She kept trying to control her anger but failed and shouted at him, ¡°Shut up!! Just shut up.¡±

    Thae looked at her with an open mouth.

    .....

    Hu Bong stood up immediately and said, ¡°Whoa!! Whoa!! Everyone, calm down.¡± Even Kyung-Soo was shocked to hear her talk like that.

    And it was Nivritti¡¯s turn not to back down. She humbly looked at Bong and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, if you want to fire me, please go ahead but there is a limit to the stubbornness of a child.¡±

    Kyung-Soo facepalmed mentally. He thought, ¡°there she goes again with her child talk. Now I need to know her age. Is she 100 years old?¡±

    Nivritti after addressing Bong, looked directly at Thae and continued but in a harsher tone, ¡°I have always heard how kind and polite you guys are, but you keep screaming at me as if I am a criminal. I get that you love your dog but is it okay to hate someone because of him? No human in one¡¯s right mind would run away from a puppy then why did I run away, have you ever thought about that or are you just dumb?¡± everyone gasped as she called him dumb. Thae too was taken aback to give her any response. He just kept listening to her silently.

    ¡°I am extremely sorry for not taking care of your dog because I can never take care of dogs. Dogs scare me, I have cynophobia.¡± She wanted to move ahead and look into Thae¡¯s eyes closely but there were a lot of people. She raised her voice instead, ¡°Do you even know what that is? No, why would you? You have this prejudice that if a human being can¡¯t look at a dog; one must be unkind, cruel, wicked, heartless, nasty and whatnot. And saying those nasty things to me what that makes you? Don¡¯t judge people based on your assumptions, it makes you look like an idiot.¡±

    ¡°She called me an idiot,¡± murmured Thae.

    But no one heard him, Nivritti continued with her rant, ¡°And why did you let him run away from you in the first ce, isn¡¯t taking care of your dog your responsibility? Why don¡¯t you scold yourself for letting him run around the office? Now sit down before I spew more hate towards you which I don¡¯t want to do.¡±

    Shocked, Thae went and sat at the only remaining seat next to Jeong-Eun. He was looking down at the table, his brain churning ideas after ideas. He listened to her every word but never believed her.

    Nivritti looked at Hu Bong and asked for permission, ¡°May I proceed with the presentation?¡± Bong signalled her to continue with her presentation. Thae was still sitting down with his head hung in shame after the scolding. But he was not ready to ept defeat.

    Meanwhile, Nivritti again repeated every word of her presentation carefully so that everyone could understand what she was trying to do and ultimately approve of her idea. Afterpletion, she reached the side table where water bottles were kept. She opened a bottle and emptied it within seconds. After shouting and exining for long her throat waspletely dry.

    Kyung-Soo looked at her. The ebb and flow of her throat while drinking water made him gulp with lust. His eyes widened but he controlled himself before anyone could notice his reaction. He wanted to run his finger over her neck. He grabbed a piece of paper and crumpled it in his fist under the table to control his emotions.

    After drinking a whole bottle, she breathed heavily and calmed herself down. She looked at seven boys sitting before her. Thae was still not able to look her into her eyes.

    ¡°Do you guys have any questions?¡± she asked.

    No one spoke. All were stunned, first by her scolding and then by her presentation. Kyung-Soo was still pondering over what he just saw. He gulped hard but spoke nothing.

    The first to speak was Jung-Hwa. ¡°um... our ¡®Rencontre¡¯ will be for 7 days so can we allow winners to be here for all 7 days so that they can attend the concert.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry; I have no say in that, so you need to ask that to finance guys,¡± she answered politely.

    Before the finance team could answer Bong replied, ¡°that¡¯s a good suggestion, June.¡± He then looked at Nivritti and the script team and said, ¡°Let¡¯s add that in their winnings. They will get a chance to direct ASD in a video; spend a day with their bias and tickets for the final concert.¡±

    After hearing his input Nivritti looked at Jung-Hwa and smiled. Her smile melted his heart, and he smiled back at her.

    ¡°Will you set up the blog sites?¡± inquired Korain.

    ¡°I get that I¡¯m Indian so I must be a software engineer, but no blog setting will be done by the IT department,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Korain was shocked and ashamed for making that assumption. It was a stereotype and he knew it. he immediately contrasted, ¡°no, that was not what I was saying. I just have a few ideas.¡±

    ¡°I was kidding,¡± she said with a bright smile on her face which made Korain smile as well.

    ¡°I will inform them to talk to you Coin; you can give them your suggestions directly,¡± suggested Chung-Ho.

    ¡°You said 6 blog sites ording to the continents, but there are 7 continents,¡± Thae tried to show off his intelligence.

    Nivritti raised her eyebrow and mocked him, ¡°how many ASDians do you think are living in Antarctica?¡± she realised that she was being harsh to him so she controlled herself and replied, ¡°we can merge Australia and Antarctica in one as per your suggestion. Thank you for your idea.¡± She politely bowed down to him.

    Kyung-Soo kept listening to what everyone had to say. But his mind was focused on Nivritti.

    ¡°Who will approve the scripts?¡± interjected Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Production team,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°So, you guys will read each and every script and select the winning ones,¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes, King,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°No, If and that¡¯s a very big if, if my team likes the idea, I will approve the scripts for each member,¡± announced Kyung-Soo. Everyone was stunned.

    ¡°What? But guys already have such a hectic schedule, why you would want to add on more work?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Because we will be in the video written by people we don¡¯t know. We don¡¯t approve your work because we have been working with you for years and we have built that trust through years,¡± answered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°How do you want to do this?¡± asked Bong.

    Kyung-Soo leaned back in his chair. ¡°First, let me ask them what they think about this idea. So, guys what say?¡± he turned to look at his team members.

    ¡°I like it; this will bring our fans closer to us,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Me too,¡± said Him-Chan and Jung-Hwa simultaneously.

    ¡°You know I¡¯m always ready to try new things,¡± nodded Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I like it; I¡¯ll get a chance to get away from you guys for at least a day,¡± joked Korain. The atmosphere was too gloomy, so he tried to lighten the mood of the conference room. Everyoneughed except Thae.

    ¡°Kat?¡± Kyung-Soo addressed him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do whatever you tell me to do Kyungsoona Hyung.¡±

    ¡°Okay, my guys are in. Congrattions Miss Nivritti, your very first idea got approved,¡± he smirked at her. She bowed down to him and everyone pped. He knew this was her idea now he had to do something that he could see her every day. He could not wait for the meeting or his trip to the script team to catch a glimpse of her.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14: The Meeting Is Adjourned

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s mind was working fast. He had to think quick about how he was going to see her every day. If he could not see her every day, how would he find everything about her? For now, he just knew her name and that she had a temper. Well, Thae deserved her scolding. He didn¡¯t know the whole truth and was angry at her without proper reason.

    Kyung-Soo started with his n, ¡°Now the matter of how I would approach this, let me ask you Choi-ssi; who are going to read all scripts?¡±

    Chung-Ho thought for a minute and then replied, ¡°Um... Nivritti as it¡¯s her idea, then we need a script editor so, Seong-ssi will be best for you as you are all more familiar with him, and Jae-Hwa, she is a junior scriptwriter and would benefit from this experience, so yes these three and rest of the team will be busy with your daily work.¡±

    Nivritti beamed up with happiness over Chung-Ho¡¯s choice. She was d that Jae-Hwa was in her team. She too looked at Nivritti and grinned from ear to ear.

    Nivritti was oblivious to the fact that not only Kyung-Soo, but another member of the team was staring at her pretty smile. First, all the team members were scared of her as she shouted at Thae but after hearing what she had to say, they realised that Thae judged her without having all the facts.

    But then one by one she started smiling at them. When team members would add to her idea, she would smile, when team members would speak for her idea, she would smile. As scary as she was while she was scolding Thae, simrly she looked kind and polite when she would smile.

    ¡°Then these three need to be with us all the time. They can keep selecting suitable scripts for me to read and as soon as I get time between my busy schedules, I¡¯ll scan them,¡± continued Kyung-Soo.

    .....

    It was like a shock to Nivritti. She would have to spend days before him. She didn¡¯t want to be anywhere near him. She didn¡¯t want history to repeat itself. So, in order to avoid him, she said, ¡°or we can keep scanning scripts for you, and you cane in between for a whole day, and we can discuss scripts with you then.¡±

    Kyung-Soo immediately understood that she was trying to avoid him. He smirked at her and thought, ¡°trying to spoil my n of seeing you daily, Ms Nivritti? I will never let that happen.¡± He then said out loud, ¡°I don¡¯t have even a day to spare. We got our schedule for the next 2 months and it is jam-packed. Moreover, Rencontre is in 6 months, so I don¡¯t think your suggestion is going to work for me. You guys need to work with me on this.¡±

    Everyone knew that Kyung-Soo was right. Their schedule was always packed. They were very hardworking. They established themselves as an international brand just by working hard. If one would say boyband, the first name on everyone¡¯s mind would be ASD. Theirs were really a story of rags to riches.

    ¡°Okay, King, they will do as you say. Give them your schedule so that they know where they have to go,¡± said Chung-Ho. Nivritti was disheartened. Now she will have to be with him every day. But Kyung-Soo was over the moon. What he wanted, he received, he would get to see her every day.

    ¡°No need, I¡¯ll send for them ording to my schedule,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But it will be better if you give them the schedule so that they can be prepared in advance,¡± interjected Bong.

    Kyung-Soo could not say no to him. ¡°Okay Hu-ssi, Johan, provide her with our schedule. Congrats again, Ms Nivritti.¡± He looked at her and smiled.

    Everyone was happy as the very first idea was approved. They would not have toe back again and again for new ideas.

    Bong pped his hands, and everyone looked at him. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start working on this idea.¡±

    He addressed Nivritti first. ¡°Ms Nivritti, make the proposal by tomorrow, add the ideas that were discussed in the meeting and submit the proposal to the marketing team. Provide a copy to Korain too so that he can share his ideas with the IT department.¡±

    He then addressed the rest of the team starting with the marketing team. ¡°Marketing team, work with her and get this idea into the world within a week as it will take a lot of time to sort through the scripts we would receive, and we only have 6 months.¡±

    ¡°Korain, get the meeting with the IT department and share your ideas.¡±

    ¡°Finance, get ready to loosen your purse because this is going to be huge. And nothing should be cheap. We want our fans to enjoy as much as they can. They must love Rencontre.¡±

    Second, to thest, he chose to reprimand Thae, ¡°Kat, try to control your anger. I don¡¯t want any more outbursts.¡±

    ¡°Andst of all, well done Script team and wee Nivritti. That was an amazing idea. Thank you for choosing to work with us.¡±

    Nivritti bowed down with gratitude and answered, ¡°thank you so much for your kind words, sir. I am happy to work here.¡±

    ¡°Okay the meeting is adjourned people, get ready for a lot of work and then a lot of fun,¡± smiled Bong.

    Everyone stood up smiling and went over to Nivritti to congratte her. The marketing team and finance team were the first to follow Hu Bong out of the conference room. Chung-Ho signalled the rest of the Script team to leave, and he remained behind to help Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo didn¡¯t want to leave but Thae dragged him outside, he had to talk to him urgently. But Korain approached her and shook hands with her.

    ¡°It was a good idea,¡± smiled Korain.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± She smiled back. ¡°I will get you the proposal as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Ohh no worries, I wille and get it from you early morning tomorrow,¡± replied Korain.

    She noticed Jung-Hwa was standing behind him.

    She addressed him politely, ¡°your idea was great.¡±

    ¡°It was just an extension of your idea,¡± praised Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°You care a lot about your fans, your idea proved that,¡± Nivritti praised him back.

    ¡°That we do. Whatever we are, we are because of them, because of their love and support,¡± answered Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°There is no doubt about that,¡± Nivritti could not stop smiling.

    Him-Chan was done waiting for his turn. He came forward and presented his hand to her. ¡°Congrattions on your idea being approved.¡±

    She took his hand and shook it. ¡°Thank you so much.¡±

    ¡°I will get you, our schedule. I just have to get it from my bag pack,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°No hurries. You can take your time,¡± said Nivritti humbly. Him-Chan smiled at her politeness.

    Young-Chul and Jeong-Eun too congratted her, and everyone left her alone with Chung-Ho.

    After everyone left, Chung-Ho said, ¡°it was a good meeting, Congrattions, Nivritti.¡±

    She looked at him. He was looking proudly at her. ¡°Thank you, Mr Choi, for all your support.¡± She knew if he wouldn¡¯t have given her the courage, she would not have spoken, and her idea would still be an idea that never saw the light of the day.

    ¡°I could not protect you yesterday, I am sorry,¡± Chung-Ho¡¯s face dropped low with shame.

    ¡°No, no, never say that. It¡¯s not your fault,¡± she ran to him and ced her hand over his shoulder andforted him.

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault either,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°No one knew that I have cynophobia,¡± said Nivritti, sadly.

    ¡°But still he was harsh with you. I should have stopped him,¡± Chung-Ho was filled with guilt. Not only didn¡¯t he protect her from Thae, but he also didn¡¯t protect her from his team. No one talked to her for a whole day, and he never said a word to any of them. Nor did he say any supportive word to Nivritti, not until Jae-Hwa pointed out how everyone treated her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it. What done is done. Let¡¯s start from the beginning,¡± she smiled at him and assured him.

    With her assurance, he lifted his head and looked at Nivritti. She was kind enough to forgive him. ¡°Of course. You cane to me anytime you want, with any problem you have.¡±

    ¡°I will keep that in mind,¡± said Nivritti, sweetly.

    ¡°Okay, take this paper. I have written the minutes of the meeting in it. Add the terms in your proposal,¡± Chung-Ho shoved a piece of paper in her face.

    Her heart was filled with warmth and gratitude. ¡°Thank you, Mr Choi.¡± She looked at the paper, whatever they discussed in the meeting was written on it in bullet points.

    ¡°You are very wee. I am d that you came to work with us. I know our rivals too were in the market to grab you and your services,¡± blurted out Chung-Ho.

    Hisment made her jump with surprise. ¡°How do you...?¡± she was unable toplete her sentence.

    ¡°I do my research, Nivritti. Your work, your ideas were excellent and the rmendation your previous employer gave was exceptional. He praised your brain so much,¡±mended Chung-Ho.

    ¡°He is too kind,¡± extremely fondly she remembered her previous employer, DEEP, a famous production house in India.

    ¡°May I know why you left that job when they were so fond of you?¡± inquired Chung-Ho.

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15: The Test

    Nivritti was shocked. Chung-Ho asked her something she never would have dreamed of in her life. She thought she was safe from personal questions in a professional setting. But she was wrong. She was not ready for the question, but she had to reply. She could not leave him hanging.

    ¡°Um... I needed change, Mr Choi,¡± replied Nivritti and avoided eye contact with him.

    ¡°That¡¯s the code word for personal problems,¡±mented Chung-Ho.

    ¡°You can say that,¡± smiled Nivritti, sadly.

    He understood that she was not ready to share her personal problems with anyone. So, he said, ¡°Okay, then no more personal questions, let me help you get rid of these papers.¡±

    She looked around the conference table. There were a lot of papers lying around. She made over 15 copies of her presentation. ¡°What are we going to do with these?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Recycle, of course,¡± replied Chung-Ho. Nivritti just smiled. She was happy that K&Q was trying to think about the environment. But it would have been better to avoid paper altogether. As she was new, she didn¡¯tment on it.

    .....

    Suddenly Chung-Ho said, ¡°Oh, I forgot to tell you. You need to go to the IT department and get yourself apany-issuedptop.¡±

    ¡°I have aptop at my home,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I am afraid you cannot work on a personalputer when the work is about K&Q,¡± warned Chung-Ho. His tone was serious.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Security issues. We have had a lot of incidents where rivalpanies have tried to sabotage or steal our ideas through people¡¯s personalputers,¡± informed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Corporate espionage??¡± Nivritti was shocked.

    ¡°You have no idea,¡± Chung-Ho raised his eyebrows. ¡°They will also give you an encrypted pen drive and a hard drive. Everything is encrypted in such a way that only ourpany¡¯s pen drive and hard drives can be used with ourputer.¡±

    ¡°Wow! Really?¡± Nivritti was impressed. She knew that stealing ideas was the mostmon offence in copywriting business. So, was aware of what mediapanies had to deal with.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s extreme,¡±mented Nivritti.

    ¡°Just imagine what if your idea gets stolen,¡± Chung-Ho presented her with a scenario.

    ¡°I would be devasted and pissed,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Exactly, that¡¯s why so many precautions. So, after we are done here, go get yourptop,¡±manded Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Mr Choi,¡± nodded Nivritti.

    Nivritti collected her copy of the presentation, ced the paper that Chung-Ho gave her and ced all of them in a single file. She then shut down theptop that was inside the conference room that everyone used for the presentation and started collecting the remaining presentation copies along with Chung-Ho.

    They were in the middle of cing back the chairs and collecting the papers when the door of the conference room opened, and Kyung-Soo walked in. Both Nivritti and Chung-Ho looked at him with surprise.

    ¡°Yes, King, do you need anything?¡± asked Chung-Ho politely.

    ¡°Choi-ssi, could you step outside for a moment? Kat needs to talk to her,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti¡¯s heart stopped. Her jaw dropped to the ground. Her mind started working overtime thinking about what Thae was going to talk to her. Was he going to take revenge? She shouted at him so was he going to shout at her again? What was going in his mind? Kyung-Soo knew that she was afraid of dogs, then why was he taking Thae¡¯s side?

    ¡°He will have to talk it before me,¡± said Chung-Ho, firmly.

    ¡°Please, Choi-ssi,¡± begged Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You heard what Hu-ssi said, he needs to control his anger,¡± said Chung-Ho. He too was sure that Thae was going to scold her again.

    ¡°He is not going to shout at her, I assure you. Please trust me,¡± pleaded Kyung-Soo.

    Chung-Ho thought for a minute. He knew Kyung-Soo was very much capable of controlling Thae. He looked at Nivritti and asked, ¡°will you be, ok?¡±

    Nivritti gulped but had no answer. Chung-Ho went up to her, ced his hand over her shoulder and said, ¡°I will be here, you just say the word.¡±

    But Kyung-Soo interrupted, ¡°I will be here for her. I give you my word, he will not shout at her.¡± there was a hint of authority in his voice. Chung-Ho understood that he really wanted Thae to talk with her.

    ¡°Is that okay with you?¡± Chung-Ho asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, Mr Choi,¡± nodded Nivritti.

    Chung-Ho patted her on her shoulder, took all the papers with him and left the room. Kyung-Soo moved toward her and stopped when he was close.

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic,¡± he looked her in her eyes.

    ¡°What?¡± she asked as he was confused.

    Kyung-Soo stood next to her, faced the door, and shouted, ¡°Kat, get in.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t understand what was happening. Why did he ask her not to panic? What were these two going to do?

    To her shock, the door opened and Thae walked in with Yong in his arms. A yelp escaped her mouth and she jumped to her side. She had no memory of how she ended up grabbing Kyung-Soo¡¯s arms tightly, but she was clinging to him for her dear life.

    Thae kept moving forward and Nivritti¡¯s hold was getting tighter. She dug her nails in Kyung-Soo¡¯s arms, but he didn¡¯t even flinch. Without saying a word, she kept staring at the dog.

    Thae was so sure that he didn¡¯t make a mistake, so he decided to test her. He wanted to punish her for scolding him before so many people. He dragged Kyung-Soo outside after the meeting and told him about his n. Kyung-Soo tried hard to stop him.

    ¡°Are you out of your mind?¡± asked Kyung-Soo in whispers.

    ¡°I know she is lying. She is trying to make me into a viin,¡±mented Thae.

    ¡°Thae, I saw the fear in her eyes. I know she is telling the truth,¡± exhorted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Then let me test it. If I am wrong, I will apologise,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°There is nothing to test, you are wrong,¡± chided Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°And what if I am not wrong?¡± counterpointed Thae.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± demanded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Get her fired,¡± Thae gritted his teeth.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. Everyone in the script department looked at them. Kyung-Soo lowered his voice and said, ¡°You are making a mistake, Thae.¡±

    ¡°Fine, then my n will prove it. I am ready to apologise to her if I am proven to be wrong,¡± spoke Thae.

    ¡°You won¡¯t rest till you do this, right?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, defeated.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I will help you. But after that, you will never open your mouth in front of any employee, ever,¡± ordered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I promise.¡±

    Thae ran to his security team and brought his dog with him. He had to know if he was right. He had to prove the girl wrong. He kept moving forward toward her. Her body kept freezing yet she was shivering violently.

    He chided, ¡°I wanted to see if you were telling the truth. Kyungsoona Hyung said he saw fear in your eyes yesterday, but I had to make sure. I never make mistake when ites to judging the character of a person. And I would like to be right this time too.¡± His eyebrows were knitted, and he was looking at her with disgust. He didn¡¯t like her at all. He wanted her gone at any cost because she hurt one thing precious to him.

    Thae took another step forward towards Nivritti. She didn¡¯t know why but the warmth of Kyung-Soo¡¯s hands gave her the courage to slightly move. Her voice came back, and she screamed loudly. She threw herself in Kyung-Soo¡¯s arms and hid herself in his chest.

    She shouted and pleaded and begged, ¡°please, please, please, take it away. Please.¡± She couldn¡¯t even look at the dog. She started sobbing.

    Her reaction shocked Thae to his core. The girl was telling the truth. She had Cynophobia. He was wrong. He judged her poorly. His sixth sense about judging the character of someone betrayed him for the first time in his life.

    Hearing her scream, every member of ASD came running in. They all stopped at the door as they saw Kyung-Soo hugging a girl. There was no room for any other person to get in. Chung-Ho tried making his way in but there was no space. He wanted to help Nivritti but had no way. He was lost in the sea of people.

    Thae¡¯s heart broke after he saw her shivering and wailing with fear. Kyung-Soo was holding her tightly in his arms.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough Thae, now are you satisfied? Get out, now,¡± Kyung-Soomanded. ¡°Everyone, get out of this room, NOW. Leave her alone,¡± he shouted at the top of his lungs. Rarely anyone had seen Kyung-Soo getting angry but once he got angry, it was impossible to calm him down.

    His team member knew that, and they all ran away from there after seeing his angry avatar. But Thae froze. He never thought that he would see such a violent reaction from Nivritti. He didn¡¯t know what to do. He just stood there holding Yong in his arms. Jeong-Eun grabbed the back cor of Thae¡¯s shirt and pulled him out of the room and locked the door.

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16: The Age Difference

    Everyone from the script team was staring at the ASD team members. They were standing guard, and no one tried to barge in after that. Though everyone saw what Thae did and how Nivritti reacted. All were feeling bad for Nivritti.

    ¡°Get out of my way,¡± Chung-Ho shouted.

    Everyone looked at him and he pushed and pulled and came before Thae and the rest of the team. They were standing in front of the door and were not letting anyone peek in. No one could hear what Kyung-Soo and Nivritti were talking about.

    No one was even sure that there would be a talk. They all saw her crying and were confident that she would keep crying. Poor girl, since the day she arrived, people kept giving her reasons to cry. This was supposed to be her day, but Thae spoiled it, again.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± shouted Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Choi-ssi, calm down,¡± assured Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°What did you do?¡± he ignored Jeong-Eun and directed his question to Thae.

    .....

    He had no idea how to answer. He was in shock at what he did. He traumatised an innocent girl. He was wrong. He was so wrong. ¡°I just... I just...¡± Thae eyes started tearing up. He hugged Yong tighter to find somefort.

    Chung-Ho looked at the dog and understood everything. ¡°She told you she was afraid of dogs but nooo, you had to test it. Have you lost your mind? What has gotten in you, Kang Thae?¡± he shouted at the tops of his lungs. Rarely anyone used their full name. Mostly, people used their stage name to address them, but Chung-Ho was not in the mood today.

    He was angry at Thae. He berated her yesterday even when she was innocent and today, he tormented her again, even after she told him about her condition. She was afraid of dogs. She could not look at them or touch them. But Thae shoved a dog in her face.

    Seeing him angry, Korain took the reins of the situation in his hands. His voice was enough to calm anyone down. ¡°Choi-ssi, Kyung-Soo is taking care of her. Calm down!¡± he said softly.

    But Chung-Ho was not having any of that. ¡°He could have stopped Thae. He let him test his theory.¡±

    ¡°This was the only way Thae could have learned a lesson. Kyung-Soo is very good at taking care of people, we can vouch for him. He is the best leader in the industry, after all,¡±forted Korain. Everyone else nodded in his favour.

    Slightly, Chung-Ho calmed down, ¡°I said I would protect her from now.¡± He hung his head low in shame. He failed again in protecting her.

    ¡°I promise to you, we will protect her from now on too. If anyone says anything to her, they will have to face us first, even Kat, happy?¡± reassured Korain.

    ¡°Not in the least,¡± replied Chung-Ho. ¡°If she doesn¡¯te in 5 minutes, I am going in.¡±

    ¡°Give him at least 10 minutes,¡± pleaded Young-Chul.

    ¡°She is scared, he needs time,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Fine, 10 minutes, Korain,¡± he folded his arms over his chest and kept staring at them. ¡°And you, get out of my sight,¡± he reprimanded Thae. Thae lowered his head and walked out of the room alone. No one apanied him. ¡°Rest of you, go back to work. This is not a drama for you to enjoy,¡± he chided his team.

    Everyone ran to their cubicle and sat down. Though they had theirputers on, none of them was working. Everyone was interested in what would happen next.

    Jae-Hwa was feeling sad for Nivritti. She got rebuked by Thae yesterday and he again hurt her. He didn¡¯t shout at her today but did something far worse. He brought her fear face to face with her. She wanted to run to her and console her. But now she would have to wait.

    Meanwhile, inside the conference room, Kyung-Soo closed his eyes to control his anger and grabbed Nivritti closer to himself. He ced one hand over her head and kept caressing her hair.

    ¡°You are okay. Everything is fine. Nothing will hurt you. I won¡¯t let anything happen to you; I promise,¡± heforted her. He kept rubbing her back to calm her down with his other hand.

    She kept her face buried in his chest and mourned, ¡°why didn¡¯t you stop him? You could have stopped him.¡±

    With all the sweetness he could muster in his voice, he said, ¡°I am sorry, Navratti, he needed to see that. He needed to feel guilty about how he treated you. Please forgive me.¡±

    She kept sobbing and he kept consoling her. Slowly the sobbing subsided, and consoling stopped. Yet both were not ready to break the embrace. His warmth wasforting her, and her touch was calming him down, his anger was gone.

    Kyung-Soo was smiling like an idiot. The angel he wanted to talk to was again in his arms. Now he even knew her name. He had no fear that any of his team members could barge in, he was too content hugging her.

    They kept hugging each other for a few minutes when Nivritti suddenly realised that she was hugging Kyung-Soo, again. She lifted her head from his chest and pushed him away with a jerk. That irked Kyung-Soo.

    She walked away from him and started clenching and unclenching her fists with frustration. ¡°Why does this keep happening to me? Just a few hours back I said this can never happen and yet this keeps happening. Why do I always end up hugging you?¡±

    ¡°You are asking me? I did nothing this time, you came and hugged me tightly,¡± stated Kyung-Soo. Nivritti knew he was right.

    She shook her head in disbelief and shouted, ¡°I know, you don¡¯t have to remind me.¡± She took a deep breath and continued, ¡°Okay, for thest time, this can never happen again. Say with me, this will never happen again.¡±

    Kyung-Soo was sad. ¡°Why do you keep saying nothing will happen between us? What the hell is your problem? Are you so gorgeous that I look ugly to you?¡± he asked.

    ¡°What do looks have to do with anything? Who in the hell called you ugly? Are they blind? And if you believed them then you really are a dumb child,¡± he barked at him for calling himself ugly.

    ¡°Again, with your child nonsense. Why do you keep calling us children... and... and young people?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo because he had enough.

    ¡°Because you all are children,¡± she gritted her teeth.

    ¡°And what is that supposed to mean?¡± questioned Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Alright, let me show you.¡±

    She moved to theptop that was in the room. She carried it to the conference table, ced it softly, fired it up and opened the K&Q website. She bent and searched for her name and her details popped up. She scrolled down to her personal details.

    Kyung-Soo kept staring at her. The moment she bent down her derriere faced him. Her skirt moved a little up and her calves became prominent. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

    ¡°This girl and her unconscious moves, they will kill me one day,¡± mumbled Kyung-Soo under his breath.

    Without looking at him and while scrolling shemanded him, e and take a look at this.¡±

    Immediately a gasp escaped her mouth. Because as soon she stopped speaking, she felt Kyung-Soo standing over her with his hands softly ced over the table thus locking her from both sides. She could feel his warm chest on her back, his warm breath over her neck. Every single hair on her body stood up. With a shiver, goosebumps ran all over her body.

    Kyung-Soo smiled at her reaction. He teased, ¡°Whoa!! I can see goosebumps on your hands. Did it happen because I came close to you?¡±

    Nivritti closed her eyes, calmed herself down, got rid of her goosebumps and demanded, ¡°could you please stand on my side?¡±

    ¡°I am veryfortable here, thank you very much. Also, theptop screen is clearly visible from here,¡± he mocked her.

    ¡°I think you don¡¯t know but allptopse with this feature that you can literally carry them close to your eyes if the need arises,¡± she said sarcastically.

    He took a step back and smirked at her. After he gave her some space her brain started working again.

    ¡°Wait! Did you call me Navratti?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s your name,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, my name is Nivritti,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Navratti,¡± he butchered her name again.

    ¡°No, Niv... leave it, just call me Ritti,¡± she shortened her name for his ease.

    ¡°Okay, Ritti, What were you trying to show me?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo. He could not stop smiling. He was again alone with her. He now knew that his touch made her feel something.

    ¡°Look at my birth year,¡± ordered Nivritti.

    She moved aside and Kyung-Soo lowered himself to take a closer look at theptop. For a minute he could not find her birthday. And then he saw it. It was as if someone was pranking him. He could not believe his eyes. ¡°What? What?? What???¡± he kept shouting. ¡°You are 34 years old.¡± He stood up and shouted at her.

    ¡°Yes, now you get why I call you child?¡± she asked.

    But instead of answering her, he kept looking at her with a shocked expression on his face. He just kept staring at her. And after a minute with the same expression, it was getting ufortable for Nivritti.

    She gulped, ¡°Okay, I can see you are in shock. I just have no idea why you are shocked. Why are you shocked? Say something.¡± She grabbed his shoulder and shook him to bring him back from his shock.

    He just blinked his eyes and again started shouting, ¡°You are 34!! 34!! I am 29 and I look like this, you are 34 and you look like this?¡± He kept gesturing at both himself and Nivritti.

    ¡°Um... what is that supposed to mean?¡±

    Kyung-Soo grabbed a lock of his hair and started pulling it with frustration. ¡°I mean stop ageing backwards. Are you kidding me? Never tell anyone you are 34, they will think you are making fun of them. Don¡¯t you own a mirror? You hardly look a day older than 28 and you are trying to tell me you are 5 years older than me. Are you KIDDING me?¡± He had no idea how to keep his emotions bottled up. He was shocked, surprised, frustrated, confused, all at once.

    She tried to calm him down. ¡°Why are you getting so worked up?¡±

    But he was too worked up to be calm right now. ¡°Won¡¯t you? When someone says they are 34 but look like they are in their twenties, what would you say?¡± Suddenly a bulb lit over his head. ¡°Wait! You keep saying that nothing can happen between us, because... you... are... older? You think age matters to me?¡±

    She took a deep breath and said, ¡°it matters to me.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah, I am an Ageist. What are you going to do? Sue me?¡± She instantly pressed the power button of theptop. Without waiting for it to shut down, she walked out of the room, leaving Kyung-Soo perplexed, again.

    He looked at the door and said, ¡°she ispletely crazy.¡±

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17: The Friendship

    Kyung-Soo stood at his ce, looking at Nivritti, perplexed. First, she was older than him. Second, she wanted nothing to do with him. Third, she called herself, ageist. Was she kidding or was telling the truth? She just gave her opinion about the ages and left him speechless. She never waited for him to speak.

    Fuming and after giving her two cents to Kyung-Soo, Nivritti opened the door.

    But to her surprise, Jeong-Hwa who was leaning on the door stumbled on her. She involuntarily caught him and supported him. He was too heavy for her. Kyung-Soo saw that his team member was about to get hurt but the tiny angelic girl saved him. He ran to her aid and helped Jeong-Hwa stand up.

    Nivritti bowed down to him and asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Jeong-Hwa took a deep breath and said, ¡°Am I? Are you okay?¡±

    Before anyone could say further, Chung-Ho interjected, ¡°Nivritti, is everything alright?¡± the concern on his face was clearly visible.

    ¡°Yes, Mr Choi, I am fine,¡± assured Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°Naavaritti, we are sorry on Thae¡¯s behalf,¡± apologised Young-Chul and bowed down to her.

    ¡°No, no, please it¡¯s okay,¡± she cried out. ¡°As Kyung-Soo said Thae had to test it. you don¡¯t need to be sorry about that.¡± Everyone was surprised because she called him by his name and her pronunciation was on point. Nivritti noticed that. She realised she made a mistake. Everyone addressed Kyung-Soo as either king or Nam-ssi.

    But Kyung-Soo was not fazed. ¡°Her name is Nivritti,¡± he said to Young-Chul.

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti was confused about what he was saying.

    ¡°He called you Naavaritti,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°You just lectured me, a few minutes back,¡± pouted Kyung-Soo. Every team member stifled their smile and looked down.

    Nivritti looked at everyone, shocked, but no one was looking at her. She opposed, ¡°I didn¡¯t lecture you.¡±

    ¡°No, no, Hyung is right. One should pronounce one¡¯s name properly, Nivratti,¡± smiled Him-Chan. Yet again, her name was pronounced, wrongly.

    Kyung-Soo rolled his eyes as he was an expert in taking her name and said, ¡°just call her, Ritti.¡±

    ¡°Mr Nam?¡± Nivritti was stunned.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Kyung-Soo innocently. ¡°You just simplified your name for me.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so only he can call you, Ritti?¡± teased Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I said,¡± said Nivritti, defensively. She took a deep breath and said, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start from the beginning. Mr Choi, I am fine. Mr Nam exined everything to me.¡± She was d that Thae was not there. She was low-key scared of him. ¡°You guys don¡¯t have to be sorry. What he did is for the best. Now everyone knows my fear, they won¡¯t see me as a criminal.¡±

    ¡°No one saw you as a criminal,¡± pointed out Korain.

    ¡°Okay, not criminal but a bit cruel.¡± Everyone nodded. ¡°I am not cruel,¡± rified Nivritti, sadly.

    ¡°Everyone knows that now. We are very sorry,¡± Young-Chul expressed regret, again.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr Man, and please stop saying sorry,¡± requested Nivritti.

    ¡°We will if you ept our friendship,¡± offered Korain.

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti was baffled.

    ¡°Be our friend and we will stop saying sorry,¡± nodded Him-Chan with a sweet smile.

    Nivritti smiled back, ¡°fine, friends.¡± She shook hands with everyone. Chung-Ho was very happy with the turn of events.

    ¡°Hey, we get to call you Ritti, you can nickname us, after all, we are friends,¡± teased Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What? No, that would be...¡± Nivritti had no idea how to finish the sentence.

    ¡°That¡¯s what friends do,¡± educated Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Yeah, our names are long, shorten it.¡± Kyung-Soo teased her as she gave him the nickname NK.

    She looked at him and understood everything. ¡°Okay, fine, let¡¯s abbreviate your names.¡± She pointed at every member and said, ¡°SK, MY, JH, PJ, and JJ. Happy?¡±

    Korain smiled at her nicknames. He then asked her seriously, ¡°would you like to give a nickname to Kat after he says sorry?¡±

    ¡°Leave it Korain, give her some time,¡± scolded Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yeah, I am sorry to push,¡± he apologised.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay,¡± assured Nivritti.

    ¡°May I have your number?¡± requested Korain.

    ¡°Sorry?¡± her voice was louder. She never expected that any of the ASD members would have her number under any circumstances. But Korain was asking for it.

    ¡°Oh Hyung, so fast?¡± taunted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Shut up, JJ,¡± Korain teased back and everyoneughed. ¡°I was asking because if I had her number, I could ask her when her proposal gets ready. I need a copy, you idiot.¡± He hit Jung-Hwa on the back of his head, yfully.

    Nivritti too was rxed after his exnation. ¡°Right! Sorry, my Indian sim card is having some problems since morning. It stopped working,¡± she lied. ¡°I was thinking of getting a Korean sim card by the end of the day.¡±

    ¡°Oh no problem, I wille and get it tomorrow before my meeting,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°But I need your number as soon as you get it,¡± interjected Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± she was again stunned.

    ¡°I need the number of everyone on the Rencontre team,¡± he exined.

    ¡°Right!¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I have Choi-ssi¡¯s number and Seong-ssi¡¯s number. Now, where is the other girl?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Jae-Hwa,e here,¡±manded Chung-Ho.

    She was too mesmerized by the presence of ASD members. ¡°Ye... Yes, Choi-ssi,¡± she answered and stood up.

    ¡°Bring your phone,¡± he requested.

    She picked up her phone and started walking toward them. She kept staring at Jeong-Eun. She had eyes only for him even though Chung-Ho was talking to her. She came near Chung-Ho. Being so close to Jeong-Eun, her heartbeat raced. She was unable to speak or breathe.

    ¡°Feed this number in your phone,¡±manded Kyung-Soo. He shoved his phone in her face which had his phone number disyed on it.

    ¡°Wha... what?¡± she could not believe that Kyung-Soo was giving her his number.

    ¡°This is my number, save it and give me a miss call. I will save your number as well and share this number with Ritti,¡± he exined.

    ¡°Who?¡± she was confused. She never heard the name ¡®Ritti¡¯.

    ¡°Me,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti?¡±

    ¡°Short form,¡± rified Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Jae-Hwa saved his number and gave him a missed call and he saved her number.

    ¡°We are again sorry for everything that happened,¡± said Him-Chan, politely.

    ¡°Hey, I epted your friendship, why are you saying sorry again?¡± chided Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay friend,¡± smiled Him-Chan. ¡°I am going to get you our copy of the schedule.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°We should take our leave, Choi-ssi. This was a great meeting,¡± thanked Korain.

    ¡°Thank you, Coin,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Oh, now it is Coin,¡± teased Korain.

    ¡°I was angry,¡± said Chung-Ho, casually.

    ¡°Yeah, you are scary when you get angry,¡±ughed Korain.

    ¡°Get out, all of you. None of my team members is working, they are busy staring at you,¡± said Chung-Ho angrily and then smiled at them.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± everyone startedughing. The boys gave a sweet smile to Nivritti and left. Now the perception everyone had about Nivritti, changed. They felt sorry for her. They wanted to say sorry to her for judging her. Every single team member of ASD became her friend, and they were d. They were even proud of her as her very first idea was selected and was praised by the CEO.

    After ASD left, the script team started working. Chung-Ho, Nivritti, and Jae-Hwa moved to their seats and sat down.

    ¡°What happened to your phone?¡± asked Jae-Hwa behind her cubicle.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°King asked me to save his number and then give it to you,¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, my sim card is not working, I need a new one,¡± enlightened Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, no worries. Come with me during lunch, I know where you can get one,¡± offered Jae-Hwa.

    .....

    ¡°Done,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    Then suddenly Chung-Ho called her, ¡°Ritti!¡±

    She stood up and looked at him. ¡°Yes, Mr Choi?¡±

    ¡°Have you started working on the proposal?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No, Mr Choi,¡± replied Nivritti. She thought, herees another scolding.

    But was surprised by Chung-Ho¡¯s answer. ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°I am sorry!¡±

    ¡°Go get yourptop, first. Start your proposal in that, that way you will have all the material about Rencontre in a single system,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°I will call IT, go to the 4th floor, and then tell them that I sent you,¡± exined Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Nivritti stood up from her seat and saw that a few of her team members were smiling at her. She returned the smile. She took the elevator and reached the 4th floor. A few rooms on the floor were locked and a big sign saying ¡°KEEP OUT¡± was hung outside the door. She looked for the sign ¡°IT DEPARTMENT¡± and entered the room.

    Everyone was busy typing on theirputers. Some were talking over the phone in Korean telling people how to log in or narrating the steps to change the password.

    She stood for a few minutes, looking around but no one acknowledged her presence. She then tapped on the shoulder of a sharply dressed woman and said in Korean, ¡°Excuse me, Choi-ssi send me.¡±

    Keeping her eyes glued to the screen, the woman screamed, ¡°Park-ssi, this girl is here for you.¡±

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18: The Flusteration

    Nivritti looked around for who would answer the woman¡¯s call. A tall, bespectacled, serious-looking man stood up. ¡°Choi-ssi send you?¡± he asked, indifferently.

    ¡°Yes, sir, from the script department,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Come with me,¡± he signalled her to follow him.

    They both exited the room and enter another room that said ¡°INVENTORY¡± on the door. They both went inside where an old woman was sitting, ying games on her phone. Her face screamed that she was bored out of her wits.

    Without looking away from her phone she asked, ¡°new girl?¡± She was sure that Nivritti would not understand Korean.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Mr Park.

    ¡°Newptop?¡± the woman inquired again and looked up. Nivritti bowed down to her, but she received no reply.

    .....

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    She went back to her games. Mr Park made Nivritti sign a couple of papers, scanned her ID and handed her aptop bag. It had a high-end, encryptedptop, two pen drives, one hard drive, a portable charger, a charging cable, a USB cable, a manual and a piece of paper that had the password of theptop printed on it.

    ¡°You will have to return it, if and when you leave your job,¡± stated Mr Park mechanically. There was no emotion in his voice.

    ¡°And what if I take it with me?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°We will file a civil case against you,¡± answered Mr Park, seriously.

    ¡°What? I was just kidding,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°But we are not, this is K&Q property. You can¡¯t take it or buy it. Just use it and return it when you leave the job,¡± rified Mr Park.

    ¡°Ookaay!! I won¡¯t kid anymore. Anyways thank you.¡±

    ¡°Hmm...¡± there was not even a smirk on Mr Park¡¯s face. His mechanical voice was apanied by an emotionless face.

    ¡°Right!¡± Nivritti rolled her eyes and left the IT department.

    She came back to her department and ced theptop bag on her seat. Chung-Ho just looked at her and asked in signals whether she got herptop. She showed him the bag to which he nodded and went back to his work.

    Nivritti closed her system, pushed the monitor into a corner and made way for herptop. She used the password on the paper to login to the system. She again typed in her credentials and her desktop shed before her.

    She took out the folder that had every detail of the proposal on it and started typing the proposal. She had to borate on every point and add a few points to it. This was going to take her time.

    She was in deep her thoughts and typing when Him-Chan entered the script department. A few people noticed him and bowed down to him. He returned the gestures and went to the copy room. After spending a few minutes inside he went near Nivritti and stood next to her cubicle. But her concentration was on her work. She never noticed that someone came and stood next to her.

    ¡°Ahem...¡± Him-Chan cleared his throat to attract her attention, but she paid no heed. ¡°Excuse me! Ritti!¡±

    She looked up after hearing her name. ¡°Ohh, Mr Joh,¡± she immediately stood up and greeted him.

    ¡°Mr Joh?¡± he teased.

    ¡°Sorry, JH,¡± she understood what he was trying to convey.

    He smiled. ¡°Good! Now, one schedule as ordered.¡± He ced the schedule on her table.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she smiled at him, picked up the schedule and started scanning it. without realising that Him-Chan was still standing next to her cubicle she sat down in her seat. When she finished looking at the schedule with awe and shock she looked up and saw that he was standing next to her looking closely at her.

    ¡°I am sorry, do you need something?¡± she asked politely.

    ¡°Ahem... copy of that schedule,¡± he said, sheepishly.

    ¡°This is the original?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s Kyungsoo Hyung¡¯s copy,¡± he smiled awkwardly.

    Surprised, she stood up and asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you make a copy?¡± She knew her next question was slightly stupid, so she asked, graciously, ¡°do you know how to make a copy?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± he paused ¡°but don¡¯t know how to fix a paper jam in a photocopy machine.¡±

    Nivritti could not help herself after his exnation and startedughing. She smiled brightly after hearing the sweet whining of Him-Chan which made his heart flutter. His heartbeat suddenly raced, and he could feel his heart jumping out of his chest.

    ¡°What pretty smile,¡± was all he could think.

    She beamed at him and said, ¡°please follow me.¡± She grabbed the schedule and walked toward the copy room. Him-Chan silently followed her, his heart still thumping in his chest.

    They entered the room and Nivritti asked, ¡°Which machine?¡±

    Him-Chan pointed out a copy machine in the sea of copy machines. ¡°That one.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that one is stubborn,¡± informed Nivritti. She looked at the machine. The copier was disying the message ¡°paper jammed¡± on the disy screen.

    Nivritti smiled and continued, ¡°see it¡¯s very easy. First switch off the machine, open this portion of the copier, see that¡¯s the jammed paper, you take it out, adjust the paper tray and close the copier back up. Switch on and everything is ok.¡±

    With extreme patience, she gave him the tutorial. But while switching on the copier, she unconsciously closed the side cover of the machine with her hips.

    The sudden movement of her hips knocked the air out Him-Chan¡¯s chest. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He had no idea if that move was intentional or not but one thing that he was sure of was that that move was sexy as hell.

    After seeing her hip movement, it was getting difficult for Him-Chan to catch his breath. He wanted to get away from her or he had no idea what he would do.

    But Nivritti continued on as if she did nothing, ¡°and again, we look at the disy, if there is no error message you can start copying again.¡±

    Him-Chan tried taking in small puffs of air to breathe. He knew he had to look cool. So, he just nodded his head still trying to catch his breath.

    But Nivritti noticed that something was wrong. ¡°Are you ok? You look flustered.¡± She was absolutely clueless.

    ¡°Huh... Yeah, yeah. I am... finnee,¡± exaggerated Him-Chan.

    ¡°Okay! Are you sure?

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I am sure,¡± said Him-Chan, embarrassed.

    ¡°If you say so.¡±

    She turned around, made a few more copies of the schedule, kept three copies for her team and handed the original and the rest of the copies to Him-Chan.

    ¡°Thank... you,¡± he gulped.

    ¡°No, thank you,¡± she thanked him.

    Without waiting for another second, Him-Chan ran away from there, leaving Nivritti confused.

    ¡°Did I say something to upset him? Maybe he was embarrassed as he had no idea what to do after paper gets stuck in the copier.¡± She shrugged and went back to her seat.

    On the other hand, Him-Chan ran to the lift, closed the door, and caught his breath. He kept breathing and gulping and breathing again. Even when he reached his practice room, he was not calm. He was flustered and agitated. He had no idea why he was feeling like that.

    ¡°What the hell was that? That hip movement... shit!! Why can¡¯t I breathe?¡± He used the papers in his hands to fan his face. His body was on fire. He could feel the heat emanating from his body. Before walking into the practice room, he ran to the washroom, washed his face, and calmed himself down.

    He entered the practice room when Kyung-Soo questioned him, ¡°did you give her the schedule?¡± Him-Chan just nodded.

    ¡°Was she working on the proposal?¡± inquired Korain.

    ¡°Hmm...¡± was the only syble Him-Chan could speak out.

    For the whole day he never spoke to anyone, he just kept thinking about Nivritti. No matter how much he tried throwing himself into his work, his mind would go back to her. He was fascinated with her smile, with her brain, with her angry avatar, her hip movement, her everything.

    Nivritti kept working on her proposal. Chung-Ho came to her seat a few times to check on her progress. He gave her the rough estimate that he received from the finance department to include in her proposal. She left a few spaces for the idea that Korain was going to discuss with the IT department.

    Lunchtime arrived, and she forgot all about her sim card. She was too involved in her work.

    Abruptly Jae-Hwa tapped on her cubicle and asked, ¡°Hey! What are you doing?¡±

    Nivritti blinked a few times to ease the strain on her eyes. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Did you forget?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°About what?¡± Nivritti asked back.

    ¡°You had to buy a new sim,¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Right! Sorry! Ipletely forgot,¡± Nivritti facepalmed.

    ¡°You are working nonstop since morning, you need to eat,¡± Jae-Hwa touched herptop and shut the p.

    ¡°Hey! Just let me finish this section, then we will leave,¡± pleaded Nivritti.

    ¡°No,e with me now,¡± she started pulling Nivritti.

    ¡°Jae-Hwa!¡±

    ¡°Ritti!¡± teased Jae-Hwa. ¡°Come on.¡±

    She smiled at the name Ritti. Her friends and family called her Ritti. She loved that name. ¡°Okay fine, let¡¯s go.¡±

    They both took their purse and exited the building. After walking for ten minutes, Jae-Hwa took her to a store. She helped her in getting a good and cheap n. The shop owner inserted the sim and did all the procedures for Nivritti. He instructed her further on what to do and how to get the sim started.

    After asking a lot of questions to the shop owner, the two girls exited the shop and Jae-Hwa took her to a nearby caf¨¦.

    ¡°Now you have to treat me,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    .....

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti, yfully.

    ¡°Your idea got approved, I want a party,¡± affirmed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ha-ha, okay fine. Order whatever you want,¡±ughed Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa ordered the best rolls she could get in the caf¨¦ and happily sat down waiting for her order.

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19: The Teasing

    Even after Jae-Hwa ordered her food, she kept staring at the menu. She kept educating Nivritti about Korean food. In excitement, she would ther in Korean but would correct herself and then exin everything to Nivritti in English. Many times, Nivritti tried to tell Jae-Hwa that she was fluent in Korean, but Jae-Hwa never gave her the chance.

    Nivritti was happily listening to Jae-Hwa ramble on about all the delicious food that caf¨¦ had. She kept sipping a boba tea and kept talking about different delicacies. After a few minutes, their piping hot food arrived.

    As Nivritti was not used to Korean food, she yed safe and ordered a sandwich, yet again. She took a bite of her chicken sandwich when Jae-Hwa¡¯s phone rang. She was having some delicious meat and rolls and was in no mood to answer the phone.

    ¡°Ahh... who is calling me right now?¡± she groaned and cursed. She put down her chopsticks, opened her purse and took out her phone.

    Surprised she looked at Nivritti. ¡°It¡¯s Choi-ssi.¡±

    Nivritti too stopped eating. ¡°What? At lunch hour? Pick it up!¡±

    Jae-Hwa just nodded. ¡°Yeoboseyo! Ne, ne, ne,¡± she kept nodding at whatever he was saying. She was talking on the phone but kept staring at Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°What did I do now?¡± was all Nivritti could think. ¡°Do I always have to be scolded by everyone?¡±

    Jae-Hwa disconnected the call and looked at Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti, concerned.

    ¡°A member from the finance team is looking for you,¡± informed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Finance team?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, they made a mistake in their estimate, so they came to give you the new estimate and want the old estimate back. They are unable to find it on your desk,¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, I locked every paper in my drawer. Don¡¯t worry I will return now to help them,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°No, no finish your food,¡± insisted Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti smiled and said, ¡°I will take this sandwich with me.¡± She opened her purse and took out her wallet. ¡°Here, take my card. Enjoy your food. I will see you back in the office.¡±

    ¡°No, I wille with you,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae-Hwa, eat, rx. They need me not you,¡± asserted Nivritti.

    ¡°But...¡± Jae-Hwa protested.

    ¡°Hey! Eat,¡± Nivritti touched her hand and emphasised.

    ¡°You can go alone, right? You won¡¯t forget the way?¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Are you teasing me?¡± smirked Nivritti.

    ¡°Only a little,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti gave Jae-Hwa her credit card and left the caf¨¦. She went back to the K&Q building and reached the lift area. While walking she would asionally take a bite of her sandwich. A lift was about to close when she shouted, ¡°Please hold the lift.¡±

    A hand appeared between the lift door and the doors opened. She entered the lift and saw a man wearing a ck mask standing inside. She bowed down to him and thanked him. She pressed the button for the 11th floor and stood in a corner.

    The sandwich in her hand was about to be finished. She was about to take another bite when the man standing next to her removed his mask. Her hand froze close to her open mouth. Her eyes widened and she kept staring at him.

    But Kyung-Soo just kept smirking at her. He was going to the script department to get the daily video script. He wished for a glimpse of her. He was thanking his luck when he saw hering from outside and running towards the lift area. He was alone in the lift and was excited to be with her alone.

    The lift kept climbing but Nivritti was frozen. She was not breathing, she was not gulping, she was not even blinking. She didn¡¯t want to be alone with Kyung-Soo but somehow, she would always end up alone with him. She was cursing her luck.

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s smirk grew into a smile. He moved close to her, grabbed her hand, and pulled her closer.

    ¡°Hhuh,¡± she gasped. He looked at her and without speaking a single word, just took a bite of her sandwich. The hold which she had on the piece of bread, loosened and the food was about to fall but Kyung-Soo caught it before it could touch the ground.

    ¡°Do you want it?¡± teased Kyung-Soo. He just could not stop smiling.

    Before she could answer the lift doors opened and she came back to her senses. She ran away as fast as her feet could take her. Kyung-Sooughed at her loudly and dumped thest piece of sandwich in his mouth.

    ¡°You think you can run away from me,¡± heughed. ¡°I too am going to your department.¡±

    But Nivritti could not hear him. She was half running, half sprinting. She would keep looking back to check if he was following her. To her shock, he was indeed following her. She was about to enter her department, but Kyung-Soo kept following her. She had had enough.

    She stopped on her way, looked at him and waited for him to approach her. She snapped at him, ¡°what do you want? Why are you following me?¡±

    ¡°I am not following you. You are walking ahead of me,¡± mocked Kyung-Soo.

    She was hating his smile. It was as if his smile was mocking her. ¡°Really!! What the hell do you want? I clearly told you everything in the morning...¡± she started scolding him.

    But he interrupted her rant, ¡°script!¡±

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± Nivritti was confused.

    ¡°I am here for the script,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Heh!¡± Nivritti raised one eyebrow, still confused.

    ¡°Daily video script,¡± Kyung-Soo exined further.

    ¡°Ohh!¡± now it was clear to her.

    But the moment became embarrassing. She was confident one moment and the next she was humiliated. She thought he was following her, but he was there for his work. She gave too much importance to herself. She lowered her head with shame and started walking in.

    Suddenly he shouted, ¡°Wait!¡±

    She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, calmed herself down and turned back, ¡°What, now?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s after lunch, I hope you got a new number,¡± stated Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Right! Yes, I have,¡± she knew she had to give her number to him. She was part of the team and maybe in future he would call her to discuss a script.

    Kyung-Soo folded his arms over his chest and demanded an answer, ¡°So, when were you going to give me your number?¡±

    ¡°Um... after work, when my sim would get activated,¡± replied Nivritti, carefully.

    ¡°That long,¡±mented Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah, the shop owner told me it would take hours before my sim would start working,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Well, he is not wrong,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    She inserted her hand in her purse and took out the packet of her sim. It had her number written over it.

    ¡°This is my number,¡± Nivritti shoved the number in his face. Kyung-Soo took out his phone and saved her number on his phone.

    ¡°Now I can call you anytime, right?¡± taunted Kyung-Soo, stifling his smile.

    ¡°What? No,¡± she shouted. ¡°You asked for the number because I am on the Rencontre Team. This is not for you to flirt,¡± she scolded.

    ¡°Why do you think I will flirt? This number is for work only,¡± Kyung-Soo teased again.

    ¡°I...¡± she was speechless with his taunting. ¡°Leave it,¡± she snapped. This time she opened the door and walked in.

    Kyung-Soo could not stopughing. He went behind her and went to Chung-Ho. He greeted him and asked for the script. While Chung-Ho was sorting out his script, Kyung-Soo kept ncing at Nivritti. Nivritti too kept gazing at him from the corner of her eyes and the moment their eyes would meet, she would immediately look down.

    Kyung-Soo shook his head with endearment over her cute reactions. He received the scripts and before leaving again looked at her. She nced at him at thest moment. He was happy that she did. He winked at her, and she choked on her saliva. She began coughing violently. Kyung-Soo had to stifle hisughter.

    He exited the script department and startedughing his head off. He loved teasing her and watching her reaction.

    After Kyung-Soo left, Chung-Ho came and stood next to Nivritti. He handed her the new estimates and took the old estimate back. He looked at her proposal and exined to her the paragraphs she needed to change.

    He sat with her and helped her all the way through. The finance team forgot to include the travel expenses from the airport to the hotel and vice versa. So, they had to revise the estimate. But that meant double work for Nivritti. She had to check every point where she added the financial estimate and had to change every figure.

    Jae-Hwa came back with a coffee and gave it along with the credit card to Nivritti. She saw both Chung-Ho and Nivritti working hard on the proposal. They even worked on a few dummy scripts that were about to be used as examples of the script they were looking for.

    Slowly, evening arrived, and it was time to go home. Chung-Ho looked at his wristwatch and said, ¡°Ritti! It¡¯s gettingte. You should leave.¡±

    ¡°But Mr Choi,¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°You can keep working at home, that¡¯s why you have thisptop,¡± exined Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Mr Choi,¡± nodded Nivritti.

    ¡°There is only a little work remaining. You can get it done at your home, but don¡¯t work too hard. You worked hard all day, take rest too,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I will.¡±

    ¡°Good job today,¡± he patted her back with pride.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr Choi,¡± she smiled at him.

    ¡°What, no nickname for me?¡± he teased her.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± sheughed out loud. ¡°Should I call you CC, CH, Ho?¡±

    ¡°No, Mr Choi is good,¡± he smiled.

    Nivritti bid him goodbye and looked around. The department was empty. Only she and Chung-Ho were there. She ced herptop in the bag and left for her home.

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20: The Confession

    Kyung-Soo went awayughing after seeing her choke. He loved teasing her just because of the expressions she gave. Her every facial expression, her every unconscious gesture, her sweet anger, her soft aggression would tug his heartstrings.

    He went to his team with the scripts. They rehearsed and shot the video. It was time to retire for the day. All the team members went to their mansion, took a bath and instead of cooking food, chose to order in.

    It was a pleasant evening. All were finally sitting, rxed in their pyjamas and bare face. Korain and Jung-Hwa were in the kitchen emptying the packed food into tes. Thae and Jeong-Eun were carrying those tes to the dining table out by the pool.

    When all the food was served. All sat down together to enjoy the meal. The talk started with their funny video they shot early today. It then moved to their rigorous practice for Rencontre and then moved to the meeting of Rencontre.

    Suddenly Jeong-Eun startedughing like a maniac.

    ¡°What happened? Is the food funny?¡± asked Young-Chul, sarcastically.

    ¡°Oh, I am so happy that Thae got a taste of his own medicine today,¡±ughed Jeong-Eun.

    .....

    Korain was about to put a bite in his mouth, but he stopped and sided with Jeong-Eun. ¡°Yeah! That was awesome, the way she scolded him I fell in love with her.¡±

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes widened for a second, but he controlled himself. He knew Korain was teasing Thae.

    ¡°You all know, I am not scared of anything or anyone but when she started shouting at Thae, I got scared and then she shut him up for good. His sixth sense failed him for the first time,¡± teased Young-Chul.

    ¡°And he had to test the theory, idiot!¡± taunted Jung-Hwa.

    They all keepughing, giggling and teasing Thae except Kyung-Soo. He knew that Thae was feeling guilty about what he did.

    ¡°Stop it,¡± shouted Thae. ¡°I already feel guilty, and you guys are making it worse. I admit I was wrong. My person¡¯s radar was wrong. I misjudged her. It broke my heart after seeing how she was shivering with fear and holding tight to Kyungsoona Hyung. Now we will see her every day for Rencontre preparation, how am I going to face her?¡± he hid his face in his hands.

    ¡°Kyung-Soo was sitting next to him, ced his hands around his shoulder and assured him, ¡°just say sorry Thae, it will be fine. Didn¡¯t you notice how weing she was when you gave her the idea? Yeah, sure she answered sarcastically first, but she praised you for your thought.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and she smiled at me when I proposed my idea,¡± Jung-Hwa beamed with happiness.

    ¡°Yeah, she is kind and weing, she will forgive you if you genuinely say sorry. I believe that you should too,¡± reassured Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah, she is something else, she is just amazing,¡± blurted out Him-Chan. He was smiling like he was in a trance. All he could think was about Nivritti, her smile, her hip movement, her helping nature.

    All shouted in unison, ¡°what?¡±

    Everyone shouting together broke his trance. He immediately changed his tune. ¡°Yeah, the way she shut Thae up made my day,¡± but again his mind raced to Nivritti. ¡°And then she smiled at me and that took my breath away.¡±

    He started recounting everything that happened in the morning, but he was not looking at any of his team members. He was looking up at the moon. It was trying to find her face on the moon. It was as if he was reliving his sweet morning.

    ¡°Next, I jammed a paper in the copy machine, she helped me, and she shut the copier door with her hips... with her hips which was a killer move.¡± He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head with disbelief. She was something else. He realised that he was rambling on. He looked at everyone and said, ¡°I am using that move in a Music Video.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± teased Korain.

    ¡°Yeah, I forgot how to breathe after that. I have not been able to catch my breath till now,¡± exhaled Him-Chan.

    ¡°Looks like Hyung got a crush on her,¡± teased Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Yeah, looks like love at first sight,¡± mocked Young-Chul.

    Everyone startedughing except Kyung-Soo. He was fuming with jealousy.

    ¡°Stop saying such things guys, it¡¯s not funny,¡± he shouted. He pushed his chair back and stood up. Without finishing his dinner, he left in anger.

    ¡°What happened to him?¡± pondered Korain.

    ¡°No idea,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Maybe he is tired,¡± suggested Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Maybe,¡± exhaled Korain. ¡°Let¡¯s eat everyone up. It¡¯s Young¡¯s and Thae¡¯s turn to clean the dishes. All others, go to sleep early. We all need our rest,¡± ordered Korain.

    But Jung-Hwa was feeling bad as his favourite Hyung didn¡¯t finish his meal. Everyone respected Kyung-Soo as a leader, but Jung-Hwa treated him like his big brother. He saw how Kyung-Soo took care of every team member every night and day without caring for himself, so Jung-Hwa always tried to take extra special care of him.

    All finished their dinner and ced the tes in the sink. Young-Chul was cleaning the tes and Thae was drying them and cing them in their positions. While they were cleaning, Jung-Hwa prepared noodles for Kyung-Soo and took them to his room.

    Kyung-Soo had hisputer on and was staring nkly at his screen when Jung-Hwa pushed the door open. He had a tray in his hands with a bowl of soupy noodles and a can of soda on it. Chopsticks were neatly ced over the bowl.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    His voice brought Kyung-Soo back from his thoughts. He lied, ¡°working.¡±

    ¡°By staring at screensaver,¡± teased Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What do you want, June?¡± he snapped at him.

    Jung-Hwa understood that something was disturbing his Hyung. He calmly showed him the tray and said, ¡°you didn¡¯t finish your dinner and came here, so I brought you noodles.¡±

    Kyung-Soo closed his eyes and exhaled. He knew he was wrong for snapping at Jung-Hwa. It was not his fault that Him-Chan kept talking about Nivritti. He smiled and said sweetly, ¡°Thank you, Jungie.¡±

    Jung-Hwa softly ced the tray on Kyung-Soo¡¯s table. He dragged a chair near him and sat down. Kyung-Soo picked up the chopsticks and gave the first bite to Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°I am full. This is for you,¡± protested Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Jungie! Eat,¡± pressured Kyung-Soo.

    Defeated, Jung-Hwa took the bite. Kyung-Soo then started eating the noodles with a smile on his face.

    He was drinking the soup from the bowl when Jung-Hwa blurted out, ¡°You like her, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Immediately Kyung-Soo coughed and choked on his noodles. A few pieces of noodlended on his monitor. Jung-Hwa stood up and patted his back. He offered water to Kyung-Soo. After he was done with coughing, he drank the water and was all better.

    He noticed Jung-Hwa was still looking at him waiting for his answer.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± asked Kyung-Soo to try to avoid the topic.

    ¡°Come on Hyung, I know you better than everyone. And everyone saw how close you were holding her. What all saw and what I saw were very different things,¡± Jung-Hwa pointed out.

    Kyung-Soo raised one eyebrow and asked, ¡°and what was that?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you want to do this?¡± challenged Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, I do,¡± Kyung-Soo epted the challenge.

    ¡°So here it is. Everyone saw a man consoling a scared woman. But I saw how sweetly you caressed her hair, how beautifully you kept holding on to her, and the concerned look you had on your face when she got scared and kept crying in your arms,¡± Jung-Hwa kept going on and on.

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough,¡± interjected Kyung-Soo.

    But Jung-Hwa was not done. ¡°And now you got angry on just a mere thought that Johan Hyung might have a crush on her.¡±

    Kyung-Soo was shocked as to how Jung-Hwa was on point in his observation. ¡°Aren¡¯t you getting mature day by day, you are the youngest so be the youngest, don¡¯t try to be our Hyung,¡± teased Kyung-Soo and smiled at him. Jung-Hwa smiled at him too.

    ¡°Tell me, do you like her?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo sighed, closed his eyes for a minute and then answered, ¡°as Johan said, she has the power to make you forget how to breathe. From the moment I kissed her I have not been able to do anything. I am a lost cause Jungie.¡±

    Kyung-Soo blurted out about the kiss without realizing what he said. Jung-Hwa had his head tilted and was sweetly smiling and listening to Kyung-Soo. But the moment he dropped the bomb, Jung-Hwa straightened up his head. His jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes kept blinking non-stop. He was shocked to his core.

    Kyung-Soo looked at his expression and was not sure why Jung-Hwa reacted like that. ¡°What?¡± he inquired.

    Jung-Hwa dragged his foot on the floor making his chair travel with him. He went in Kyung-Soo¡¯s face and shouted, ¡°You already kissed her. When? Where? How?¡±

    Now it was Kyung-Soo¡¯s turn to be shocked. ¡°What? There was no kiss. Who told you about that?¡±

    Jung-Hwa facepalmed. ¡°You did, just now; oh, she really made you lose your mind.¡± He shook his head in disbelief.

    ¡°Shit!!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Tell me, tell me. I¡¯m so excited,¡± Jung-Hwa started pping like a toy monkey.

    ¡°Fine, yesterday, after Thae scolded her, I went to console her, but I don¡¯t know how I ended up kissing her,¡± answered Kyung-Soo.

 Chapter 21

    21 The Proposal Work

    Kyung-Soo repeated everything that happened between him and Nivritti. It was clear that he was smitten. He had a sweet smile ying on his face and his eyes had a sparkle in them.

    Jung-Hwa on the other hand was extremely excited. He was beaming with happiness. More than being happy for Kyung-Soo, he was happy that he was getting the news first.

    Kyung-Soo dated only once in his life, and it ended badly. So, he closed the way to his heart and threw himself into his work. His team members became his whole life. Being a great leader and leading his team to heights of achievement was the only thing on his mind.

    He was happy to see the feeling of euphoria on his face. Jung-Hwa was happy to see him opening up his heart again. Seeing that his Hyung was happy and that too because of Nivritti, Jung-Hwa was loving her more and more with every passing second.

    He wanted to know more about what Kyung-Soo would do. He wanted to more about what he would do in the future.

    ¡°Wow, so you guys are going to date?¡± beamed Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°No,¡± Kyung-Soo hung his head low and answered sadly.

    Jung-Hwa was taken aback. ¡°What? Why?¡± he asked with utter shock.

    .....

    ¡°Because she says nothing can happen between us,¡± sighed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Huh!!¡± Jung-Hwa was confused. He couldn¡¯t understand how a girl could reject his charming, respectable, sexy Hyung.

    ¡°She says I am too young for her, and she doesn¡¯t date people who are younger than her,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°That¡¯s bullshit,¡± eximed Jung-Hwa. ¡°A year or two doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    ¡°She is five years older than me,¡± Kyung-Soo smirked at Jung-Hwa. He knew the reaction he was bout to get and was eager to see that. He knew anyone would react the way he reacted when he saw her birthdate and he was expecting the same reaction from Jung-Hwa.

    Just as he thought, Jung-Hwa shouted with surprise, ¡°she is what now? What does she eat? Is she a vampire like Korain Hyung?¡± While shouting he stood up, ¡°she is five years older than you. No, she is lying. He thought for a moment and then said, ¡°maybe she just doesn¡¯t like you, so she is making up lies.¡±

    ¡°Hey!!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and kicked Jung-Hwa on his foot.

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    ¡°Whole world wants us as boyfriends and husbands and the girl I like doesn¡¯t want anything to do with me just because of my age,¡± pouted Kyung-Soo. One could see the sadness in his eyes.

    ¡°Maybe she is into girls,¡± Jung-Hwa tried to cheer him up by teasing him.

    ¡°Then why did she kiss me back?¡± smirked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? Wow!!!¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo smiled at him. He thought for a minute and then said, ¡°there is a story behind this age nonsense, and I will find it out. I have to find out why this bothers her so much.¡±

    Jung-Hwa stood up and hugged Kyung-Soo. He said, ¡°Oh, I am so happy you will get a girlfriend. You closed yourself after your breakup. After that, I have seen you talking with girls and hugging them but never really thought you would be so attracted to someone that you will end up kissing her on your very first meeting.¡±

    ¡°I know, as Him-Chan said, she is amazing. I won¡¯t say she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen because we have worked with so many artists and have seen so many beautiful girls, but she doesn¡¯t need beauty to make you fall for her. Her unconscious gestures, sweet expressions, endearing anger, and cute bodynguage can make your heart flutter,¡± Kyung-Soo¡¯s voice turned dreamy when he talked about her. He could not stop smiling.

    ¡°OMG! You have already fallen for her,¡± Jung-Hwa mocked him.

    Kyung-Soo again tried to kick him, but Jung-Hwa jumped out of the chair at thest second and saved himself. ¡°Shut up and go to sleep.¡±

    ¡°Finish your noodles and wash the dish,¡± Jung-Hwa teased.

    ¡°Get out,¡± pressured Kyung-Soo.

    Jung-Hwa smiled and started walking out. He stopped at the door and turned around. ¡°Good luck, Hyung. I hope you get everything you want.¡±

    Kyung-Soo just smiled at him. ¡°Good night, JJ,¡± teased Kyung-Soo. He knew the nickname JJ would make him smile and that it did. Jung-Hwa was grinning from ear to ear.

    Kyung-Soo looked at him walking away happily. After Jung-Hwa left instead of eating his ramen he reached for his phone. He went into his contacts and searched for her name. For a minute he kept staring at the number and her name and kept smiling like an idiot.

    ¡°Why do you stir so many emotions in me? Are we connected somehow? Were we rted in our past life? Why do I feel so close to you? Why do you make my heart jump out of my chest? Why don¡¯t you let me breathe? Well, I am happy to know that not only you, but I also make you feel feelings. Deny all you want but I saw the goosebumps on your hand when I got close to you. You haveid out your rule but for your kind information, I am a rule breaker. I have to know what made you make this age rule,¡± he kept talking to her name on his phone.

    He finished the noodles and went to the kitchen. He washed his dishes and ced them on the drying rack. Before going back to his bed, he went to every member¡¯s room to check up on them and make sure that they were resting and not wasting time ying video games. All were already asleep, so he went back to his room and retired for the night.

    Meanwhile, Nivritti exited the K&Q building and reached her house. It waste when she reached, and she had work to do. So, she just washed her hands and feet, changed her clothes, and ordered takeout. Cooking food would have wasted her time and she had to finish the proposal.

    She was very honoured that Chung-Ho worked with her at every step. She was in awe of him after he shared the dummy script with her. She inserted the script in the IT section of the proposal. They had to put the scripts at the site that they were supposed to create.

    She was busy typing when her doorbell rang. She looked at the clock on herptop monitor. She realised it was about 45 minutes since she ordered her food. She looked in her purse and took out the money. As soon as she opened the door, the delivery man greeted her. She took her food and paid him.

    The hot food made her hungry, but herptop was calling her. She groaned and left the food at the kitchen counter. She went back to herptop and started working on the proposal. She knew if she dyed the proposal that will dy the marketing team and the IT team which will dy the scripts and that will make a mess.

    She was in deep, fully concentrating on her work but then her phone rang. For a minute she was shocked, her new number started working and only a few people had her number, so who was callingte at night?

    She looked at the phone. She only saved Jae-Hwa¡¯s number but gave her number to the Rencontre script team and Kyung-Soo. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought that Kyung-Soo had her number. What if it was him who was calling her?

    She discarded the thought and picked up her phone. She pressed the green button and ced the phone near her ear.

    ¡°Hello!¡± said Nivritti, sceptically.

    ¡°Hello, Nivritti,¡± the voice chimed.

    ¡°Mr Choi?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Who else?¡± questioned Chung-Ho.

    Nivritti cursed herself as the first person she thought about was Kyung-Soo. ¡°Oh, I was not expecting a call. I was not even sure if the number started working,¡± her fast mind came up with an excuse.

    ¡°Yeah, this was the third time I tried,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti was shocked. Why was Chung-Ho calling her so many times?

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Is everything okay? Why did you call me three times?¡± inquired Nivritti, concerned.

    ¡°Rx, I just wanted to tell you to rest after working,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°That I will do, Mr Choi,¡± smiled Nivritti at his kindness.

    ¡°Really??¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Did you eat?¡± questioned Chung-Ho with authority.

    ¡°Um...¡± Nivritti had no answer.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about lying,¡± interrupted Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I have ordered food. I am just about to finish the proposal, then I will eat,¡±forted Nivritti.

    But Chung-Ho was not having that. He tried to reason with her, ¡°Nivritti! You are alone in Korea. You have to take care of your health. What if something happens to you and then you have to take leave? Think about what everyone will think that the new girl started taking leave the moment she joined.¡±

    Nivritti could not contrast him. She knew whatever he said was right. ¡°Okay, Mr Choi, message received. I will take care of myself.¡±

    ¡°How much work is remaining?¡± questioned Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Oh, I just have to write a few more sentences and then edit,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Eat first and then you can edit,¡± ordered Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Okay, Mr Choi, I will do that. Thank you for looking out for me,¡± said Nivritti, sweetly.

    ¡°I am just trying to make up for the fact that I didn¡¯t look out for you in the first ce,¡± his voice suddenly turned sad.

    ¡°That again. That topic is finished, we all are friends now,¡± assured Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, we will not talk about that, but I am d Kyung-Soo helped you after what Thae did,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Go eat, finish your work and rest,¡±manded Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Mr Choi.¡±

    ¡°Good night, Ritti.¡±

    ¡°Good night, Mr Choi.¡±

    She listened to him and set herptop aside. She went to the kitchen and opened the food packet. It was now cold. She didn¡¯t have a microwave or the time to heat the food, so she ate the cold food. She gulped the food as fast as she could.

    She then went back to her proposal. After adding the final few lines, she edited her work. There were a few typo errors and punctuation mistakes. She corrected all. She even tweaked a few sentences.

    After she was satisfied, she saved her work and shut down theptop. She went to the kitchen and washed the dishes that were in the sink. She smiled at the thought that Chung-Ho called to check up on her. He was a darling boss. He was sweet, encouraging, helpful and kind.

    But her hands stopped as her mind went to what he said about Kyung-Soo. It was true that he took care of her. Her mind kept shing the moments how she hugged him, how he stood close to her, how he made her heart race and how she was covered in goosebumps after he just stood close to her.

    She closed her eyes and scolded herself, ¡°why do I act like a fool in front of him? Why do I always cry when I am near him? And now I¡¯ll have to see him every day. Oh God!!! You need to make yourself strong Ritti; you cannot let history repeat itself.¡±

 Chapter 22

    22 The Night Visitor

    Nivritti closed her eyes and breathed loudly for a few seconds calming herself down. She could not stop thinking about Kyung-Soo. She shook her head violently and stopped thinking about himpletely. She then finished washing her dishes, cleaned her kitchen and took out the trash.

    She sat on the couch with a thud and let her head fall on the headrest. She had a hectic day today and was ready to sleep. But she was waiting for her phone to ring. She knew that Apeksha would call her any time now. She waited for a few more minutes and then facepalmed.

    She destroyed her Indian sim then how would Apeksha call? She didn¡¯t even have her number. She cursed herself for being an idiot. On one hand, she wanted to call her and tell her about her new number but on the other hand, she didn¡¯t want to distribute her new number.

    She wanted only a few people to have that. If she would give the number to her sister, it would slowly reach her rtives and then her friends and then to one person she never wanted her number to reach.

    She was in a dilemma about whether to call her sister or not. She knew that her mother would start imagining all kinds of idents that would befall her just because she could not get in touch with her, and Apeksha would fuel that fire, for sure. And the moment she would call them, they will rebuke her.

    She started biting her fingernails thinking about what to do. It waste night in Korea, but it was still before bedtime in India. She knew she was required to talk to them daily and if she would miss a day, they will unleash the whole country¡¯s police force after her, if only they had such power.

    She puffed her cheeks and exhaled a big puff of air and reached for her phone. She looked under recent calls and searched for ¡°headache¡±. Then a thought appeared in her mind. Her number would inform Apeksha that she was in Korea. The +82, the South Korea country code will tell her where she was.

    She inserted her fingers in her hair and pulled her hair with frustration. She could not decide on what to do. Should she call her sister or not? Then it struck her like lightning. She could video call her on ¡°Swipe¡±. It will not disy her number, just her Swipe ID.

    Again, to be more private, she activated the VPN on her phone which was included in her new sim n and then called her sister.

    .....

    The moment Apeksha saw Nivritti, she started berating her, ¡°Where were you? Why I could not connect to your phone? Why did it say switched off? Why was your phone switched off?¡±

    Nivritti was quietly listening to her. After Apeksha was done shouting, Nivritti calmly asked her, ¡°are you done, Question queen?¡±

    ¡°No, I am not,¡± shouted Apeksha. ¡°Tell me why you were not picking?¡±

    ¡°Because I never got your call,¡± replied Nivritti, stoically.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± questioned Apeksha.

    ¡°I bought a new sim, a local sim,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Why? The old sim was working, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Apeksha was concerned.

    ¡°International Roaming charges were a bitch,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°India has the cheapest rate when ites to the inte. I know for a fact that wherever you are their inte rates are higher,¡± educated Apeksha.

    ¡°Yeah, but I am not only using the services, I have to make calls too, and that¡¯s expensive,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Bullshit!¡± shouted Apeksha.

    ¡°Language, or else I tell mom,¡± warned Nivritti.

    ¡°Sorry. Do you have any idea how worried I was when you were not picking up your call?¡±

    ¡°I knew it. Mom and you are the same. Always with negative thoughts. What did you think? Was I hit by a car or did I fall down the stairs?¡± taunted Nivritti.

    ¡°You died because your dumbass forgot to breathe,¡± scolded Apeksha.

    ¡°Do I have tough now? Ha ha, ha ha,¡±ughed Nivritti, sarcastically.

    ¡°Sarcasm??¡±

    ¡°What do you think, headache?¡± teased Nivritti.

    But before she could reply, their mother shouted, ¡°Ritti!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mom. How are you?¡± said Nivritti, sweetly.

    ¡°Where were you? We tried so many times to call you,¡± screamed her mother.

    ¡°Mom, chill. I just got a new sim. It took time to get activated,¡± replied Nivritti, coolly.

    ¡°Give me the number,¡± shouted her mother.

    ¡°No, I am not giving the number to anyone except in my office. If you want, video call me,¡± Nivritti put her foot down.

    ¡°I will not give your number to anyone,¡± pleaded her mother.

    ¡°Not even Seema aunty?¡± taunted Nivritti.

    ¡°Why do you run away from her?¡±

    ¡°Because she is always ready with a picture of a boy for me to get married to and I am sick of it,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°And what is wrong with getting married?¡± asked her mother.

    ¡°Heartbreak, mom. Heartbreak or did you forget?¡± Nivritti raised her voice.

    ¡°He called you on your phone, didn¡¯t he?¡± her mother understood everything.

    ¡°Excuse me!!¡± Nivritti was shocked.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you got a new number,¡± exhorted her mother.

    ¡°No, Mom,¡± lied Nivritti.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to protect me,¡± said her mother, concerned.

    Nivritti closed her eyes, shook her head, opened her eyes and smiled at her mother. ¡°How do you know these things? How did you figure it out?¡±

    ¡°I am your mother,¡± replied her mother. ¡°You always change things after your encounter with him.¡±

    ¡°I know, I know, I run away. I am best at that,¡± shouted Nivritti, annoyed.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± Her mother exhaled deeply and continued, ¡°leave it, did you eat?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mom, was just about to sleep.¡±

    ¡°Okay fine, go, rest and take care of yourself.¡±

    ¡°You guys too take care. Give my love to dad. And don¡¯t worry about me. I am fine,¡± assured Nivritti.

    She blew them a kiss and disconnected the call. Now she was content. She talked to her mother, and no one was wiser that she was in Korea. Now, no one in India had her number. She was tension free.

    She yawned and looked at herptop. She ced it back in the bag alone with all the papers she brought from the office. She double-checked all the locks, switched off the lights and retired to her bedroom.

    ¡°Little Women¡± was resting on her night table. She wanted to read it but was tired and she had to wake up early to reach the office early. She checked her rm and ced the phone on her night table. Sheid out her dress for the next day and jumped on her bed. Shey on her stomach, grabbed a pillow to her side and let herself in the arms of sleep.

    Hours went by, she was so tired that the moment she let her head fall on the pillow, she was asleep. But soon her sleeping position caused her arm to fall asleep. The funny sensation in her arms woke her up from her sleep. She shifted on her back and went right back to sleep.

    But the next moment she heard her doorknob turning. But then she realised that she never heard the keypad beeping. It meant only one thing, her sleepy mind was ying tricks on her. She groaned and grabbed the pillow closer.

    She was halfway to again go back to sleep when she felt a cold hand caressing her cheeks. She tried to ignore it thinking that her mind was still ying tricks on her. She swatted the hand away and went back to sleep. But she could feel the hot breath on her face.

    She realised that her mind was not doing anything, someone was inside her house, inside her bedroom. She opened her eyes, and the rug was pulled from under her feet. A handsome face was close to hers. Kyung-Soo was staring down at her.

    She opened her mouth to scream but instantly Kyung-Soo ced his palm over her mouth and silenced her.

    ¡°Shh... shh... shh,¡± he shushed her. ¡°You will only listen, I will talk.¡± He sat next to her and lowered his face even further.

    Nivritti suddenly pped him on the face. That made Kyung-Soo remove his hand from her mouth. She swiftly kicked him out of the bed and jumped out of bed and started running away.

    Before she could exit the room, Kyung-Soo picked her up easily with one hand and threw her against the wall. Hisrge body enclosed herpletely. She again threw her arm at him, but he grabbed her hand, twisted it behind her back and pulled her closer.

    He just kept staring at her with anger. For a minute they both kept looking at each other without speaking a single word. Kyung-Soo slowly moved his other hand behind her neck and inserted his fingers in her soft hair. He grabbed a good chunk of hair and pulled her head back.

    She groaned with pain but never removed her angry eyes from his face. He could take it no longer. Her anger was making her hotter. He ced his lips over hers with urgency and started sucking her lower lip.

    He let go of her hand and ran his hands all over her back. He kept sucking her lips with passion. Between sucking he would bite her lips hard. He was not ready for the tongue action yet. He was busy ying with and teasing her lips.

    Nivritti wanted to push him away but was too into the kiss. She wanted more. Slowly her fingers ran all over his chest and then she wrapped her arms around his neck. Kyung-Soo was sucking her lips as if his life depended on it.

    She moaned and groaned in his arms making him kiss her more. Now he was ready to dance with her tongue.

    ¡°NK!!¡± she eximed.

    ¡°Who?¡± said the man.

    ¡°Kyung-Soo stop ying. Give me more,¡± urged Nivritti.

    ¡°I am not Kyung-Soo,¡± said the man.

    ¡°What?¡± She opened her eyes and looked at the man. He was Kyung-Soo. All tall, all handsome, standing before her. But the next moment her eyes widened. The handsome face started changing into a rugged one. The clean-shaven face changed into a face with light stubble. The height of the man decreased by a few inches.

    ¡°I am not Kyung-Soo but you very well know, who I am,¡±ughed the man.

    Nivritti pushed the man away as far as she was capable of. She started hyperventting. She could not scream, she could not run, she just froze, unable to breathe. The man she was running from was standing before her.

    He moved towards her. It took him an eternity to walk up to Nivritti. He moved his hand in her direction and before he could touch her, she woke up screaming.

 Chapter 23

    23 The Morning Chaos

    Nivritti was watching him walking towards her. No matter how hard she tried she could not move even an inch. Tears started streaming down her face. She wanted to shout, she wanted to scream but she lost her voice.

    He was mere inches away from her. She wanted to again push him away, but her hands refused to move. His hands were getting closer to her face. He had a devilish smile on his face.

    Inch by inch he kept moving forward, teasing her with his smile. She could not take the torture any longer and screamed loudly and threw her arms around.

    The book on her nightstand fell with a loud thud and she woke up with a jolt, screaming her head off.

    She jumped from her bed and realised she was nowhere near the wall. She was standing in the middle of the room.

    She kept breathing heavily. She was covered in sweat. Her face was wet with tears. Her arm was asleep. All the sensation in her arm was gone. She immediately reached out and switched on the lights. She looked around but she was alone. There was no one else in the room.

    She ced one hand on her waist and the other on her forehead, exhaling loudly. She breathed in and out for 5 minutes and calmed herself down. She picked up the book and reached for her phone. After looking at the time, she went to the bathroom and sshed her face with cold water.

    She looked at herself in the mirror and reflected, ¡°what the fuck was that? What the fuck was that?? God! I am losing my mind. I need to find a therapist. Why the hell did I dream about Kyung-Soo? Why I dreamed about my past, I get that but why Kyung-Soo? God!!¡±

    Aftering out of the bathroom, she emptied a whole water bottle and slept with the lights on. She tossed and turned and when she was finally falling asleep, the rm on her phone chirped loudly making her groan with frustration. Since the day she arrived in Korea, she didn¡¯t sleep soundly. Her sleep was always disturbed by one thing or the other.

    .....

    But she had no time to sleep in. She had to reach early today. With a loud grunt, she removed her nket and got out of bed. She peed, pooped, brushed her teeth, and took a shower. After getting dressed, she stood inside her kitchen for a minute or two deciding on what to make for breakfast.

    But she was in no mood to cook anything, she was too tired. Her eyes were still droopy. She took out a loaf of bread and a stick of butter. She didn¡¯t toast the piece of bread and applied the frozen butter somehow to it. With a sickened face, she ate two pieces of bread and left for work. She decided to get a coffee from the caf¨¦ near the K&Q building.

    The cold morning air hit her face and she inhaled deeply. The soft sun rays lifted her mood a little bit. She kept praying to the god that Kyung-Soo must not appear before her under any circumstances. She did not want to see him at any cost. Her mind was still reeling with the nightmare and did not want to relive it.

    She had no idea why she dreamed about him, and that dream changed into her nightmare. She was running away from the past but that past kept chasing her.

    She still had time, so she went to the caf¨¦ and quietly enjoyed her coffee. The hot coffee warmed her up and she was ready to face everything life was about to throw at her. She reached the office where people had starteding in.

    Chung-Ho was seated in his seat. She went in and greeted everyone. Jae-Hwa gave her a sweet smile which brightened her day.

    Chung-Ho came to her seat and scolded her, ¡°I told you to rest.¡±

    ¡°I rested,¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°Your face doesn¡¯t say that,¡± chided Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Oh. it¡¯s not because of the work,¡± Nivritti exhaled deeply. ¡°I am just having trouble sleeping. New ce, new bed and all,¡± she lied.

    ¡°Really?¡± But Chung-Ho could detect that something was off.

    ¡°I am telling the truth. I retired earlyst night, just couldn¡¯t sleep soundly,¡± emphasised Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, I believe you,¡± he softly ced his hand over her shoulder tofort her. ¡°Now, fire up theptop, these are the email IDs. Send everyone a soft copy and get the hard copies ready. Give the hard copies to Ryan he will distribute them to everyone.¡± He pointed towards Ryan, who was an intern in the script department. After hearing his name from Chung-Ho¡¯s mouth, he looked in their direction and nodded. Both Chung-Ho and Nivritti returned the nod.

    ¡°Okay,¡±plied Nivritti.

    She took out herptop and ced it on her table. She pressed the power button and theptop chimed. She inserted the ID and password and opened the proposal file. After opening her email, she typed in all the email IDs that Chung-Ho gave her and send the proposal.

    She then hit the printmand and printed around 10 copies for every department. She arranged all the copies, put them in separate folders and handed everything to Ryan to distribute.

    The morning in the ASD mansion was a chaotic one. Korain slept early and woke up early to work on his idea. He preferred pen and paper over technology, so he jolted down every point in pencil first and then edited his work andpleted it in pen. He ced the papers in a file and started getting ready for his meeting.

    Kyung-Soo and Him-Chan were making breakfast, but everything was wrong. Kyung-Soo burned the eggs, forgot to add the kimchi whereas Him-Chan could not find Gim and decided to make noodles but the water boiled over and the kitchen was overflowing with noodle water.

    They had no idea what to do next so they just kept cursing the utensils, gas stoves and food too. Young-Chul came out of his room after hearing all the cursing from the kitchen. She rolled his eyes hard and facepalmed.

    ¡°Oh my god! You guys are idiots,¡± he shouted. ¡°Why do we ask you to prepare meals? Kyungsoona Hyung, you are the worst,¡± Young-Chul was frustrated with both of them shouting early in the morning.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± Thae said while rubbing his eyes. He too jumped out of his bed after hearing all the loud cursing.

    Young-Chul said nothing, just gestured towards the chaos in the kitchen with his palms. Thae understood everything. She shook his head with disappointment.

    ¡°We are sorry guys,¡± said Kyung-Soo and Him-Chan in unison.

    ¡°Clean everything up,¡±manded Young-Chul. ¡°Thae and I will cook the meal.¡±

    ¡°Oh no! Kyungsoona Hyung, what did you do?¡± Jung-Hwa shouted and startedughing. Jeong-Eun joined in.

    ¡°Where is Korain Hyung, he cooks the best,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°He is working on his idea about Rencontre. Leave him alone,¡± scolded Young-Chul.

    ¡°Sorry, Hyung,¡± apologised Jeong-Eun.

    Young-Chul tied an apron and ordered everyone around, ¡°Okay One, ce the tes on the tables, Thae, chop the veggies, Kyungsoona Hyung and Johan, clean up your mess and June, prepare coffee for everyone. I will take care of the kimchi eggs.¡±

    ¡°Sir, yes sir,¡± everyone saluted him and startedughing loudly.

    Korain came downstairs after taking a bath and saw the chaos, ¡°don¡¯t tell me Kyungsoona Hyung and Johan were preparing breakfast.¡±

    ¡°Right on!¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°My god!¡± Korain rolled his eyes. He then asked Young-Chul, ¡°Do you need any help?¡±

    ¡°Please look after the noodles till it is cooked, we all will take a quick bath ande,¡± requested Young-Chul.

    ¡°Go, be fast otherwise we will bete. I have a meeting with IT and marketing and Johan and June have their interview,¡± notified Korain.

    ¡°Okay,¡± all shouted and ran to their rooms.

    As promised, everyone took a quick bath and came back running. Korain had finished cooking the meal by then and had ted the food. They poured themselves a cup of coffee and sat down to eat. Korain kept looking at each of them, savouring their food.

    ¡°Are you kidding me? Eat fast, you morons,¡± screamed Korain.

    ¡°Sorry.¡± They all gobbled their food and were ready to leave for the K&Q building within minutes. They took two cars and reached the K&Q building.

    After reaching the lobby they pressed the button for the elevator.

    Suddenly, Korain shouted, ¡°Oh, I forgot my file in the car and I have a meeting with IT and marketing in 15 minutes. Okay, I will get the file from the car but can anyone of you go and get a copy of the Rencontre proposal from Ritti? Bring it to the 4th floor.¡±

    Immediately Him-Chan beamed up, ¡°I¡¯ll go¡±.

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart stopped beating. He was ufortable just thinking about Him-Chan meeting with Nivritti again. He instantly looked at Jung-Hwa and asked for help with his eyes.

    Jung-Hwa came to his help. ¡°Johan Hyung, we need to hurry for our interview. We still have to go for our hair and makeup. We will bete if we don¡¯t hurry,¡± he tried taking him away.

    ¡°But Korain Hyung needs help,¡± protested Him-Chan.

    ¡°Um... Kyungsoona Hyung, you have nothing on your schedule for another hour, please go and help Korain Hyung,¡± signalled Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, this will be great. Kyungsoona Hyung, you get the copy of the Rencontre proposal and Johan and June will leave for their interview. Meet me on the 4th floor,¡± said Korain and started walking toward the stairs to go to the parking lot.

    ¡°Okay, give me 10 minutes,¡± said Kyung-Soo and looked at Jung-Hwa.

    Jung-Hwa winked at Kyung-Soo and they both smiled at each other.

 Chapter 24

    24 The Copyroom

    The lift arrived and all entered. Him-Chan and Jung-Hwa stopped at the 2nd floor while Kyung-Soo kept climbing till he reached the 11th floor. He was excited to meet Nivritti. He looked in the mirror of the elevator, straightened his shirt and ran his fingers on his hair. He wanted to look his best.

    He was nervous to see her again. His heart was pounding in his chest. After taking a moment to calm his heart down, he opened the door and entered the script department with a smile on his face. Many people looked at him and smiled. He nodded to everyone, greeted Chung-Ho, and then went up to Nivritti.

    She was done with the Rencontre work so Chung-Ho gave her to proofread some scripts. She was too deep in the reading when Kyung-Soo came and stood next to her. The tall shadow attracted her attention.

    She turned around and stood up in shock. Even after praying to God multiple times, Kyung-Soo was standing before her. She wanted to avoid him at all costs but there he was, standing in front of her. Her mind went back tost night when he was inside her house, inside her mind. She gulped with shame.

    ¡°Hi!¡± eximed Kyung-Soo.

    His voice made her jump with surprise as she was still in her bedroom. His voice brought her back. She tried creating more space between her and Kyung-Soo, but she bumped into the chair and stumble. Before Kyung-Soo could touch her, she regained her bnce and stood straight.

    ¡°Careful,¡± cried Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± snapped Nivritti.

    He was unable to understand her anger. He was meeting for the first time since morning, he did nothing then why was she angry. He stared at her closely, her anger was mixed with a little guilt. He was sure that it had nothing to do with him. She was projecting someone else¡¯s anger at him.

    .....

    ¡°Um... Korain sent me here,¡± he informed, softly. He carefully navigated the waters as he didn¡¯t want her to bite his head off. ¡°He urgently needs a copy of your final proposal for Rencontre. He has a meeting with the IT team,¡± he exined, sweetly.

    His voice, his demeanour, and hisposure made her realise her mistake. It was her brain that created all the scenarios so why Kyung-Soo was being med? She closed her eyes and exhaled loudly, ¡°you are a littlete. I just sent the copies to the concerned people. I¡¯ll have to print a new one. That will take time if that¡¯s ok.¡±

    Kyung-Soo looked at his wristwatch and said, ¡°We have 15 minutes.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± She sat back in her seat and opened the file. She gave themand for print and stood up from her seat. ¡°Wait here, I will get the copy for you.¡±

    ¡°It will be fast if I leave directly from the copy room,¡± he rejected her notion.

    ¡°Right!¡± she knew he was right, but she was not ready to be with him in confined spaces. s! She had no choice. She started moving towards the copy room and he followed her. When they reached the copy room, the printer was in the process of printing.

    Nivritti went close to the printer and stood next to it. she felt Kyung-Soo staring at her. She looked at everything except Kyung-Soo. She was actively avoiding his gaze. On the other hand, Kyung-Soo could not understand what he did to make her ufortable. Was she conscious of her look? He was ready to tell her that she was looking beautiful in her pink shirt and ck pencil skirt. The tight-fitted skirt was entuating her curves.

    The silent gaze was getting awkward for Nivritti. She initiated the conversation, ¡°It will take a few minutes. I really hope it¡¯s okay.¡±

    Kyung-Soo smiled, ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±

    Again, the silence enveloped the copy room. The only sound was the screeching sound of the papering out of the printer. ¡°So are you going to check SK¡¯s work too?¡± asked Nivritti to break the silence once again.

    Kyung-Soo smiled at her use of the nickname she gave everyone. ¡°No, he is an expert in these things; he is literally a marketing genius.¡±

    ¡°Oh really!! Wow!!¡± Nivritti beamed with happiness. For the first time, they were talking about someone else and not focusing on each other.

    ¡°Yeah, few of his ideas have even blown the marketing team¡¯s mind,¡± educated Kyung-Soo.

    They were happily talking to each other when suddenly the printer stopped with a loud beep.

    ¡°Oh no, not now,¡± cried Nivritti.

    ¡°What happened?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, concerned.

    ¡°This idiot machine always does this. Again, with the paper jam nonsense,¡± she gritted her teeth. ¡°I am sorry this will dy you for another minute.¡± While apologising, she switched off the printer, opened the printer¡¯s side door, got the jammed paper out and again shut the door with her hips unconsciously and switched on the machine.

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart jumped out of his chest after seeing her hip movement. Her tight skirt made that move even more sensuous. His jaw fell to the floor, he puffed his face, blew the air out and shouted, ¡°What the hell?¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± Nivritti was frightened by his sudden outburst.

    ¡°What the hell?¡± he ran his fingers in his hair and again shouted.

    ¡°I told you it¡¯s just a paper jam. It is okay,¡± she tried reasoning with him.

    ¡°Are you out of your mind?¡± he gritted his teeth.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± Nivritti was shocked.

    Kyung-Soo moved toward her, but she stepped back.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Are you really out of your mind?¡± Kyung-Soo shouted at her. She kept looking at him, surprised and shocked, not able toprehend what he was talking about. Kyung-Soo was about to move forward towards her when suddenly two men barged into the copy room. Kyung-Soo turned towards them and stared directly into their soul. The men stopped in the doorway and saw the angry look on Kyung-Soo¡¯s face. They could not move further. They just kept looking at angry Kyung-Soo.

    Kyung-Soo shouted again, ¡°get out and close the door.¡± The moment the men heard him, they ran back and closed the door behind them. Kyung-Soo without wasting any time instantly looked at Nivritti and screamed, ¡°and you, I asked you a question.¡±

    The two men were feeling sorry for Nivritti.

    The first man said, ¡°Poor Nivritti, she can¡¯t catch a break.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, every member of ASD keeps scolding her,¡± nodded the second man.

    ¡°Should we tell Choi-ssi?¡± the first man was in a dilemma.

    ¡°I am not going to tell him. I am scared of him,¡± said the second man.

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just concentrate on our work.¡± They both nodded and went back to their seats.

    Meanwhile, inside the copy room, Nivritti was still trying to figure out the cause of the sudden change in Kyung-Soo¡¯s behaviour.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are trying to say.¡±

    Kyung-Soo exhaled like a bull and moved toward her. As he kept moving closer to her, she kept taking steps back but unfortunately, there were copy machines and printers everywhere so after a few steps she bumped into a printer and Kyung-Soo stood tall and caged her with his body.

    Nivritti gulped due to the closeness, ¡°What are you doing? Please back off.¡±

    Kyung-Soo scrunched his nose, gritted his teeth, and chided, ¡°Why do you keep doing things that make me lose all control over myself?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are saying?¡± She was breathing heavily unable to look into his eyes.

    Kyung-Soo breathed deeply and with patience said, ¡°rey your actions in your mind. Tell me everything that you did after we entered this room?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± she looked at him with shock.

    ¡°Just rey your actions.¡±

    She looked at him and replied, ¡°Well, we came and had few words about SK... and then paper jammed in the machine, and I unjammed it. It¡¯s printing now.¡±

    Kyung-Soo snapped at her, ¡°You child! Think about your every action, every gesture you did.¡±

    She took a deep breath, reversed her mind to a few minutes ago and said, ¡°um... I opened the printer door, took out the jammed paper,¡± and her jaw fell to the floor. With difficulty, shepleted her sentence, ¡°and closed the door... with... my... hips.¡±

    She facepalmed hard and shook her head in disbelief. The anger of Kyung-Soo vanished. He smiled at her cute reaction.

    ¡°Shit! Don¡¯t tell me that was distracting for you and that forced you toe close to me,¡± chided Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo smirked at her, snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He lowered himself and ced his mouth near her ear. He seductively whispered, ¡°You have no idea about the things I want to do to you after watching that.¡± He looked at her face.

    After hearing his tease, a loud gasp escaped from her mouth. She gulped hard and licked her lips. Kyung-Soo saw that and moved away from her in frustration.

    ¡°Oh, God!! Just stop my heart once and for all, why do you keep giving me mini heart attacks with your unconscious moves?¡± he reprimanded her and said through gritted teeth.

    Nivritti closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. ¡°I licked my lips again, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    Kyung-Soo kept blowing air out of his mouth. He kept clenching and unclenching his palms to calm himself down.

 Chapter 25

    25 The Copyroom ¨C Nivritti was confused as to why Kyung-Soo was acting strange. But he kept shouting at her in frustration. Even two members of the script team saw him scolding her. It was bing a routine, that she would get scolded by every team member of ASD.

    She kept asking him about what happened and then he asked her to recall everything she did. It hit her like lightning. Goosebumps ran all over her body thinking about what she did.

    Kyung-Soo was talking to her when she again licked her lips sending shivers all over Kyung-Soo¡¯s body. He could not take it anymore and moved away from her. His heart could not take any more of her sweet, sexy unconscious moves.

    Now it was Nivritti¡¯s turn to grunt in frustration. ¡°Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! How many stupid things do I do unconsciously? Ah... it¡¯s so annoying.¡± She threw her hands in the air in frustration.

    ¡°Oh no!¡± she cried out loud. Suddenly she felt as if she was hit by a bus. She looked at Kyung-Soo and gasped, ¡°Shit! Shit! Shit!!! JH saw me doing the same thing with the copier, Oh my God! That¡¯s why he was flustered. I am such an idiot.¡± She knocked hard on her forehead with her palm.

    Kyung-Soo could not control his smile and beamed at her, ¡°yeah, after interacting with you yesterday, he got a crush on you.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti and closed her eyes.

    Kyung-Soo again walked up to her and looked at her face. He wrapped his hand around her waist and held her tight to his chest making her open her eyes with shock. He sweetly looked into her eyes and said, ¡°everything that you do makes people go crazy, so stop enticing members of my group.¡± He blinked once and kept staring at her with a sweet smile on his face.

    His smile, his voice, his sweetness made her walle down. She wanted to stay away from him but now when she was closer to him, she wanted nothing else. All the noise inside the printer room subsided. The printers changed into flowers, the room changed into a hilltop with fresh air and a sweet flowery smell. Sweet cherry blossoms were falling from the sky.

    .....

    They both were drowning in each other¡¯s eyes. The floating feeling was making them more romantic. Both were at ease in each other¡¯s embrace. There was no ce they would rather be. Kyung-Soo¡¯s hand was slowly moving toward her face, and he caressed her cheeks with the back of his hand.

    His eyes lowered to her lips. The light pink lipstick was inviting him to kiss. He lowered his head and leaned in to kiss her again.

    No matter how many times she scolded herself, no matter how many times she decided to stay away from him, no matter how many times her brain told her not to respond to him, she knew that if he kissed her again, she would kiss him back. Her rule of not kissing someone younger than her would go out of the window.

    She licked her lips again making Kyung-Soo gulp with pleasure. He kept moving closer to her lips. She closed her eyes and waited for the kiss toe. She brain was telling her to run away but her heart was not in favour. Even her legs were against her brain.

    He was centimetres apart from her lips. He could taste the sweet kiss. Her heart was ready to jump out of her chest as soon as he would kiss her. But before their lips could touch, the printer beeped loudly, and thest page of the proposal came out of the printer. The printer was done with printing. The documents were ready.

    As soon as she heard the beep, her brain gained full control over her body. She pushed Kyung-Soo slightly and stepped back. He too released her and looked at her. She was breathing heavily and looking at the floor.

    He exhaled and moved away from her. He went to the printer and collected the documents. He took a folder from a bunch kept in the corner of the room and inserted the documents in it. Nivritti was standing frozen in the middle of the room.

    He didn¡¯t touch her or even tried to talk to her. He knew that she was in a fight with her brain. The way she stood close to him ready to kiss him and pushed him at thest second was the signal that she was fighting over whether to kiss him or not. He decided to give her time to figure things out by herself.

    He opened the door and was about to leave when Nivritti chimed, ¡°did you call me a child?¡±

    Kyung-Soo said nothing, just smiled at her and walked away.

    She tried to rx after he left. A chill ran down her spine. Every single hair of her body stood up. She stood inside the room for a few minutes andposed herself.

    ¡°You have to control yourself, do you hear me? Stay away from him. Don¡¯t let history repeat itself. You know how heartbreak feels, don¡¯t you?¡± she scolded herself.

    She came out of the room and walked sheepishly to her seat. She knew everyone would have heard about Kyung-Soo scolding her. She was right, the grapevine was buzzing with the news. Everyone knew how Kyung-Soo was shouting at her in the copy room except Chung-Ho. She looked around, he was not in his seat.

    Jae-Hwa came running to her seat as soon as she saw her.

    ¡°What happened? Why was he shouting at you?¡± he asked urgently.

    ¡°What? He was not shouting at me. He was just worried,¡± lied Nivritti.

    ¡°Worried?¡± Jae-Hwa was confused.

    ¡°Yeah, SK... I mean Mr Shin...¡±

    ¡°You can call him anything you want, they became your friends, didn¡¯t they?¡± interjected Jae-Hwa after Nivritti corrected herself.

    ¡°You are right,¡± nodded Nivritti. ¡°So, SK needed the proposal urgently, but the printer jammed. So, NK was shouting that if I knew that printer was faulty why did I givemand on that? Nothing else. He was just under pressure,¡± Nivritti kept up with her lie.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Jae-Hwa squinted her eyes and pressured Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, I am Jae-Hwa,¡± assured Nivritti.

    After hearing her full name, Jae-Hwa pouted, ¡°you gave them nicknames just after you met them. I know you before they knew you, where is my nickname?¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Nivritti. ¡°Oh you jealous cat, fine, I will call you Jae, done?¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± growled Jae-Hwa and stared at her again.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t scold me, I swear. Please tell everyone that. It would be nice if ites from you and if Mr Choi hears it he will scold NK without any reason,¡± pleaded Nivritti.

    ¡°If you say so, I will spread it everywhere,¡± assured Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Thank you very much,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°But you have to treat me,¡± ckmailed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. As you wish,¡¯ saluted Nivritti, teasingly.

    ¡°Good!¡± said Jae-Hwa and started moving toward her seat.

    But Nivritti interrupted, ¡°Hey! Where is Mr Choi?¡±

    ¡°Oh, he went to the meeting with Coin, IT and Marketing,¡± informed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ohh.¡± Nivritti smiled and went back to her work of proofreading. Jae-Hwa too returned to her seat.

    They all were busy working when Chung-Ho barged in singing loudly. He went up to Nivritti and asked for her hand. She looked sceptically at him but he was not having no for an answer. He pulled her hand and made her stand. He twirled her once and then started dancing with her.

    Everyone wasughing and smiling at both of them. They knew he was happy as her idea was in motion to be something big.

    ¡°Why are you so happy?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Why are you not happy?¡± he stopped dancing and looked at her confusingly.

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t know why you are so happy,¡± said Nivritti.

    He let her go and looked at everyone. Beaming with happiness, he addressed everyone, ¡°Okay, everyone, we are officially ready to prepare for the Rencontre. The IT team is setting up the script sites and the marketing and the production team are ready to jump in and shoot the advertisements for the Rencontre scriptpetition.¡± Everyone pped at his announcement. Nivritti was grinning from ear to ear.

    Chung-Ho reached into his pocket and took out an envelope. ¡°And Nivritti, this is your idea bonus.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± she was shocked. All gasp in surprise.

    ¡°Oh, Hu-ssi was there in the meeting and we all decided that we must award you for such a brilliant idea. This is not much but we wanted to appreciate you,¡± he shoved the envelope in her face.

    She looked at the envelope and stammered, ¡°I... I don¡¯t know what to say.¡±

    ¡°Treat us,¡± a girl shouted from a corner.

    Nivritti smiled. ¡°Done. I don¡¯t drink alcohol so tomorrow morning¡¯s coffee or tea, your choice, is on me,¡± she announced.

    ¡°Yeah, hurray, good work,¡± all shouted in unison.

    She was happy to see everyone happy.

    For the next few days, the marketing and production team were busy with the advertisement on all media tforms. Announcements were done on TV, on the radio, on every social media app, in every newspaper, every magazine, etc. ASD team kept their practice and daily video on hiatus and were busy shooting several advertisements for the same. The hardest job was for the IT team. They had to set up a website with six different links that would not crash at any cost.

    They knew the number of fans ASD had and they knew the traffic they would get on the website. It had to be simple yet elegant. They took all the ideas Korain had along with what Nivritti gave them in her proposal and started working along those lines.

    The first few of their ideas were rejected by Bong. This idea was new, he wanted something reflecting that. Finally, their idea was approved, and they started working on improving it further. The site was not only divided by the region but was also divided into seven more subcategories that would take them to the pages for their favourite member.

    First, one would open the website and would select their continent. After pressing their continent, they would have to select the picture of the member they wanted to write the script for and they would be taken to a page where they would submit their credentials and pay for thepetition. Atst, they would be directed to the script maker and they would submit their scripts. They could write as many scripts as they wanted but every script would cost them $20.

    After waiting for a week and a half, Monday arrived. The script team was eagerly waiting for the website to go online. They knew the moment the website would go online, they would be drowned in scripts, so the Rencontre team was armed and ready.

 Chapter 26

    26 The Wait

    It was already a hectic time for ASD and due to the Rencontre advertisement, they had to work harder. They had to shoot multiple hours for the advertisements. Their faces and voices were everywhere. They were doing multiple interviews to get the idea into the world. K&Q¡¯s website was buzzing with traffic as it had all the details for thepetition. It also had the link for the Rencontre scriptpetition which would go online soon.

    All the huge billboards were ying their advertisement on loops. Their fans were busy writing the scripts so that they could submit them as soon as the website would get functional. The whole world was on fire and what anyone could talk was about the Rencontre.

    The security around the K&Q building was increased. It was getting difficult for the workers to go in and out as media personnel were camped out of the building to get thetest scoop. But all the employees were given proper instructions not to talk to anyone about Rencontre.

    Everywhere Nivritti went she would see the seven members no matter whether it was a poster or a page of a magazine. Their faces were on everything. Even her google alert would chime in every few minutes with news of ASD. The whole weekend members spend practising for their live performance.

    For the very first time since she arrived in Korea, Nivritti was free. There was no work. She spent the time sightseeing on Saturday and rested for a whole day on Sunday. She just read her books and watched television. She was a fan of K-dramas, so she prepared food and wasted the whole day watching series and movies.

    It was almost 10 days since she saw Kyung-Soo. She was at ease. He was away from her. Her mind would go back to him but then she would discard all those thoughts. That night she slept peacefully. There was no nightmare, in fact, there was no dream. Her mind was nk, and she slept like a log.

    But the members of ASD were tired. There were working harder than ever. They would arrive home, eat and fall asleep. Then again in the morning, they had to take a quick bath and run for shooting and practise and interviews and radio shows. They were running on fumes.

    Tomorrow, the website would go up and their burden would get decreased somewhat. They were done with the shootings, and they would stop doing the interviews. That would free up their time. On Sunday they arrived home early from practice. They again ordered a takeout. After eating the food, they retired early.

    Kyung-Soo could not sleep so he went to the pool area and sat on the edge of the pool with his feet dipped in the warm water. He was looking at the city skyline. The lights in the tall buildings were mesmerizing. For a few minutes, he kept staring at it without blinking his eyes.

    .....

    Suddenly there was a tap on his shoulder, and he looked around. Jung-Hwa was smiling at him.

    ¡°Why are you not sleeping?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°No reason. Why are you not asleep?¡± replied and then Kyung-Soo asked back.

    ¡°Too tired to sleep,¡± Jung-Hwa stretched his whole body and replied.

    ¡°Take a warm bath that will rx your muscles,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I will keep that in mind,¡± replied Jung-Hwa. Kyung-Soo smiled at him and he sat next to Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°So, tomorrow the website would go online,¡± stated Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Right! Our hard work would pay off,¡± exhaled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Then you would get to see her,¡± teased Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± Kyung-soo was taken aback.

    ¡°You have not met with her for more than a week. Don¡¯t you miss her?¡± questioned Jung-Hwa, seriously. Kyung-Soo was aware that it had been days since he saw her and just wanted a glimpse of her.

    ¡°It seems you were thinking more about her than me,¡± Kyung-Soo tried to divert Jung-Hwa¡¯s mind from the fact that he indeed was missing Nivritti.

    But Jung-Hwa was not ready to back down. ¡°Thinking more about you two together,¡± mocked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°We are not together,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo. But his smile was hiding a sadness.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you are giving up,¡± Jung-Hwa became serious.

    ¡°Jungie!¡± exhaled Kyung-Soo. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Whenever I am close to her, I feel this sense of euphoria and peace but I sense that she is not at ease with me.¡±

    ¡°Why would you say that?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°She always keeps pushing me away,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Is that because of your age?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what she says.¡± Kyung-Soo¡¯s face was hung low with sadness.

    ¡°But why? Why does age y such an important role in her decision?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°That I do not know,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Then you have to find out. I know you don¡¯t ept defeat so easily.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to force her in making any decision,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    Jung-Hwa shook his head and said, ¡°you won¡¯t be forcing her. You would be asking her the reason. What if a person is an asshole but of her intended age, would she date him then? And is this age nonsense so rigid that she can¡¯t break it? You are the best boyfriend material, you just need to show her that.¡±

    ¡°Why are you so adamant about me and her?¡±

    Jung-Hwa smiled at him, ced his hand on his shoulder and said, ¡°I never thought you would open your heart again. Everyone knows about your bad breakup. I saw you throw yourself into your work. You spend your day and night taking care of us. Now I want you to do something for yourself. She made you open your heart with just one look, so she must be something special.¡±

    Kyung-Soo scoffed, ¡°but her heart is closed for everyone.¡±

    ¡°Then knock, knock hard and tell her to let you in and rent the space for a few weeks. If she likes you, good, if she does not, she can make you evict anytime, any moment.¡±

    ¡°That simple?¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes. Just try. Don¡¯t give up, Hyung,¡± assured Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Fine. I will try to never give up,¡± this time his eyes twinkled when he smiled back at Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°That¡¯s my Hyung. Now go rest.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go together,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    Both brothers from different mothers walked into the mansion and went to their room.

    The Monday morning was a cold one. The hazy morning hid the sunlight. The rm woke Nivritti up. She extended her hand and shut the rm down. She grabbed her nket tighter and shifted to her side. She unlocked her phone and saw a few miscalls and a few messages from her mom and her sister.

    She smiled widely. She slept early and didn¡¯t talk to them. They kept calling her, but she was in deep sleep. She left a message for her sister saying that she would call them in the evening, and she slept early so couldn¡¯t pick up their call.

    She jumped from her bed and went to the bathroom. After finishing her bathroom routine, she came to her kitchen. She prepared alu parantha and coriander chutney for her breakfast and peacefully enjoyed her meal with piping hot tea. She dressed herself in a grey pantsuit and folded her long hair in a bun. She put on a grey overcoat and was ready to leave.

    Picking up herptop bag, she locked the door and put on a mask. After resting for so many hours and eating her favourite meal, she was well-rested and happy. She was over the moon as her idea would be live today. On her way, she crossed so many advertisements for the Rencontrepetition.

    Smiling, she entered the K&Q building. The guard saluted her, and she greeted him back. She went up to her floor and entered her department. A few people arrived before her. She greeted every one of them, and they greeted her back. After she treated them with coffee, everyone was at ease with her. the whole department was friendly with her now.

    Still, a few of them were jealous of her as Chung-Ho was showing her special care and love. Little did they know that he was feeling guilty because he didn¡¯t save her the first time from Thae. He also liked her because she was smart and witty. Another reason for being jealous of her was that her very first idea was approved by the CEO, and he gave her a bonus.

    After everyone came in, Chung-Ho stood up, kept looking at his watch and announced, ¡°Okay, get ready Rencontre team, script sites are about to go online in 5, 4, 3, 2, and go. It was 10 in the morning KST. The website was live. The scripts would starting in any moment.

    Everyone pped and hooted. Nivritti, Jae-Hwa and Dae looked at each other and smiled.

    Chung-Ho continued, ¡°So, as discussed you three will take two continents each, but Jae-Hwa do get your selection checked by either of them before showing it to King.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Choi-ssi; we have a separate folder made for him where we can transfer the selected scripts so that we can double check it before presenting it to him,¡± informed Dae.

    ¡°Scripts will being in any time now, so gear up you three. Good luck,¡± smiled Chung-Ho.

 Chapter 27

    27 The Work Starts

    5, 4, 3, 2 and go...

    The Rencontre site was now online. The script department was enthusiastic and delighted. Any moment now, the scripts would start gushing out. They had to spend five months reading the scripts and finding the best among them. Finally, on the final week before the Rencontre, they would shoot the videos based on the scripts.

    The whole world was participating and that increased the pressure on them. All nationalities, all cultures, and all genders were ready to submit their scripts and the Rencontre team had to be fair in judging.

    ¡°Scripts will being in any time now, so gear up you three. Good luck,¡± smiled Chung-Ho and looked at the Rencontre team.

    All three in unison said, ¡°Thank you, Choi-ssi, Thank you, Mr Choi.¡±

    ¡°Choi-ssi, I was thinking that it would be better for us to sit together. It would get easy for us,¡± suggested Dae.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Right! Everyone, we are making some changes. As Ritti and Jae are sitting close to each other, Seong-ssi, why don¡¯t you shift near them?¡± proposed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Okay, I will,¡± said Dae and started packing his things.

    Chung-Ho looked around and saw the person sitting next to Jae-Hwa. ¡°Kim-ssi, please change ces with Seong-ssi,¡± he ordered.

    .....

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi.¡±

    Now the seating arrangement was changed for Rencontre. The team was sitting next to each other. They opened theirptop which was specially equipped by the IT team to get all the scripts entered in the Rencontrepetition.

    Within fifteen minutes, scripts from all over the world started pouring in. As decided Dae took South America and Africa, Jae-Hwa was given the responsibility of North America and Australia-Antarctica and Nivritti took Europe and Asia.

    As soon as the script starteding in, they put on a filter on the script website that would make sure that they won¡¯t read the scripts which were exceeding in word or time limit.

    Before they could even start reading the scripts, Jung-Hwa entered the script department with a headphone hung around his neck. The loud song was streaming out of it. He saw Chung-Ho and paused the song and bowed down to him. Chung-Ho too greeted him back. Girls in the script department started giggling after looking at him.

    He was handsome as ever, he was radiant as ever. His sweet smile was worth dying for. The Rencontre team too stopped working and kept staring at him.

    ¡°June, what are you doing here? Don¡¯t you guys have practice?¡± inquired Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo, Choi-ssi. Kyungsoona Hyung sent me to get the Rencontre team,¡± he spoke politely.

    ¡°Now?¡± Jae-Hwa looked at Nivritti and whispered.

    ¡°Exactly!!¡± she replied to Jae-Hwa and then turned towards Jung-Hwa. ¡°Mr Choi, scripts have literally starteding in; we haven¡¯t even read a single one yet. There is nothing to show him,¡± protested Nivritti.

    She was happy to be away from him. She slept peacefully for thest two days. She loved her sleep. She didn¡¯t want anything toe between her and her sleep, not even Kyung-Soo. But now she will have to face him and then she will dream about him, again. She started biting her nails with frustration.

    Jung-Hwa noticed that. He suppressed his smile and contrasted, ¡°you guys forgot, he wanted you to work with him all the time. We have our dance practice so you can read for a few hours then he can read it with you guys while we rest.

    ¡°Okay, June, we wille with you,¡± confirmed Dae.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll head ahead, you guys meet me on the 3rd floor lobby in 10 minutes,¡± said Jung-Hwa and ran away.

    The Rencontre team kept looking at the space where Jung-Hwa stood. He was so fast that they couldn¡¯tprehend it.

    ¡°What are you waiting for? Go with him,¡± shouted Chung-Ho.

    They all came back to their senses. They quickly packed theirptops and went down to the 3rd floor. The lift opened but Jung-Hwa was not there, so they had to get down the elevator. Jae-Hwa and Nivritti stood close to each other waiting for Jung-Hwa, but Dae had to step away as he received a call.

    As they were waiting for Jung-Hwa, they could hear different songsing out of the practice rooms. Soon, Jung-Hwa appeared from the far end of the corridor. He was walking slowly and dragging two backpacks and five duffel bags with him. It was clear that it was getting difficult for him to walk with so much luggage.

    Nivritti ran to him and offered her help, ¡°let me help you.¡±

    ¡°No, no it¡¯s fine,¡± Jung-Hwa hesitated.

    ¡°JJ, you can¡¯t carry all these bags alone, let me help,¡± emphasised Nivritti.

    He smiled at her as she used his nickname and said, ¡°You have a bag already.¡±

    Nivritti tilted her head and educated him, ¡°I¡¯m not saying that I¡¯ll carry all the bags in your hands, but I can carry two bags for you. That will ease your burden.¡±

    Fortunately for her Dae listened to every word she said. Hepleted his call and approached Jung-Hwa and Nivritti. Seeing that she was standing alone, Jae-Hwa too followed Dae.

    ¡°She is right June; let us carry at least one bag each,¡± insisted Dae.

    Defeated, he handed one duffel bag to each of them. He looked at Nivritti and smiled at his brightest. She smiled back at him. He could swear that he saw a twinkle in her eyes.

    ¡°See, it gets so easy when you share things,¡± stated Nivritti.

    Jung-Hwa beamed cutely at her.

    After they shared the load, Jung-Hwa pressed the lift and the doors opened. After they climbed in, he pressed the button for the lower basement.

    Suddenly it hit Dae. ¡°Where are your bodyguards, June?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Oh, they are downstairs waiting for us,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    The doors of the elevator opened, and they reached the lower basement parking lot. They all followed Jung-Hwa and he took them to a ck SUV. He pressed the key fob and unlocked the car.

    ¡°Please get in, all of you,¡± requested Jung-Hwa.

    Nivritti was taken aback. She had heard that idols were not allowed to drive. ¡°You¡¯ll drive us? Where is your driver?¡± she asked abruptly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I am a very good driver,¡± answered Jung-Hwa, seriously.

    Nivritti realised that she hurt his feelings. So, she corrected herself, ¡°Oh no, I didn¡¯t mean that. I meant...¡±

    Before she couldplete her sentence, Jung-Hwa started smiling, ¡°I¡¯m kidding.¡± Nivritti shook her head in disbelief and smiled back at him.

    He carried all the bags to the back of the car and loaded everything in the boot space. Then he climbed into the driver¡¯s seat and turned on the ignition. Dae sat next to him whereas the girls sat in the back seat of the car and the journey started. They came out of the parking lot and now were on the streets.

    But Dae was still concerned about Jung-Hwa travelling alone. ¡°Seriously June, where are your bodyguards? How are you allowed to drive around alone?¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Seong-ssi, see the grey car in front of us and that ck car behind us; they are my bodyguards,¡± informed Jung-Hwa.

    Nivritti¡¯s eyes widened with surprise. Her mouth fell open as soon as she realised that she was being escorted by bodyguards. Jung-Hwa caught a glimpse of her in his rear-view mirror while she was reacting to the bodyguards and could not control his smile.

    He thought to himself, ¡°Hyung, you were right. Her expressions are cute.¡±

    Jung-Hwa was a smooth driver. No one felt any bumps during their journey. He followed every traffic rule and within a few minutes, they reached a big white building.

    ¡°We are here,¡± announced Jung-Hwa.

    They all got down and a man came running towards Jung-Hwa. He tossed his keys to him and ordered, ¡°bring all the bags to room no. 5 on the 2nd floor.¡± The man just nodded and sat in the car. He drove the car to the parking lot whereas all four entered the building.

    Dae was walking ahead followed by Jung-Hwa and then the girls kept following them.

    Suddenly Dae asked, ¡°why you guys are practising here, June?¡±

    ¡°Oh, all our practise rooms in our building are busy today Seong-ssi. Other groups have their practice, and we needed a bigger dance room as we are practising with backup dancers today.¡± He signalled to the stairs and said, ¡°We are going to 2nd floor, room no. 5.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± eximed Dae and started climbing stairs.

    ¡°Ritti, I¡¯m nervous,¡± whispered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa exhaled loudly and said, ¡°ASD will be in front of me all day; I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to concentrate on work.¡±

    Nivrittiughed at her and said, ¡°Now, it¡¯s clear. You are an ASDian. Don¡¯t worry you¡¯ll be fine.¡± She ced her hand over her shoulder and pressed it with affection.

    ¡°I am not like you; I cannot talk to them like you do,¡± Jae-Hwa was sad.

    ¡°Like I do what?¡±

    ¡°You scolded Kat, you fought with King to get your idea approved, and how you talked with both Coin and June in the meeting and just a few minutes ago you approached June to help him and talked to him as it¡¯s normal to talk to him,¡± Jae-Hwa was bewildered.

    ¡°Dear Jae, it is normal to talk to them. They are human beings,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    As Jung-Hwa was walking just ahead of them, he was listening in on the conversation. He didn¡¯t mean to eavesdrop but couldn¡¯t help overhearing. After hearing that she treated them like human beings and not superior idols with insane powers, he was happy. He could not stop smiling at her opinion.

 Chapter 28

    28 The Crush

    All four were climbing the stairs slowly. Jung-Hwa was happy to hear Nivritti¡¯s opinion. She was not only sweet, smart, and kind, but she also knew how to treat a person. Jae-Hwa was tensed and Nivritti was trying her best to calm her down.

    In presence of idols, people used to lose their minds. they would keep giggling or staring intensively but not Nivritti. She treated them as peers. She was working with them and always conversed with them like one. She even offered her help. Girls used to mob them but not her, the way she treated him, it was clear that she thought him of as a child. She took care of him, smiled at his idea, and praised him for it.

    The onlyint he had with her was how she kept treating Kyung-Soo. Why was she so adamant about age? Why couldn¡¯t she give his Hyung a chance? He knew Kyung-Soo would make her the happiest woman on the, but she was not ready to ept his love. He was ready to help his Hyung in every way possible.

    Meanwhile, Nivritti was helping Jae-Hwa find herposure.

    ¡°Have you ever seen me talking to them?¡± questioned Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Now, that I think about it, yes, you never spoke in front of any of the members. Why?¡± Nivritti was shocked.

    ¡°Why? Why??¡± whispered Jae-Hwa urgently. ¡°I see them, and I forget where I am, I even forget to talk, breathe and whatnot.¡±

    Nivritti held her palm tightly and reassured her, ¡°Hey!! You will be fine. If you find them, their beauty, their handsomeness, to be distracting, you can look at my ugly face ande back to reality. Okay?¡±

    ¡°Ugly?!¡± Jung-Hwa was stunned at her answer. How could she call herself ugly?

    .....

    But Jae-Hwaughed at her answer and side-hugged Nivritti.

    They were passing the stairs entrance of the 2nd floor when Jung-Hwa informed Dae, ¡°Seong-ssi, here.¡±

    Jung-Hwa opened the door for everyone, and the others followed him to arge hall where ASDs were practising with backup dancers. Loud music was ying. Even though the dancers were sweating, there was no smell of the sweat. Nivritti had read somewhere that Koreancked the gene for sweat smell. It was a unique experience for her. As being from hot and humid India, the smell of sweat was prevalent everywhere when she was there. Hell! she had to pack a lot of deodorants as she read that it was one of the most difficult things to buy in Korea as Korean do not need it.

    While Nivritti and Dae moved forward with Jung-Hwa, Jae-Hwa froze in her path as soon as her eyes fell on Jeong-Eun. Nivritti and Dae moved a step forward and stopped after looking at so many people. Nivritti looked around, the room was made up of mirrors. Full-length mirrors covered the walls of the room. Dancers were looking in the mirror and practising their dance moves and stances.

    She kept looking all around and her eyes met with Thae¡¯s. Before she could avert her eyes, he bowed to her politely and hesitantly she greeted him back. She had no idea what to do so she repeated the same gesture. She was under the impression that Thae still hated her, but his bowing proved otherwise.

    She wanted to smile but her sceptic brain stopped her from doing that. As soon as she bowed down, she averted her eyes from Thae and then theynded on Kyung-Soo. He was busyughing with backup dancers. He was surrounded by men and women when suddenly a cute-looking female dancer touched his arm yfully whileughing with him.

    It felt like someone stabbed her through her heart. Her eyes widened with fury. Then suddenly she became aware of her feelings. She scolded herself for feeling emotions for him. She shook her head and lowered her gaze immediately.

    The next instant the door opened, and Jung-Hwa¡¯s security team arrived with everyone¡¯s bags that were kept in the boot space of the car.

    ¡°Guys take your bags; NK Hyung here is your team,¡± Jung-Hwa grabbed his back and shouted at Kyung-Soo, who was shocked to hear the word ¡®NK¡¯ from his mouth. He knew Jung-Hwa was teasing him as he brought Nivritti with him.

    Kyung-Soo instantly looked at Jung-Hwa and then at Nivritti who was actively avoiding looking at him. He took a deep breath after looking at her. Even a dull colour like grey was suiting her. He moved forward toward the Rencontre team and met with Jung-Hwa midway.

    ¡°Since when did you call me, NK Hyung?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo with his eyebrows raised.

    ¡°Just teasing you, NK Hyung,¡± teased Jung-Hwa and smiled at him. Kyung-Soo was about to move away from him when Jung-Hwa interrupted, ¡°by the way Hyung, someone called her ugly.¡±

    Kyung-Soo was shocked. ¡°What? Who?¡±

    ¡°She, herself,¡± replied Jung-Hwa and startedughing. Kyung-Soo hit his head yfully and made him run away.

    Meanwhile, Kyung-Soo and Jung-Hwa were chatting, Korain and Jeong-Eun approached the Rencontre team. Nivritti looked around and saw that Jae-Hwa was frozen. She grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. But Jae-Hwa was still staring at Jeong-Eun and Nivritti noticed that.

    Korain hugged Dae as if they were long-lost friends and then bowed down to Nivritti and Jae-Hwa. Jeong-Eun just bowed to all three. Nivritti returned the greeting and nudged Jae-Hwa in her stomach, breaking her trance. Jae-Hwa too bowed down to Korain and Jeong-Eun and wiped her nervous sweat from her forehead.

    Korain was so impressed with Nivritti that he wanted her approval for his idea. So, she was the one he addressed first, ¡°Wee! So, did you like my ideas for the script sites?¡±

    Nivritti was happy to answer as she too was impressed with him. ¡°Yes, they are amazing, especially the option of clicking on your animated faces to select the person you want to write the scene about,¡± she replied excitedly.

    ¡°Our Hyung is a mastermind when ites to marketing ideas,¡± praised Jeong-Eun.

    Nivritti smiled at Jeong-Eun. She nced back at Jae-Hwa who was trying hard not to stare at him. ¡°Yeah, NK told me about that.¡±

    ¡°You guys talk about me?¡± Korain was shocked.

    ¡°Everyone talks about you Hyung, you are our genius,¡± teased Jeong-Eun. Korain grabbed him in a headlock and kept rubbing his head hard. All startedughing at their yful fight.

    The next moment Kyung-Soo approached the scene and Korain let Jeong-Eun go.

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s good manners made him address the elder first. ¡°Thank you foring here Seong-ssi and keeping up with my every demand.¡± He bowed to him in respect and then he addressed the girls, ¡°Hi Ritti! Hello San-ssi! Please follow me. The table on that side is where you¡¯ll work. If you guys need anything, please don¡¯t hesitate to ask.¡± He pointed at a table with two long benches kept on either side and started walking.

    All others started following but not Jae-Hwa. Nivritti had to drag her with her.

    ¡°Let me help you, give me your bags,¡± said Jeong-Eun with a smile. After seeing him smile, Jae-Hwa stopped breathing.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, One, thank you,¡± replied Dae.

    Nivritti suddenly had an idea to help Jae-Hwa. ¡°I¡¯m fine, but you can carry her bag; she is not feeling well today,¡± she said pointing towards Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± Jae-Hwa was shocked and confused. She froze, again.

    ¡°Just give him your bag,¡±manded Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa absentmindedly gave her bag to Jeong-Eun who again smiled at her making her lose her mind. Nivritti stifled herughter and moved forward. Jeong-Eun walked fast and reached near the table before anyone else. He ced the bag carefully and looked at everyone.

    ¡°He is your bias, isn¡¯t he? You have a little crush on him?¡± Nivritti teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Why would you do that? You gave me a heart attack. You are so bad,¡±ined Jae-Hwa cing one hand on her heart and breathing heavily.

    Nivritti could not control herughter anymore and startedughing at Jae-Hwa. Hearing herugh, Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes widened, and he turned around. The fine lines on herughing face made her more beautiful. The shine in her happy eyes made her mesmerising to look at.

    ¡°This was the dumbest decision you ever took King. How will you be able to work with full concentration if she looks like this every single time? You have to do something about your crush. Oh, God! Please help me. This girl will kill me one day for sure,¡± thought Kyung-Soo.

    Then suddenly Nivritti saw him staring at her. She was still not over the fact that some girl touched him. She was angry at him, why she had no idea. ¡°What?¡± she snapped.

    ¡°Are you here tough or work?¡± mocked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Can¡¯t I do both, I am a multitasker unlike you,¡± chided Nivritti.

    Him-Chan was standing in a corner staring at Nivritti. The confidence on her face, the smile on her lips, her dressing sense, her personality, all was attracting him. He tried hard to avoid but he had to talk to her. He was how easily Korain and Jeong-Eun talked to her, so he approached her. She was having banter with Kyung-Soo.

    He had never heard anyone talking to him like that. He was well-respected and everyone spoke to him kindly and sweetly, but she was ready to go toe to toe with him.

    He heard her answer and blurted out, ¡°Ooh! Micdrop!!¡±

    With his tease, all startedughing. Again, after seeing herugh, this time two hearts skipped a beat.

    ¡°Shit! Why do I have this sudden urge to kiss her again?¡± pondered Kyung-Soo and took a deep breath.

    Him-Chan could not believe his eyes. ¡°Shit! Herugh is prettier than her smile. Am I having a crush on her?¡±

 Chapter 29

    29 The Hypnotism

    Everyone wasughing and enjoying themselves together while Kyung-Soo and Him-Chan were crushing over Nivritti.

    But then Dae interrupted, ¡°Okay, enough chitchat, we all need to start working. You guys go do your work and let us do our work.¡±

    Everyone nodded and went to practice. Nivritti ced her bag on the table. She wanted to avoid the gaze of Kyung-Soo so she chose to sit with her back on him but as every wall of the practice room was covered with mirrors, she could still see him dancing and smiling and talking with girls.

    Kyung-Soo too noticed that her back was facing towards him. He smirked at her action as he knew that he could see her in the mirror, and she could too. No matter where she would have sat, they both would have seen each other.

    She opened herptop but would keep ncing at Kyung-Soo. He would smirk at her in return. No matter how many times she saw him dancing with girls, she would roll her eyes, hard. She didn¡¯t like any girls in his arms. In anger, she would press the keyboard of herptop, furiously.

    Now there were a lot of scripts to read and filter. One after another, they all kept rejecting the scripts while the boys kept practising with loud music.

    Suddenly Jae-Hwa screamed with frustration, ¡°Oh my God! These scripts are hurting my brain.¡± And she pulled her hair with annoyance.

    After looking at her annoyed expressions both Dae and Nivritti startedughing. They understood what she was feeling as they were feeling the same. They explicitly stated in the rules that no adult scenes or intimate scenes should be included in the script, but many scripts had mentions of kissing as though the fans would get to act in the scene.

    Meanwhile, Kyung-Soo was trying hard to concentrate on his dancing but would nce at Nivritti every now and then. The moment he saw herughing again, he moved his feet wrong and the girl he was dancing with fell on her derriere, hard.

    .....

    The music stopped, all went quiet. Everyone looked at her with concern. Several dancers, the choreographer, a few members of ASD and Kyung-Soo all went to help her and made her stand.

    ¡°Be careful King, don¡¯t hurt other people,¡± shouted Dae, mockingly. Nivritti turned around and gave him back his smirk.

    Kyung-Soo looked at Nivritti and whispered, ¡°this girl!¡±

    All kept asking the dancer if she was hurt. Kyung-Soo averted his eyes from Nivritti and bowed down to the dancer, ¡°I¡¯m very sorry. Please forgive me, it won¡¯t happen again. I¡¯m very, very sorry.¡± He kept rubbing his hand to apologise to her properly.

    ¡°It is okay sir, I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s continue our practice,¡± the dancerforted him and then addressed everyone.

    After the incident, all concentrated on their work. ASD kept practising and the Rencontre team kept selecting suitable scripts.

    ¡°Is there a way I can filter the scripts which have non-existent English? Can we reject scripts based on grammatical error?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Hmm... good question. Um... If the concept is good, I think we can try to keep them on,¡± replied Dae, carefully.

    ¡°But then we will have to rewrite the script, especially dialogues,¡± informed Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah right,¡± he said and then thought for a minute. ¡°Okay let¡¯s do this; make another folder and put such scripts in them. We can then get permission from Choi-ssi if we can present same to King and if he likes the concept we can rewrite,¡± exined Dae.

    ¡°Okay done,¡± nodded Nivritti.

    For a few hours, all were busy with their work. ASD kept repeating every move to perfect them. The choreographer kept guiding them. Backup dancers kept helping them. The Rencontre team kept reading script after scripts but had not selected even a single one till then.

    Then suddenly the music stopped, and the choreographer politely asked everyone to take a rest. All the team members sat on the floor with a thud and kept breathing heavily. Young-Chul and Korain let their body fall on the floor and theyy down with their hands under their head. But Kyung-Soo had no time to rest. He had to see if the Rencontre team had any scripts for him to read.

    He approached the Rencontre team and sat next to Dae who was sitting alone in front of Jae-Hwa and Nivritti.

    ¡°What¡¯s the status, guys?¡± he asked while wiping his sweat with a towel. He looked at Nivritti, but she was avoiding his gaze as always.

    Even Dae didn¡¯t look at him. He kept his eyes on the screen and answered, ¡°still scanning and reading King. Scripts areing at us with the speed of bullets. I don¡¯t think we will be able to give you something solid for at least 3 to 4 days.¡±

    Suddenly Jae-Hwa eximed, ¡°Wow!!¡± she realised that she talked in front of a member of ASD, so she covered her mouth with her hand and looked at Nivritti for help.

    Everyone understood that she stumbled upon a great script. Before Nivritti coulde to her help, Kyung-Soo politely asked, ¡°Looks like she got one. May I?¡±

    But as usual, Jae-Hwa froze. Nivritti smiled at her and gave her a slight nudge and passed herptop to Kyung-Soo. He carefully scanned the page and said, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s for Thae.¡± He kept reading for a few minutes and calmly observed, ¡°yes, it¡¯s nice. How do we save it?¡± he was looking at Jae-Hwa.

    But she was speechless. She had no idea how to answer him. King was sitting in front of her which she never ever dreamed of. She never thought that would be possible. But there he was. Nivritti saw her expressions and realised that she was overwhelmed with Kyung-Soo¡¯s presence.

    ¡°Jae, he asked you something,¡± she again nudged Jae-Hwa.

    Jae-Hwa had her eyes widened. She cleared her throat and replied, ¡°Um... we move it to this folder.¡± She signalled at a folder.

    Kyung-Soo looked at the folder and found that the folder had his name on it. ¡°This folder has my name on it,¡± he eximed.

    ¡°Yeah, because all shortlisted scripts will be approved by you so we are using your name,¡± educated Dae.

    ¡°Okay, keep reading and then I will see you after a few hours.¡±

    The moment Kyung-Soo said that Nivritti opened the folder that had his name and opened the script that Jae saved a few seconds ago. It was meant for Thae. The theme was fantasy. The writer made Thae into a dragon rider. The scenario was that Thae was fighting evil while saving fans from the apocalypse. It was a well-written, beautiful script.

    While all that was happening, Jeong-Eun and Jung-Hwa were sitting next to each other looking at Kyung-Soo and the Rencontre team.

    Abruptly Jeong-Eun blurted out, ¡°she is cute.¡± And smiled cutely looking at the Rencontre team.

    Jung-Hwa was shocked, ¡°Excuse me!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you agree?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°She is gorgeous but...¡± said Jung-Hwa, concerned.

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t even think about her, I¡¯m going to ask her out,¡± shouted Jeong-Eun at him.

    Jung-Hwa was visibly worried, but Jeong-Eun paid no heed and he continued, ¡°look at her cute face, her beautiful, small eyes...¡±

    It struck Jung-Hwa as lightning. He thought, ¡°small eyes? But she has the biggest eyes I have evere across. Is he going blind?¡±

    But Jeong-Eun was in his dreand. ¡°...her distracting bangs...¡±

    ¡°Bangs?¡± pondered Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°...her red hair...¡± Jeong-Eun continued.

    His description confused Jung-Hwa. He screamed, ¡°What on earth are you talking about?¡±

    Jeong-Eun too was getting annoyed with Jung-Hwa¡¯s constant questions. ¡°She is sitting right in front of you. Are you blind?¡±

    ¡°From which angle do you see Ritti has bangs or has red hair? Her eyes are so big she can easily givepetition to a doe,¡± snapped Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Ritti? Why would I talk about Ritti? I am talking about Jae-Hwa, you idiot,¡± Jeong-Eun snapped back.

    With his exnation, Jung-Hwa exhaled and rxed himself. He whispered to himself, ¡°Oh thank God! I thought NK Hyung is getting anotherpetitor. Phew!¡±

    Little did they know but Him-Chan too was staring at Nivritti. He suddenly heard her name and his ears pointed in their direction. ¡°What? What about Ritti?¡±

    ¡°No one said anything about Ritti. Are you guys, tripping?¡± chided Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°No, you kept talking about a girl, and June took her name, so I thought you were talking about her.¡±

    ¡°I just said about a girl sitting in front of us. I never took Ritti¡¯s name,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    Him-Chan startedughing and mocked him, ¡°You are talking about some other girl when she is sitting in front of you.¡±

    ¡°To tell you the truth after I saw her scolding Kat, I am low key scared of her,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°How can someone be scared of her?¡± Him-Chan was taken aback.

    ¡°Yeah, I find her anger, endearing,¡± smiled Jung-Hwa.

    Suddenly a bulb lit over Jeong-Eun¡¯s head. ¡°Wait! I was talking about Jae-Hwa and you guys assumed I was talking about Ritti. How hypnotized are you guys that you can¡¯t see anyone in the room except her? Oh my God! You guys kept looking at her through the mirror.¡±

    Both Jung-Hwa and Him-Chan shouted ¡°no¡± and moved away from Jeong-Eun in embarrassment to different directions.

 Chapter 30

    30 The Mistake By Thae

    Jeong-Eun rolled his eyes at their behaviour. He started smiling after seeing how Him-Chan and Jung-Hwa ran away from him. Kyung-Soo returned after scanning the script and sat with his team. Both Korain and Young-Chul sat up after seeing him.

    ¡°Did they find anything?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°There is a lot to read but they did find one that looks promising,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to do that?¡± inquired Young-Chul, seriously.

    ¡°Do what?¡±

    ¡°Pile up upon your work? You already do so much, Hyung,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Young, I need the perfect script. I don¡¯t want to shoot something I don¡¯t want to. We will have to deal with people we don¡¯t know. We trust our production team but there will be a stranger telling us what to do. So, I need a clean, non-controversial script. You know even our sneezes get analyzed,¡± educated Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think they will try for that too?¡± Young-Chul pointed at the Rencontre team.

    ¡°Of course, they will. That¡¯s why they are doing the initial screening. But we have to be vignt at every step. We have to face the scrutiny of society and our fans, not them. I am just taking care of my team,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    .....

    ¡°You always do, that¡¯s why you are the best leader,¡± Young-Chul patted Kyung-Soo¡¯s hand with respect.

    ¡°Young!¡± but Kyung-Soo brought him close and gave him a side hug. He knew Young-Chul was not big on physical love and members had to force him to ept their love.

    ¡°It¡¯s true, Hyung,¡± said Young-Chul, lovingly as Kyung-Soo¡¯s hug melted him.

    ¡°Here, Kyungsoona, have some water and rx. They will do a good job, trust them,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Thank you, Hyung,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    Kyung-Soo gulped the whole bottle and exhaled deeply. After all were rested, the dance practice started again. The loud music was ring and the sound of feet was raucous. The choreographer kept giving instructions, kept showing them moves. The backup dancers were matching the energy of ASD members.

    The script team kept reading voraciously. Due to thenguage barrier, many scripts werecking proper grammar and sentence structure. But as they decided if they liked the concept, they moved the script to a new folder to get approval from Chung-Ho. They knew if any of those scripts were to be selected, their work would increase as they would have to correct everything and rewrite the scriptpletely.

    The lunch hour was approaching soon. ASD had to halt their practice as Korain had a brand ad shooting, Young-Chul had to go to the recording studio for recording a new song for Rencontre and Him-Chan and Kyung-Soo had interviews. So, Young-Chul, Korain and Him-Chan took a shower and left for their destinations.

    Kyung-Soo asked his manager to ce a lunch order for everyone present in the practice room and went to take a shower as he too had to leave for an interview. Many backup dancers left as their shift ended and they went home. Only a few stayed behind. Thae, Jeong-Eun and Jung-Hwa were messing around and waiting for the lunch to arrive.

    They kept teasing each other over their dance moves and Jeong-Eun¡¯s crush on Jae-Hwa. But Thae had something else on his mind. He kept ncing at Nivritti. He wanted a chance to say sorry to her but had no courage to approach her. He was d that she returned his greeting when she arrived, but he still had a long way to go.

    He was still looking at the Rencontre team while Jung-Hwa was teasing Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t they going to have lunch?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°What?¡± both Jeong-Eun and Jung-Hwa looked at him.

    Thae pointed at the Rencontre team and asked again, ¡°won¡¯t they have lunch? They have been here since morning. They must be hungry too.¡±

    ¡°NK Hyung ordered for everyone,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°NK Hyung! Since when you started calling him, NK Hyung?¡± Jeong-Eun was shocked.

    ¡°Since Ritti gave him that name. It¡¯s easy and short,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    But Thae was confused. He had no idea what anyone was talking about. ¡°Who is NK Hyung? And who is Ritti?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you were not there. After you tested her, idiot,¡± Jung-Hwa rolled his eyes at Thae and then continued, ¡°we all became friends. She gave us nicknames and suggested that we should call her Ritti. Just think, Kyungsoona Hyung, NK Hyung, which one is better?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°NK Hyung,¡± Thae¡¯s face dropped with shame. His mind went to how he didn¡¯t believe her and tested her for cynophobia. He was filled with guilt after that.

    ¡°See,¡± beamed Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°So, you all are friends and have nicknames?¡± asked Thae, sadly.

    ¡°Yes, I am PJ, he is JJ, NK, SK, MY and JH,¡± replied Jeong-Eun, happily.

    ¡°Ohh!¡± Thae¡¯s head hung with shame.

    ¡°This is your chance Kat Hyung, bring them their lunch, talk to her, and apologize,¡± suggested Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m nervous and ashamed,¡± replied Thae.

    ¡°Look at this idiot; he was not nervous when he was shouting at her but when he has to apologize, he is nervous,¡± Jeong-Eun facepalmed.

    ¡°Go,¡± pushed Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± said Thae. He exhaled loudly and gained some confidence. He looked at the food, grabbed three packets and three cups of c and moved towards the Rencontre team.

    The team was busy reading and discussing scripts when Thae approached them. He ced the food and drink on the table. With difficulty, he looked at Nivritti and offered one of the cups of c to her.

    He cleared his throat and softly spoke, ¡°Please eat and drink something. You guys have been working nonstop.¡±

    His voice made everyone look at him, but he was looking at Nivritti. She half-smiled at him as she was not sure how to react. She was still a little scared of him. She didn¡¯t want him to shout at her. At the same time, Thae too was scared of her. He was worried that she might not forgive him.

    As he was extremely nervous about talking to her, his hands were shaking with uneasiness. Before Nivritti could take the cup of c from his hand, the cup shook hard and tilted all over her grey pant suit.

    She stood up instantly with a sudden jerk making all the c fall on the ground, in the process, she saved her trousers from getting wet. But her jacket and white shirt were all wet.

    Thae panicked as soon as the c spilled all over her.

    He started apologising urgently, ¡°I am sorry. I am so sorry. Oh my God! I¡¯m an idiot.¡±

    But Nivritti knew that it was not his fault. This could happen to anyone, so she tried to assure him, ¡°it is okay, I¡¯m fine.¡± She kept wiping c from her shirt, but the cold wet shirt was sticking to her chest. The icy c was making her shiver. Every single hair on her body stood up.

    As it was a practice room, the AC was already cranked all the way up. In addition to that icy cold c was poured on her. She kept pinching her shirt away from her chest, but it was wet all the way through.

    ¡°Are you okay, Ritti?¡± both Dae and Jae-Hwa asked. Jae-Hwa instantly offered her a few napkins, but Nivritti knew napkins would not help her.

    ¡°I am fine,¡± she replied.

    As her white shirt was wet her grey bra started showing through her shirt. Thae¡¯s eyes fell on her chest and immediately lowered his eyes with respect. Nivritti noticed that and looked at her chest. She could see her cleavage and the grey bra. She clutched her jacket tightly over her chest.

    Jeong-Eun and Jung-Hwa were staring at Thae as he went to say sorry to Nivritti. They were excited to see how she would react but facepalmed the moment he spilled c all over her. They came running.

    ¡°Mr Kang, where is the bathroom?¡± requested Nivritti.

    But Thae was too stunned to answer her because of his mistake. He had no idea how to look into her eyes or how to answer her. Immediately Jung-Hwa replied, ¡°that¡¯s the bathroom.¡± He pointed at a door that was on the west end corner of the practice room.

    ¡°But...¡± Jeong-Eun was about to say something, but Jung-Hwa held his hand tightly and signalled for him to stop. Nivritti instantly ran in that direction while buttoning up her jacket all the way up. She was extremely embarrassed by the situation.

    While she walking toward the bathroom, Jung-Hwa shouted, ¡°Ritti!¡±

    ¡°Hmm...¡± Nivritti halted in her path and turned halfway to look at him. She hid her chest by tightly clutching her jacket.

    ¡°Bathroom doesn¡¯t lock from inside so I¡¯ll lock it from outside, when you are done you can knock, and I¡¯ll open the door. Okay?¡± informed Jung-Hwa.

    She awkwardly smiled at Jung-Hwa and entered the bathroom. Jeong-Eun was perplexed at Jung-Hwa¡¯s behaviour, but Jung-Hwa kept his hand in a tight grip not making him move even an inch. Jeong-Eun had no idea what was going on in Jung-Hwa¡¯s mind.

    Jung-Hwa moved to lock the bathroom, but Nivritti¡¯s head popped up through the door and she said, ¡°JJ, there is a bag here. Whose is it?¡±

    ¡°Oh, someone must have forgotten. Let me take it out,¡± said Jung-Hwa. He went inside the bathroom, took out the bag and locked the door from outside.

 Chapter 31

    31 The Bathroom

    Jung-Hwa closed the door and looked at Jeong-Eun. He had a mischievous smile on his face. His face was dripping with a roguish glow.

    Both Jeong-Eun and Thae came running at him.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing, June?¡± Jeong-Eun gritted his teeth.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Jung-Hwa innocently but had an impish smirk on his face.

    ¡°You very well know NK Hyung is inside taking a shower and you send a girl inside,¡± scolded Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°NK Hyung?!¡± teased Jung-Hwa. He was amused to see that the name was catching on.

    ¡°Don¡¯t change the topic. Tell me what in the hell is going on in your mind?¡± inquired Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know the things that I know,¡± simpered Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡± asked Jeong-Eun. Jung-Hwa was making him scratch his head.

    .....

    ¡°Oh, you are a kid, you won¡¯t understand,¡± mocked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m literally older than you,¡± Jeong-Eun hit him on his head, yfully.

    Thae was listening to them bickering at each other, but his head was still hung low with shame.

    ¡°Uff... you guys just don¡¯t observe things, NK Hyung likes Ritti,¡± educated Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted both Jeong-Eun and Thae, together.

    ¡°Really!?¡± Jung-Hwa was disappointed. ¡°You guys have not observed the change in his behaviour. When has he ever cared about what scripts we get? When has he worked so closely with the script department? When has he walked away from the dinner table? He could have sent any driver to get the team, but he sent me,¡± he rified everything to them.

    ¡°Whoa!!¡± eximed both of them.

    Abruptly Jeong-Eun said, ¡°but you kept staring at her when NK Hyung went to read the scripts.¡±

    ¡°I was enjoying the view of Hyung literally being captivated by her,¡± Jung-Hwa could not hold his smile anymore. He grinned from ear to ear.

    ¡°Oh shit!! You locked them together in the bathroom,¡± suddenly Thae blurted out.

    ¡°His slow ass figured it out so fast, congrattions. Guys, I¡¯m trying to create a romantic moment for them,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Pray to God that doesn¡¯t turn into a disaster,¡± warned Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I forgot about the music,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa and pped his forehead, hard.

    ¡°What music?¡± Thae was confused.

    ¡°Loud music, so if they knock, we can¡¯t hear them,¡± Jung-Hwa rubbed his palms together, mischievously and kept shing a devilish smile. He ran to the music station and yed a song. He turned the volume all the way up.

    Jae-Hwa¡¯s eyes followed Nivritti to the bathroom. She was worried about her. The c was dripping from the bench to the floor. She took a few paper napkins and wiped Nivritti¡¯s seat.

    ¡°Poor girl!¡± eximed Dae.

    ¡°Will she be alright?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°The drink was cold. I hope she would not catch a cold,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Why always he has to hurt her?¡± Jae-Hwa red at Thae and gritted her teeth.

    ¡°It was a mistake, Jae-Hwa,¡± consoled Dae.

    ¡°I know but why always she gets hurt,¡± Jae-Hwa sat down, defeated. She was feeling sorry for Nivritti.

    ¡°She will be fine,¡±forted Dae and patted her hand.

    ¡°Send her home, Seong-ssi. She needs to change her cloth. She can clean her dress, but it will still be wet,¡± pleaded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You are right. Let here out, I will ask her to leave,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°You are the best, Seong-ssi,¡± Jae-Hwa beamed with happiness.

    ¡°I know, now eat something,¡± requested Dae.

    ¡°Let here. I will eat with her.¡±

    ¡°You said to send her home and now you want to eat with her,¡± mocked Dae.

    ¡°Right, sorry,¡± Jae-Hwa bit her tongue.

    Nivritti heard Jung-Hwa locking the door after him. She took a deep breath and unbuttoned her jacket. She again pinched her shirt and pulled it away from her skin. After cing the jacket on the sink, she removed her shirt and washed the c away from both pieces of clothing.

    She wrung the clothes and got rid of all the water from her clothes. She looked around and there it was, a hand dryer. She ced her clothes under it to dry them fast so that she could wear them. Her bra was still wet, but she was not ready to take it off. She just wanted opaque clothes. It was enough that Thae saw her bra, she was not ready to show it to the world.

    Kyung-Soo was done with his shower and was drying himself with a cotton towel. He always carried two towels with him. One for his body and another for his hair. He was still patting himself dry when he heard the hand dryer.

    He closed his eyes with anger as he gave explicit instructions to everyone to let him take a shower in peace and not disturb him. But someone entered the bathroom and was disturbing his peaceful time. He knew it only could be Jung-Hwa. He was the naughty one and always gained pleasure by teasing others.

    He came outside his stall while wiping his hair with one towel and another towel was wrapped around his hips.

    ¡°I told you to lock the door...¡± he shouted but stopped mid-sentence. A shockwave ran all over his body. He lost his voice.

    He could not believe that Nivritti was standing before him. She was dressed only in her bra and her low-waist grey trousers. His mouth fell open with shock. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. The smooth curves of her waist made him bite his tongue. Her belly button was making him lose his mind.

    As soon as Nivritti heard his voice, she immediately covered her breast with wet crumpled clothes that were in her hand. Kyung-Soo realised that he was staring at her. He instantly lowered his gaze and turned in the opposite direction. The hand dryer went silent.

    Nivritti started breathing heavily as she could not breathe properly. She was cursing herself thinking about why she alwaysnded in such situations. And why such situations always happened before Kyung-Soo. Without thinking further, she ran towards the door and shook it hard. She even tried knocking it hard.

    After hearing all the noise, Kyung-Soo turned around and looked at her. He realised what she was trying to do. He knew her attempt was futile. With the ring sound outside, no one would be able to hear her. He carefully approached her, covered her bare back with the towel that was around his neck and immediately moved back. He kept his gaze lowered.

    ¡°They can¡¯t hear you over the loud music,¡± informed Kyung-Soo politely. ¡°We need to wait a bit.¡± He paused for a minute to give her time to rx and then asked, ¡°What happened? Why are you inside the bathroom in this condition?¡±

    She turned to face him but didn¡¯t look at him. Still standing close to the door, she replied, ¡°Mr Kang spilled c on my dress.¡±

    Her sentence made Kyung-Soo look at her. His eyes burned red with anger. ¡°He did what?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo angrily.

    His angry voice made her raise her head and look him in his eyes. She realised that she made a mistake. The framing of her sentence was wrong. The way she said it made it clear that Thae purposefully spilled the c, but it was a mistake and she had to correct her sentence.

    ¡°It was a mistake, he was offering us lunch, but this happened,¡± she cried trying to make him understand. ¡°Please don¡¯t be angry at him. He said sorry.¡±

    That calmed him down. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. ¡°You got c spilled on your dress which means your dress is wet,¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she replied. Again, she lowered her eyes with embarrassment.

    ¡°Then why the hell are you clutching your wet clothes close to your chest? Do you want to get sick? Put them down and wrap towel nicely,¡± he ordered.

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti again looked at him with surprise.

    ¡°They are wet, you could fall ill. So, do as I say. Wrap the towel,¡± he emphasised. She just nodded.

    After giving her order he again turned around to give her privacy. Nivritti hesitated for a minute but knew that Kyung-Soo was right. She must not wear wet clothes, that could make her fall ill. She took a deep breath and let kept her clothes on the sink. She grabbed the towel and started wrapping it around her body.

    But Kyung-Soo intervened, ¡°take off your bra too.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me!!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo knew she would resist so he again turned towards her and looked into her eyes firmly. With a firmer tone, he inquired, ¡°Are you telling me that piece of your clothing is dry?¡± but she said nothing and kept on looking down. She knew he was right. Her bra too was wet.

    ¡°Yeah, I thought so. Please remove all wet clothes and wrap that towel around you,¡±manded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But your towel is wet too,¡± contrasted Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, butpared to your dress, it¡¯s dry,¡± counterpointed Kyung-Soo.

    She shook her head in defeat and said, ¡°fine.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± said Kyung-Soo and turned away from her. He kept looking in all directions as had no idea what do to. It was unbelievable for him that Nivrittinded in the bathroom in that condition when he too was inside.

    Suddenly his eyes fell on the mirror. He turned around to give her privacy, but she was still visible in the mirror, he instantly closed his eyes with his hands and stood motionless.

    Nivritti removed all wet clothes and wrapped theparatively dry towel around her and looked at him. Her face instantly broke into a smile at his respectable behaviour.

 Chapter 32

    32 The Bathroom ¨C It was cold inside the bathroom. On top of that, her clothes were wet. But the most humiliating part was she was inside the bathroom with Kyung-Soo, and he saw her in a bra. Since the day she joined K&Q, something or other embarrassing event has been happening in her life.

    Kyung-Soo gave her a towel and ordered her to use it to make herself dry. She knew whatever he said was right. She needed to get rid of her wet clothes else she could fall ill, and she just started her job. Moreover, it was the first day of the main event of her job. Her idea came to fruition, and she had to see it to the end.

    She took off her wet clothes and wrapped the towel. But it was still ufortable for her knowing that she was naked from the waist up and was locked up with a man. After she was done wrapping the towel, she looked at Kyung-Soo, he was standing facing away from her. In addition to that, he had his hands all over his eyes.

    She smiled at his sweet and respectable gesture. She realised that even though he turned around, everything was visible in the mirror, so he closed his eyes. She was grateful to him for that. She knew that she could not get out like that but if the door opens, Kyung-Soo can exit, and she could dry her clothes in peace.

    She looked at him. His bareback was all muscr. The broad shoulder was quite prominent. She lowered her eyes, hesitated for a minute, and then spoke, ¡°NK, could you try to knock again and see if they can hear us now?¡±

    But the music was still audible inside the bathroom. He lowered his hands and turned towards her. But instead of looking at her, he looked at the floor and replied, ¡°it won¡¯t help, music is too loud.¡±

    His eyes were looking for something. Nivritti noticed that. She didn¡¯t want to impose but the curiosity got the best of her, ¡°are you looking for something?¡±

    Kyung-Soo while still looking around answered, ¡°there was a bag here, have you seen it?¡±

    Nivritti gasped, ¡°that was your bag? JJ thought someone left it here, so he took it out.¡±

    .....

    ¡°He did what?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and looked at her. She immediately looked at the floor actively avoiding his gaze while tightly clutching onto the towel.

    Hesitantly, she replied in a soft tone, ¡°Yeah, he... said someone... must have left it by mistake.¡±

    Kyung-Soo gritted his teeth, ¡°that sneaky bastard.¡± He understood everything. He now knew the reason how and why Nivritti was locked with him inside the bathroom.

    ¡°You should not say bad words about anyone,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    He smirked at her and taunted, ¡°You will kill him after I tell you what he did.¡±

    That made Nivritti look at him. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Kyung-Soo scoffed, ¡°he deliberately locked us together in this bathroom.¡±

    A gasket blew in her brain. Smoke starteding out of her ears. Jung-Hwa intentionally locked her up with Kyung-Soo which meant he was aware that the bathroom was upied when he sent her in. ¡°What? Why?¡± she shouted and stepped towards him.

    He could see the anger in her eyes. The widened eyes and the red nostrils made him stammer, ¡°uh... I might have told him about us.¡± He stepped back, afraid of her anger.

    Her jaw drooped on the floor. She shrieked, ¡°About us? About us?? There is no us. What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Woah! Okay rx, I can see that you are angry,¡± he tried to calm her down.

    But his attempt failed. ¡°Angry? You haven¡¯t even seen me getting angry. Oh, I can strangle you right now.¡±

    She moved towards him in anger, raised her fist to hit him on the chest but controlled herself and gritted her teeth in frustration. She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. Her arms were raised ready to hit him, but she clenched her fists as well and tried to control her anger.

    But something came over him. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her lovingly.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± he asked adoringly.

    ¡°You really think I am...¡± she opened her eyes while replying to him only to find that she was ufortably close to his bare chiselled chest. She gasped loudly and lost her voice. Mesmerizingly, she kept admiring his beauty. He didn¡¯t have the chance to dry his hairpletely. So, the water droplets clinging to his hair asionally kept falling on his broad shoulder, his handsome face, his sculpted abs.

    She had been close to him a few times, but this was the first time she was touching his bare chest. Moreover, the pearls like droplets of water were enhancing his beauty. She followed a drop that fell on his cheeks and traced its path all the way to his lips. The drop vanished between the lip lines. A sudden urge to kiss him took over her which sent a chill all over her spine giving her goosebumps.

    Kyung-Soo felt her shiver. Instinctively, he pulled her closer to his chest and hugged her tightly.

    ¡°Are you cold?¡±

    She gulped and thought, ¡°No, I just got the urge to kiss you even though I have been telling myself to stay far away from you.¡± She took a deep breath, licked her lips, and expertly lied to him, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. I¡¯m feeling cold.¡±

    He smiled at her adoringly. He raised his hand and touched her cheeks with the back of his hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I wanted to hide what happened between us from the world because you asked me to, but Jungie is very observant. He found on his own that I like you.¡±

    The moment she heard the words ¡°I like you¡± an electric current ran through her body. It felt as if she had been electrocuted. ¡°You what?¡± her voice failed her, it came out as a whisper.

    She huffed loudly and pushed him away with all the force she could muster. Her breath shuddered and tears started filling her eyes but somehow, she stopped herself from crying and said to him in a sorrowful voice, ¡°Please don¡¯t say that. Never say that.¡±

    Kyung-Soo heaved. Seeing her controlling her emotions he felt like someone crushed his heart. Without thinking twice, he ran up to her, pulled her closer and hugged her tightly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I hurt you in any way. I¡¯m really sorry,¡± he apologised.

    His hug and his sweet words broke the dam of her tears. She started sobbing. ¡°I am so angry at you.¡±

    ¡°Be angry, that I can take, just stop crying,¡± he pleaded.

    He kept consoling her for a few minutes holding her tightly in his arms. Everything tuned out for Kyung-Soo. He held her close to his chest. Her shoulders were cold, but he covered them with his hands. Her soft skin was silky to the touch. He was d that he could protect her. He was d that she was close to him. It had been days since he saw her and now, she was in his arms.

    Even though she was not happy with him, a little angry at him, he was d that he was there when she needed help. He promised her that he won¡¯t let anything happen to her. He could not protect her from getting wet but could protect her from getting sick. He closed his eyes and took in all the feeling of hugging her.

    Suddenly everything was quiet. They realised that outside music was now silent. The next moment they heard the unlocking of the door. They instantly broke up the embrace. Kyung-Soo promptly turned towards the door shielding Nivritti with his body so that no one could see her.

    The door opened and Jung-Hwa peeked in with a big smile on his face.

    ¡°Are you guys, okay?¡± Jung-Hwa could not stop smiling. ¡°Sorry I forgot you were inside Hyung and by mistake, I send Ritti inside.¡±

    Nivritti heard his voice and lowered her head. She held Kyung-Soo¡¯s back tightly and hid behind hisrge stature because she didn¡¯t want anyone to see her in a towel, well, anyone else.

    ¡°The moment I walk out of here, I¡¯m going to break your head,¡± barked Kyung-Soo.

    But Jung-Hwa kept smiling at Kyung-Soo, teasingly.

    ¡°Throw my bag in and get lost,¡± rebuked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jung-Hwa and ran outside. He returned with the bag and looked at Kyung-Soo. He raised his eyebrows and asked in signal how was Kyung-Soo doing. Kyung-Soo ran a finger on his throat and signalled towards Nivritti. Jung-Hwa understood with the gesture that she would kill him the moment she gets out of the bathroom.

    His mind recalled Jeong-Eun¡¯s words about the situation turning into a disaster. He was right. He gave a concerned look to Kyung-Soo and ran outside, shutting the door behind him.

    ¡°Shit!¡± eximed Jung-Hwa. His n backfired. Now, Nivritti was angry at him.

 Chapter 33

    33 The Mess

    Kyung-Soo was angry as well as grateful to Jung-Hwa. More than angry, he was definitely grateful. Because of him, he was able to share a tender moment with Nivritti. She always used to run away from him but because of Jung-Hwa, she was locked with him.

    He just wanted to see her every day. He had no idea that he would be able to see that to such an extent. She was standing before him without any clothes on her upper body. He never dreamed anything like that. It happened because of Jung-Hwa and to some extent because of Thae.

    But he knew that Nivritti would be angry at Jung-Hwa for sure. He knowingly locked her inside with Kyung-Soo, and on top of that never forewarned her. She innocently was drying her clothes when Kyung-Soo barged in and saw her almost naked. She surely was going to kill him.

    Nivritti was still hidden behind Kyung-Soo. She was praying to god that no one must see her like that. Jung-Hwa left the bag and locked the door behind him. Kyung-Soo turned towards Nivritti. She was looking at the floor, biting her lips with embarrassment. He softly ced his hand over her shoulder and assured her, ¡°everything is alright. He is gone. No one saw you like this.¡±

    ¡°You did,¡± sheined and looked at him.

    Kyung-Soo smiled at her, ¡°well, it was unavoidable.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡± Nivritti lowered her head again.

    He smiled at her shyness and patted her head softly. He left her standing and reached for his bag. He took out a neatly folded shirt, trousers and zer for himself and a t-shirt and a jacket for Nivritti. He walked up to her and requested, ¡°wear these; I¡¯ll go outside while you change.¡±

    Nivritti immediately raised her head at shouted at him, ¡°What? Are you out of your mind? You can¡¯t go outside like this.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Oh, are you concerned people will see my sexy body? Jealous much?¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti was shocked to realise that she in fact felt jealous. She didn¡¯t want anyone to see his bare body, his carefully sculpted muscles, his broad shoulders, and his slightly narrow hips. She wanted this beautiful scene all for herself. Biting her lips, she closed her eyes and cursed herself for such a thought.

    She shook her head and removed that image from her mind. She rebuked Kyung-Soo, ¡°you and your flirting, can¡¯t you just turn it off.¡±

    ¡°I have never flirted in my entire life,¡± mocked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Really?¡± she rolled her eyes at him making him smile. ¡°Well just turn around so that I can change.¡±

    Kyung-Soo was about to turn when his eyes fell on the stalls where he just had a bath. He shouted, ¡°Shit! The stall!!¡± He turned towards Nivritti and said, ¡°Wepletely forgot about the stalls. You change here, I¡¯ll go change in the stall.¡±

    They both looked at each other and startedughing. Kyung-Soo took his clothes and went to the stall. It took him a few minutes to get dressed. He came out with the towel in his hand and looked at Nivritti.

    He smiled at her with pity. She was dressed in his t-shirt and jacket. Because of hisrge stature, his clothes looked as if they were hanging on a hangar on Nivritti¡¯s body. Moreover, what grabbed his attention was, she was standing near the door with the door handle in her hand but was afraid to open it.

    ¡°Embarrassed to go out?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Nivritti. It was always easy for her to run away from her problem, but this problem had no way out. Inside the bathroom, she had to deal with Kyung-Soo and outside she would have to deal with all the prying eyes. She was locked with Kyung-Soo for a long time and people would talk. She wanted to run away but had no ce to run away to.

    ¡°Let me help you,¡± proposed Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti never looked at him. He just grabbed all the clothes including towels and Nivritti¡¯s wet dress which she left on the sink and dumped everything into his bag. He opened the door, grabbed her hand with one hand and carrying the bag with another, he pulled her outside.

    As soon as they came out, everyone stopped talking. They looked at Nivritti dressed in an oversized t-shirt and a jacket, and their eyes widened. Everyone kept staring at both of them except Jae-Hwa. She ran towards them.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked.

    Nivritti realised that Kyung-Soo was still holding her hand. She pulled her wrist out of his hand and immediately Jae-Hwa hugged her.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, thank you,¡± assured Nivritti.

    Jung-Hwa carefully approached her and cautiously apologised, ¡°I¡¯m extremely sorry, Ritti.¡±

    His voice made her close her eyes with anger. She exhaled loudly and looked at him but instead of speaking to him, she gave him a death re.

    Kyung-Soo instantly signalled him not to talk to her. Disheartened, he took a step back and hung his head in shame.

    ¡°You should go home, Nivritti,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Yeah, he is right, you should leave. Let me take you home,¡± offered Kyung-Soo.

    But Jeong-Eun interrupted, ¡°you have an appearance on the talk show in an hour, Hyung. You need to leave now.¡±

    Kyung-Soo facepalmed, ¡°Shit, I forgot.¡±

    While Kyung-Soo was pondering over what to do, Dae exined, ¡°And King, before you leave, I just want to ask you to give us time to sort through the scripts. It will take us at least 3-4 days before we could give you readable scripts.¡±

    As soon as he heard what Dae had to say, he looked at Nivritti. It pained him a lot thinking about how he won¡¯t be able to meet her for six more days, but he knew Dae was right.

    Dae continued, ¡°So, let¡¯s meet on Monday. Nivritti, you go home, Jae-Hwa and I will go back to the office. See you tomorrow.¡±

    Kyung-Soo agreed to his every word, ¡°you are right, Seong-ssi. Let¡¯s meet on Monday. And Ritti let me call you a cab.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll go on my own,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Abruptly, Thae spoke, ¡°I¡¯ll drop you if it¡¯s okay with you.¡±

    Everyone looked at him shocked. They were not sure what they heard was right. But Nivritti just looked at him and nodded. He came to apologise to her earlier, but it was spoiled. She wanted to give him another chance to talk.

    ¡°Let me help you with your things, Ritti,¡± offered Jeong-Eun. He then addressed Jae-Hwa, ¡°San-ssi, could you help me with herptop?¡±

    ¡°Wh... what?¡± She was flustered. ¡°Yes, definitely,¡± she somehow replied.

    ¡°Ritti, walk with me towards the door please,¡± begged Kyung-Soo. Nivritti nodded and followed him.

    While they were walking toward the door, Jeong-Eun and Jae-Hwa moved towards the desk. Jae-Hwa started shutting down theptop while Jeong-Eun collected Nivritti¡¯s phone and papers that were on her side of the desk.

    The moment he inserted his hands to ce everything in her bag, Jae-Hwa too ced her hand inside to put theptop in. An electric current ran through their bodies when their hands touched. Jae-Hwa instantly removed her hand letting theptop fall into the bag.

    Her pale cheeks turned crimson. Her cheeks were givingpetition to her red hair. Seeing her blushing hard, Jeong-Eun could not help but smile. He was happy to see that he was able to stir emotions in her.

    Jae-Hwa stood there, shocked while Jeong-Eun moved towards Kyung-Soo and Nivritti who were talking to each other near the door.

    ¡°Are you really, okay? You don¡¯t have to go with Thae if you don¡¯t want to,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    She just smiled at him. ¡°I¡¯m okay. It will be fine. He was there to apologise. I need to give him another chance. We will have to face each other someday so why not today.¡±

    He too smiled at her maturity. But the next moment, his face turned serious. ¡°So sorry on behalf of JJ. Please don¡¯t be angry at him. If you want, you can get angry at me instead.¡±

    ¡°I am equally angry at both of you,¡± she gritted her teeth.

    ¡°What?¡± Kyung-Soo was confused.

    ¡°You need to leave, or you¡¯ll bete,¡± she tried to change the topic.

    But Kyung-Soo understood. ¡°You are changing the topic.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am, now go,¡± emphasised Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo shook his head in disbelief and smiled at her. He wanted to keep talking to her but the next moment, Jeong-Eun arrived.

    ¡°Here you go, Ritti,¡± he said and handed her, her bag.

    Nivritti bowed and thanked him, ¡°Thank you, PJ.¡± Hearing his nickname, he beamed with happiness.

    Meanwhile, Thae collected his things and was ready to move out. He passed by Jung-Hwa and teased him on his way out.

    ¡°Looks like she is not angry at me anymore. Someone messed up good,¡± Thae mocked.

    Jung-Hwa made an annoyed face and murmured through his teeth, ¡°Shut up.¡±

    Leaving Jung-Hwa standing alone, Thae moved towards Nivritti and asked, ¡°Shall we?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Thae, Nivritti and Kyung-Soo left the room together. Jae-Hwa and Dae started packing their stuff to move to the office. Slowly all the dancers started leaving too after having their lunch. The only people left in the room were Jeong-Eun and Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Looks like someone is scared now,¡± mocked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Ha ha,¡±ughed Jung-Hwa, sarcastically.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you find her anger endearing a few hours ago?¡± taunted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you,¡± screamed Jung-Hwa and ran after Jeong-Eun to hit him. Jeong-Eun kept running all over the roomughing out loud.

 Chapter 34

    34 The Cutie

    Nivritti was walking with Thae and Kyung-Soo. They exited the practice room and were waiting for the lift to arrive. She was feeling uneasy as she was not wearing any bra. Although the extrarge t-shirt and jacket covered everything up neatly. Still, she kept clenching the jacket near her chest.

    ¡°Give me your bag, please,¡± said Thae to Nivritti. He wanted to help her in any way possible. He was still feeling bad about spilling c all over her. But found it amusing to look at her as she looked funny in an oversized t-shirt and jacket.

    Nivritti was not ready for anyone to speak so she didn¡¯t hear what he said. ¡°What?¡± she inquired.

    Thae pointed at herptop bag and repeated, ¡°let me carry it.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine, Mr Kang.¡± Thae¡¯s face fell low with disappointment. She gave nicknames to every member of his team but was taking his name formally. He didn¡¯t like being treated differently. He was loved by one and all but not her. That made him sad. Well, he knew it was his fault.

    ¡°Yeah, give him,¡± chimed Kyung-Soo. He was happy that Thae offered to help her but was disappointed that she refused his help.

    ¡°NK, I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti. Thae¡¯s face fell lower after he heard ¡°NK¡±. He too wanted a nickname.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you listen to anyone?¡± chided Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°It¡¯s not heavy and I said I am fine,¡± emphasised Nivritti staring into his eyes.

    .....

    ¡°He is just trying to help,¡± pointed out Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I know that. But he already has a bag in his hand,¡± counterpointed Nivritti.

    ¡°So what? He has two hands,¡± contrasted Kyung-Soo.

    Thae was just standing looking to and fro at them bickering at each other. He wanted to stop them but every time he would open his mouth, one of them would speak over him.

    ¡°That does not mean he must carry two bags,¡± weighed Nivritti.

    ¡°What is wrong with carrying two bags?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What is wrong with carrying one bag?¡± differed Nivritti.

    ¡°That means you are not ready to forgive him,¡± blurted out Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? Don¡¯t you say that. Are you out of your mind?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo had enough of her defiance. He hated that she never listened to him. In anger, he grabbed the strap of her bag and pulled her closer to his face. Her face was so close to him that she could feel his warm breath over her lips. She gulped hard. His one action made her shut up.

    ¡°What did you say to me? I am out of my mind? No one talks to me like that,¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    Everyone was scared of angry Kyung-Soo. Thae looked at both of them, they were standing too close. He remembered Jung-Hwa¡¯s word about Kyung-Soo liking Nivritti. But now he was angry at her. No matter what, he lowered his eyes to give them privacy.

    Seeing that Kyung-Soo was too close to her, her tongue involuntarily ran over her lips due to nervousness. Kyung-Soo gasped and his anger flew out of the window. He closed his eyes and groaned loudly.

    ¡°Stop it,¡± he murmured.

    ¡°What?¡± she asked innocently.

    ¡°The thing you do,¡± he pointed at her lips with his eyes, ¡°unconsciously.¡±

    The moment she realised that she again licked her lips, she gaped, ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± She tried to move backwards but Kyung-Soo was not ready to let go of the strap. ¡°Let go,¡± she muttered.

    He pulled her even closer. Their noses were about to touch. ¡°Give me the bag.¡±

    ¡°Why are you like this?¡± she barked.

    ¡°Why are you so stubborn?¡± he rebuked. The moment Thae heard them shouting he looked at them. He had to bite his lips to control his emotions. He never saw Kyung-Soo behaving like that with anyone. Girls always threw themselves over him and he could care less. If he would ask for their life, they would easily give him that.

    But now he was fighting with a girl for a bag. So what, if she was not giving the bag, why was it so important for Kyung-Soo? He had a knack for getting things his way but with this girl, he was failing.

    ¡°I am not stubborn, you are,¡± screamed Nivritti.

    ¡°You are,¡± chided Kyung-Soo.

    Thae had enough of their stupidity. He shouted, ¡°enough, both of you. Give me the bag.¡± Nivritti tried to open her mouth, but Thae shut her down instantly, ¡°bup, bup, bup, I have had enough from you two. Not a single word. Just hand me the bag and follow me.¡±

    Both Nivritti and Kyung-Soo looked at each other and raised their eyebrows with disbelief. She handed him the bag and Thae rolled his eyes hard at them. They were bickering like married couples. Both were mature yet were behaving like children.

    The lift opened and all entered in. No one talked after that. No one was even looking at each other. The lift reached the basement parking, and all exited the lift. Kyung-Soo waited near his car and kept an eye on both Thae and Nivritti.

    He was not liking the idea of sending Nivritti with Thae. He just kept wishing for everything to go smoothly. ¡°Please God, don¡¯t let them fight again,¡± he kept praying.

    As soon as Thae and Nivritti sat in Thae¡¯s car, Kyung-Soo called up the security team and informed them that they were leaving the building. The moment both the cars hit the road, two separate teams of bodyguards followed their cars. Both the cars went in opposite directions.

    Kyung-Soo kept staring at Thae¡¯s car till it disappeared among the fleet of cars.

    Nivritti noticed that two ck SUVs were following them. She had seen this before when she was travelling with Jung-Hwa. She knew it was Thae¡¯s security team. She found it odd that K&Q had so much trust in their idols that they were okay with them driving cars alone.

    ¡°Where am I driving you to?¡± Thae broke the ice.

    Nivritti opened her phone and showed him her address.

    ¡°You don¡¯t remember your address,¡± teased Thae.

    ¡°No,¡± grinned Nivritti sheepishly. ¡°It¡¯s just been two weeks. I need some more time.¡±

    Thae smiled at her cuteness. ¡°Of course. That¡¯s near our K&Q building,¡± he noted.

    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s 15 minutes on foot,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°You walk every day to work?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°I love walking and it¡¯s great exercise,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Absolutely,¡± he smiled at her. She politely smiled back. She was somewhat at ease because Thae was not shouting at her. He was talking and smiling at her. Even Thae was at ease to see her smiling freely.

    Suddenly a thought popped into his mind. He signalled his security team and stopped the car. Two men instantly came and stood outside his car.

    Nivritti was worried as the car stopped and she saw the security team outside her car. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Rx! Nothing happened, just give me a few minutes,¡± he said, smiling.

    He wore his mask, exited the car and his security team followed him. The street was full of people so she could not tell where Thae went. After a few minutes, the car door opened and Thae came back with arge bag in his hand. He just smiled at Nivritti and handed her the bag.

    ¡°What is this?¡± She looked inside. It had packets of food and cans of c in it.

    ¡°I am sorry; you couldn¡¯t eat because of me so when you get home, please have these,¡± requested Thae.

    Nivritti gasped at his gesture then smiled at him. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do this. This is too much food, Mr Kang. It was a mistake you need to stop feeling guilty.¡±

    Again, his heart broke when she called him formally. ¡°It¡¯s not the only thing I feel guilty about. I am sorry from the bottom of my heart for the way I treated you,¡± said Thae in a sad tone. He was on the verge of crying.

    Nivritti softly reached for his hand and patted the back of his hand. ¡°You need to stop thinking about that too. I know how one feels if they love someone so much, you are ready to fight with the world for them.¡± She triedforting him, but her own eyes became distraught. Her mind shed back to her past for a second.

    He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. ¡°But I should not have shouted at you.¡±

    ¡°I screamed at you as well and I¡¯m sorry for that. I hope you can also forgive me,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°No, you did nothing wrong, there is nothing to forgive. Wait! You said also, that means... that means you forgave me already?¡± noted Thae.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even think about that incident anymore, you too need to forget about it,¡± exhorted Nivritti.

    ¡°Thank you for saying this; you really put my mind at ease,¡± he smiled at her.

    ¡°Well! As your fans say, you are too cute. No one can be angry at you for long, Mr Kang,¡± teased Nivritti. Thae was shy after hearing ¡°cute¡± and smiled his brightest smile at her. But he still had aint.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you have forgiven mepletely,¡± observed Thae.

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°You became friends with my team members and gave them nicknames. If you forgave me truly, be my friend too and give call me by a nickname, not Mr Kang,¡± pouted Thae.

    Nivritti could not control herughter andugh out loud.

    ¡°You really are cute. Fine, let¡¯s call you TK.¡± He could not stop smiling after hearing his nickname.

    He started the car and drove towards her home. He parked in her basement and got out of the car. After opening her door, he helped her with her bag and her food. She took him upstairs where he ced everything on her table.

    ¡°Thank you, TK,¡± said Nivritti.

    Thae was so overwhelmed with emotions that before leaving her house he ran to her and gave her a tight, warm hug. He was happy that she forgave him. He was happy that she epted his friendship. He was happy that she gave him a nickname and was calling him that.

    ¡°Whoa!¡± eximed Nivritti. Her eyes widened with shock. She never in her dreams expected a hug from Thae.

    ¡°Kyungsoona Hyung was right; you are too kind and forgiving. Thank you,¡± a tear dropped from Thae¡¯s eyes. She understood his emotions and patted him on his head lovingly.

    ¡°You are absolutely wee,¡±forted Nivritti.

    Thae broke the embrace, wiped his tears, and sniffled, ¡°eat well and rest. Bye.¡±

    ¡°Bye, uh... TK!¡± she interjected. ¡°You know I was thinking that TK is a nice nickname, but may I call you ¡®cutie¡¯ when we are alone? You know TK in front of everyone and ¡®Cutie¡¯ when we talk to each other.¡±

    Thae beamed with happiness. He grinned like a Cheshire cat. ¡°You can call me anything you like.¡±

    ¡°Then, bye cutie.¡±

 Chapter 35

    35 The Visit

    Thae was beaming with happiness. He had a jump in his walk. While trotting he left her building and went up to his car. He was so happy that the problem between him and Nivritti waspletely solved. She gave him not one but two nicknames.

    Nivritti was grinning from ear to ear. She was happy to see the cuteness of Thae¡¯s face. He really meant it when he apologised to her. At least that chapter of her life was over. She locked the door after Thae and went to the bathroom.

    She took off Kyung-Soo¡¯s clothes and took a bath. Even though she took off her wet clothes, her skin was still a little sticky due to the sweet c. With a towel on her head, she came out in a baggy white t-shirt and shorts.

    After picking Kyung-Soo¡¯s clothes from the bathroom hamper, she washed his clothes. While she was waiting for the wash cycle to getplete, she looked at the big parcel that Thae gave her. She smiled at it and went to the kitchen. Carefully handling two tes and ss she came to the living room and sat to eat her food.

    Thae gifted her a lot of food. After she was done eating, she packed the leftover and ced everything in her fridge. Immediately she cleaned all the tes and walked up to the washing machine. The clothes were done. She hung his clothes to dry and removed her towel from her head. It always took a long time for her hair to dry.

    She sat on her couch with folded feet and opened herptop. There were a lot of scripts for her to read. She took a deep breath and jumped right in.

    Members of ASDpleted their daily tasks of video shooting, interviews, etc and finally met with each other. A few of them then cleaned the house and others prepared dinner. After a long bath, all of them sat to eat together.

    After talking about their day, the conversation steered towards the event that happened in the practice room¡¯s bathroom. Everyone heard everything from Jeong-Eun and started teasing Kyung-Soo and Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°So, you were locked with Ritti in the bathroom?¡± teased Korain.

    .....

    ¡°And you were naked?¡±ughed Young-Chul.

    ¡°No, I was not naked; I was well covered with a towel,¡± snapped Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah, but you were naked under your towel,¡± taunted Young-Chul. He was having too much fun. He never left any situation to tease his members.

    ¡°And she saw your hot body?¡± mocked Korain.

    Suddenly Him-Chan too jumped into the conversation. ¡°Shut up, Hyung,¡± both Him-Chan and Kyung-Soo shouted together.

    Kyung-Soo shouted as he had enough of their teasing. But no one couldprehend why Him-Chan shouted, not even him. He was getting angry at the thought that Ritti and his Hyung spent time with each other that too naked but was unable to process why he was feeling this emotion.

    ¡°What happened to you?¡± Korain was confused. ¡°Why are you getting angry, JH?¡± teased Korain. Slowly everyone had started calling each other by the nickname Nivritti gave them.

    ¡°Nothing, I am just annoyed with TK¡¯s smile,¡± he said, mockingly. ¡°He has been smiling like an idiot since we arrived home.¡±

    ¡°Yeah! She is not angry at me anymore,¡± he really could not stop smiling. ¡°She is angry at JJ.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°She called me cutie,¡± Thae was behaving as if he was drunk with happiness.

    ¡°What?¡± all shouted together. Those who were drinking water spit it out. Those who had food in their mouth, choked.

    ¡°Yeah! She nicknamed me cutie; she is going to call me cutie from now on. Well, when we would be alone but when in public, she will call me TK. You guys have one nickname, I have two. Ha-ha,¡± it was impossible for Thae to stop smiling.

    After hearing this Kyung-Soo, smiled at his brightest. He felt happy seeing how well she treated Thae even though he was rude to her repeatedly. A sudden urge to see her came over him.

    Slowly, everyone finished their eating, carried their tes to wash and started to retire to their rooms. But the three youngest members were still eating and teasing Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°You messed up, JJ,¡± teased Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°He was trying to be over smart,¡± mocked Thae.

    ¡°I am going to kill you both,¡± he jumped from his seat to hit both Thae and Jeong-Eun. But before he could reach them, they ran away. He kept chasing after them round and round the table. Thae and Jeong-Eun keptughing and pointing toward Jung-Hwa.

    After running after them for a while, they all got tired and sat again in their seat.

    ¡°I will... really... kill you both,¡± panted Jung-Hwa. They caught their breath for a few minutes and finished their food. They took all the utensils to the kitchen and cleaned them. Finally, all retired to their room.

    Kyung-Soo was lying on his bed thinking about Nivritti. He could not remove the image of her in a bra from his mind. He knew she was beautiful, but she looked hot in the morning. Abruptly, he jumped off his bed. He ran to the bag and fished inside. There it was, her clothes. A smirk shed on his face.

    He took out her clothes and carefully ced them in a bag. He changed into a ck t-shirt and a pair of jeans. After grabbing the bag, he switched off the light in his room. Stealthily he opened his door and looked around. The house was dark. All went to sleep.

    Tiptoeing he grabbed his key and came out of the house. He had a devilish smile on his face as he seeded in going out of the house without any of his team members even realising it. He put the key in the ignition and the engine roared. Immediately he put the foot on the gas pedal, and he was out of the gate.

    In a few minutes, he was below Nivritti¡¯s building. He came out of the car and cursed himself as he forgot his mask in a hurry. Keeping a lookout for people, he climbed the stairs to her house. Sneakily he reached her house and pressed the doorbell.

    The whole day Nivritti spent selecting the scripts. The whole day all she had to do was read. She read while sitting on the couch, she read while lying on the couch, she read while standing in the kitchen while her food was heating, she read while lying on her stomach on her bed.

    She again came back to the couch and was drinking c and reading the scripts. She had selected a few that were okay. She was yet toe across a great script. A few of them had a great concept but the grammar was non-existent. She kept those in a separate folder as discussed.

    Then suddenlyte at night, her doorbell rang. She looked at the clock on herptop screen. It was 11.30 at night. She was surprised. She had no one in Korea who would visit her at this time. She thought someone rang her bell by mistake, so she waited for them to ring again.

    And the bell rang again. Kyung-Soo was nervous to visit her home sote at night. He was more nervous about not wearing a mask. What if someone would recognise him? The next day all his members would wake up to a scandal. He was praying to God that the door would open soon.

    On the second bell, Nivritti went up to her door and looked through the peephole. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped to the floor with shock. Her heart almost came to her mouth as she heard a footstep climbing the stairs. Kyung-Soo too heard that. He had no way to hide. The only way was to run up the stairs.

    He turned around and was ready to run upstairs. But before he could make a move, the door behind him opened and he was pulled inside by his t-shirt. Nivritti grabbed his t-shirt and pulled him with all her strength. It was not an easy task for her to pull Kyung-Soo towards her. He was too strong for her.

    She pulled him and instantly shut her door with a bang. She held her waist, breathing heavily. Kyung-Soo turned to see who pulled him in and saw Nivritti standing before him, trying to catch her breath. She was looking like a doll in her oversized shirt and short pants. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun. He looked at her from top to bottom. His eyes stopped at her beautiful legs.

    ¡°Shit!¡± he muttered.

    Nivritti caught her breath and looked at him. His beauty was mesmerizing as always. He was looking radiant in ck. She bit her lower lips and calmed herself down. She was too nervous about him being in her house,te at night. And his being dressed in ck was not helping the matter.

 Chapter 36

    36 The Visit ¨C Both were too mesmerized by each other. Dressed in ck and white both were looking stark opposite but to an outsider, they were appearing topliment each other. Suddenly they both heard the footsteps getting closer and then fading away. They both came back to reality. Kyung-Soo knew she was about to st him for being so careless.

    ¡°Are you out of your mind?¡± as per his expectation, she shouted.

    ¡°What?¡± he smiled sheepishly.

    ¡°First of all, what are you doing here? And second, where is your mask?¡± she gritted her teeth.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry I forgot,¡± he apologised.

    ¡°What if someone would have... would have... ahhh,¡± she screamed. She clenched her fist and moved towards him to hit him but controlled herself. Why was he so infuriating? She wanted to hit him on his head. How could he be so stupid,ing to her housete at night, that too without a mask?

    ¡°I am sorry toe here without a mask, but be assured no one saw me,¡±forted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah, someone was about to see you a second ago,¡± chided Nivritti.

    ¡°You saved me,¡± said Kyung-Soo innocently.

    .....

    ¡°Don¡¯t be cheeky. Wait! How do you know my address?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°You told me,¡± The answer was instant as if he knew what she was about to ask.

    ¡°What? When?¡± she was confused.

    ¡°When you showed me your employee page,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Excuse me! I just showed you my date of birth to tell you about my age,¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°No, you showed me your page and what I see I readpletely. The whole world knows I love to read,¡± mocked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°That¡¯s stalking, you are stalking. Why... why are you here?¡± she snapped.

    He shoved the bag in her face and said, ¡°I suppose these belong to you or you wanted me to give these to you in front of everyone?¡±

    She took the bag from his hand and looked inside. It was her white shirt and grey jacket. Her face turned red with embarrassment after seeing the clothes as she knew that curled up in that bundle of clothes was her bra.

    She just kept looking at the bag without saying a single word. She was too embarrassed to speak. He saw her in a bra, then without a bra and now he came to return it to her. Why did stupid things happen before him?

    Kyung-Soo saw her cheeks turning red with embarrassment. He smiled at her and teased her, ¡°If you want I can give you this package in front of everyone. Then you can tell everyone what happened in the bathroom and how I stalked you.¡±

    She lifted her head up and looked at him with shock. She cried, ¡°noooo...¡± She took a deep breath and cooled herself down. ¡± Um... thank you for bringing this here.¡±

    ¡°But I am a stalker,¡± he teased her again.

    ¡°A little bit,¡± she mocked him back.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± he startedughing at her tease.

    ¡°I am kidding,¡± sheughed with him. Then with all seriousness, she thanked him, ¡°Thank you for being so considerate.¡± Seeing her clothes she remembered that she too had his clothes that were drying on the balcony. ¡°Well now that you are here, wait here, please.¡±

    She vanished in her balcony and came out bringing his t-shirt and jacket. She was about to give them to him when she pulled her hand back, ¡°this is not pressed, just washed. Give me a minute, I will press it.¡±

    ¡°And to think that I didn¡¯t even take your clothes out. I too should have washed it. But I am not sure how to wash someone¡¯s delicates,¡± he teased, again.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± she shouted, smiling.

    ¡°Just give it to me, no need to press it,¡± he put forward his hand to receive his clothes.

    ¡°No, no, please sit and give me a moment,¡± she pushed him towards the couch.

    ¡°Ritti, it¡¯s okay,¡± he protested.

    ¡°No, not okay. I am an idiot. You came to my house for the first time and I have not even offered you water. Sit down,¡± she pushed him on the couch and threw his clothes on her shoulder.

    Before he could protest, she ran to the kitchen and brought back a ss of water and a can of c.

    ¡°I can make you tea if you want,¡± she offered.

    ¡°Rx! I am fine,¡± he smiled at her.

    ¡°Good, then drink and give me a few minutes.¡±

    She ran to her bedroom leaving him alone in the living room and took out the press. Within a few minutes, she was done. She came out with neatly foldedundry in her hands.

    The moment she came out, her eyes fell on Kyung-Soo. He was drinking c and reading scripts on herptop. She froze in her path. The world slowed down for her. She stopped blinking. Kyung-Soo¡¯s beauty was out of the world. His ck hair, his shiny skin, hisrge muscles were captivating.

    It was not only his intelligence, his talents but also his good looks that made his fans go crazy about him. His curled hair was ying on his forehead. She wanted to reach his face and get that hair out of his face. For a minute, without speaking a word, without disturbing him, she kept staring at him.

    Her heartbeat slowed down. She was calm in his presence. She never felt like this with anyone before. Kyung-Soo sipped c and gulped it. The movement of his adam¡¯s apple sent a shiver down her spine. She gulped, hard.

    But she realised that her heart was betraying her. It was starting to beat for him. She cursed herself and shook her head in disappointment. A deep breath after, she opened her eyes and went near him.

    ¡°Here,¡± she said softly after gulping again.

    He looked up from herptop and said, ¡°I told you it was not necessary.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°Well, thank you,¡± he stood up and bowed down to her with gratitude.

    ¡°You are wee and thank you for helping me today,¡± she said with all the gratefulness she could muster. She had a problem and he helped her. If it would have been for him, she would have to wear wet clothes ande out in front of everyone. She was also thankful to Dae who sent her home.

    He smiled, ¡°anytime.¡± He then pointed to theptop, ¡°so I read some of the scripts. They were good.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no,¡± one could hear the disappointment in her voice. ¡°I wanted something with X-factor, something extraordinary, you know?¡±

    He was aware of what she was trying to convey. ¡°I understand. Like the one Jae-Hwa found.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, something outstanding which would be fun to shoot. This is not only meant for your fans to have fun but also for you to have fun with them,¡± she exined.

    ¡°I know our fans are very creative. You will find a lot soon,¡± reassured Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Right!¡± she smiled at his belief in his fans.

    He stood up, took the clothes from her hands and said, ¡°well, thank you for the c and my clothes. I should leave.¡±

    ¡°Of course and thank you for my clothes too,¡± she replied.

    He nodded with a sweet smile on his face and moved towards the door.

    He turned back and ordered, ¡°lock up and then rest. I know you have been working since you arrived at your home.

    ¡°How?¡± she was shocked.

    ¡°By the number of scripts you read, anyone can tell you have been going hard at it,¡± educated Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°So you are observant,¡± she smirked at his observation.

    ¡°I am, now rest.¡±

    ¡°I will. Good night.¡±

    ¡°Good night.¡±

    Carefully he opened the door and looked in every direction before stepping out. Nivritti stifled herughter after seeing him act like that. His actions were too cute. He looked back at her before leaving and shut the door.

    She ran to the door and peeped through the hole. He was gone. She exhaled loudly and rubbed her chest involuntarily. Her heart was rebating fast after she saw his cute actions. He was having effects on her brain and her heart. She had to control herself. She had to get a grip on herself. She reminded herself that he was younger than her.

    ¡°Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! How could you be so stupid? Forget about him. No matter how beautiful, how charming, how sweet he is, he is not worth it. he is not worth another heartbreak. Think about your past, you idiot,¡± she scolded herself.

    She shut down herptop, switched off the lights, checked every door and window and jumped on her bed. She was lying on her bed, spread eagle, thinking about how to get rid of Kyung-Soo from her mind. She diverted her mind to a number of topics but Kyung-Soo¡¯s face and his Adam¡¯s apple would sh before her eyes.

    ¡°What is happening to me?¡± she shouted and covered herself with her nket.

    Kyung-Soo parked his car in his home and very sneakily opened the front door. He hung his key and tiptoeing he moved towards his room. He locked his door and switched on the light.

    ¡°Ahhhh...¡± he screamed at the top of his lungs.

 Chapter 37

    37 The Winner, Thae

    While driving back home, Kyung-Soo was praying to god that all his team members must be fast asleep. He switched off the engine before entering the gate and pushed his car inside. He stealthily typed in the keypad and the door clicked softly.

    Taking extra precaution, he pushed open the door enough for him to slip in and closed the door quietly behind him. He took off his shoe at the door and hung his car key. He looked around, the whole house was dark except for the footlights. He was rxed after seeing that everyone was asleep and no one had any idea about histe-night excursions.

    In order not to make any noise, he tiptoed towards his room and pushed his door open. His mind was at ease. Smiling like an idiot, he switched on his light.

    The moment Kyung-Soo switched on the light, his work chair turned, and Jung-Hwa appeared before him. He had Yong in his arms, and he was sitting like a Bond superviin. Kyung-Soo shouted at the top of his lungs but realised that his members would wake up by his shouting so he covered his mouth with his hands, instantly.

    ¡°Wee, Hyung,¡± Jung-Hwa said in style and a deep voice.

    Kyung-Soo ced his hand over his chest and shouted, ¡°you idiot, you almost gave me a heart attack. What are doing here?¡±

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Have you lost your mind? This is my room,¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I meant what are doing at this hour. Where were you?¡± demanded Jung-Hwa.

    .....

    ¡°Um... No... nowhere, just went to get some fresh air,¡± lied Kyung-Soo. He was not able to look him in the eyes. He kept avoiding looking at Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Fresh air... in your car?¡± asked Jung-Hwa. He knew something was wrong. Kyung-Soo was hiding something.

    ¡°Yes, do you have a problem?¡± questioned Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Tell me, else I will wake everyone up and they can ask you together,¡± warned Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Get lost,¡± said Kyung-Soo andpletely ignored his warning.

    Jung-Hwa opened his mouth and at the top of his lungs started to shout, ¡°EVERYON...¡± Kyung-Soo ran up to him and covered his mouth with his hand.

    ¡°Shut up! Shut up! Shut up,¡± he whispered through his teeth. ¡°Okay fine, you win. I will tell you everything.¡± Kyung-Soo removed his hands from his mouth.

    Jung-Hwa rubbed his hands with mischievousness. He was grinning like an idiot.

    ¡°You are a ckmailer, you know that, right?¡± Kyung-Soo hit Jung-Hwa on his head, yfully.

    ¡°Of course, now stop stalling. Where were you? Don¡¯t tell me you were working,¡± Jung-Hwa rolled his eyes.

    ¡°The thing is... I went to see... Ritti,¡± whispered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ahhh...¡± Jung-Hwa started shouting.

    ¡°Please! Please! Shut up! Shut up!¡± pleaded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Sorry! And?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°And what?¡±

    ¡°What did she say? What did you say? What did you do? What did she do? What happened? Anyway, why did you go at this time?¡± he showered Kyung-Soo with his numerous questions.

    He grabbed the chair and made Jung-Hwa look at him, ¡°Jungie!¡±

    ¡°Hmmm...¡±

    ¡°Rx. I will tell you everything, you don¡¯t have to get so worked up,¡± assured Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Right, sorry! Continue,¡± he controlled his excitement and replied.

    ¡°I had her wet clothes in my bag from the bathroom. I could not return it in front of everyone, so I snuck out and gave it to her, happy?¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Heh... why couldn¡¯t you give her clothes in front of everyone?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa, confused.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you,¡± answered Kyung-Soo while taking off his t-shirt.

    ¡°Hyung!¡± Jung-Hwa didn¡¯t even flinch. It was not the first time he was seeing his Hyung without clothes. Living with seven boys meant everyone walking without clothes one day or the other.

    ¡°JJ, some things are not meant for kids,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°This kid can babble before so many people. It¡¯s your choice,¡± cautioned Jung-Hwa. He stood from his seat and let Yong run away to his room.

    ¡°Fine, I had her bra,¡± blurted out Kyung-Soo while taking off his pants.

    ¡°Hyung!! Why would you tell me something like this?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa and cringed at him.

    ¡°This idiot!¡± Kyung-Soo shook his head in disbelief. He dressed himself in afy silk pyjama and sat on his bed.

    ¡°Okay, okay, did she say anything about me?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°No,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Was she still angry?¡± Jung-Hwa was not ready to hear the answer.

    ¡°Angry at me or you?¡± Kyung-Soo asked in turn.

    ¡°Why would she be angry at you?¡± Jung-Hwa was confused.

    ¡°Oh, take your pick, for telling you about us, for going to her housete at night or for going to her house without a mask,¡± listed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°That¡¯s a trick question. The right answer is all of the above,¡± replied Jung-Hwa, jokingly.

    ¡°You are right. You win nothing,¡± Kyung-Soo yed along.

    ¡°So, nothing happened,¡± Jung-Hwa had a devilish smile on his face.

    ¡°What do you think was supposed to happen?¡± Kyung-Soo was baffled.

    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know, kiss,¡± replied Jung-Hwa, smiling.

    ¡°You are an idiot,¡± Kyung-Soo threw a pillow at Jung-Hwa who caught it easily.

    ¡°So, nothing happened inside the bathroom too?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa. He wanted a positive answer to his query.

    But s! Kyung-Soo replied, ¡°nothing. She was too shy and embarrassed. She was in a problem, and she needed help.¡±

    ¡°And you helped her?¡± he threw back the pillow. Kyung-Soo caught him and held it in hisp.

    ¡°I did. I hope no one gives her a hard time for being locked in a bathroom with me,¡± Kyung-Soo¡¯s face suddenly turned serious. He was worried for Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, I know, your crazy fans,¡± Jung-Hwa rolled his eyes. He too knew that if this news would get out in the world, people would make Nivritti¡¯s life, hard.

    ¡°I just hope for no repercussions for her. I can take anything thates to me but I want nothing to happen to her,¡± wished Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Everything will be alright, Hyung. She will be fine. She won over TK Hyung, so she can do anything, win over anyone,¡±forted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°You are so right about that,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°It¡¯ste night. You should rest, Hyung.¡±

    ¡°You too, Jungie.¡±

    ¡°Goodnight, Hyung.¡±

    ¡°Goodnight. Make sure Yong is safe in his kennel,¡± requested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I will, Hyung.¡±

    Jung-Hwa came out of the room and walked toward his room. He found Yong wandering outside Thae¡¯s room, so he picked him up and softly ced him in his kennel and went to sleep.

    After Jung-Hwa left, Kyung-Soo shut his door properly and switched off the lights. Hey on his bed and smiled thinking about Nivritti. Her sweet face kept shing before his eyes. Thinking about her, he immediately fell asleep.

    The next morning came with so many hopes and promises. The boys woke up, had breakfast, and went for their daily routine of practice and video shooting. Kyung-Soo was sad that he would not get to see Nivritti till next Monday. One member would go and get the scripts for the remaining days. Every day it was a fight between Kyung-Soo and Him-Chan but somehow Thae always won.

    Jung-Hwa was too scared to face Nivritti, but Thae enjoyed meeting with her.

    In the meantime, the Rencontre team discussed about their idea with Chung-Ho.

    ¡°So, you keep such scripts in a separate folder,¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Dae. They all were huddled near Dae¡¯s cubicle and discussing their n with Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Grammar is that bad?¡± inquired Chung-Ho.

    ¡°You can¡¯t even make a single sentence correctly,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°But the concept is good?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, ASD sometimes is in a mysticalnd or are superheroes. The concept is good but thenguage is bad,¡± exined Dae.

    ¡°But that would increase our work,¡± noted Chung-Ho.

    ¡°That was our initial issue,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Hmm... we already have so many scripts to read, increasing the load on that would be foolish. But you say the concept is good, will that look good on video?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°It would look awesome,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Fine, we can do that but that will be second to selecting the scripts with good grammar. If we could not find a winning one in that pile, then only we will dip into the non-existent grammar pile. Am I clear?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Crystal!¡± said all three, Jae-Hwa, Dae and Nivritti, in unison.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s continue selecting the scripts. When are you going back to King?¡± questioned Chung-Ho.

    .....

    ¡°This Monday,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hope we have something to show him,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi,¡± replied Dae.

    That day was the first time, Thae came to collect the scripts. There was amotion in the script department. It crossed the limit when Thae went up to Nivritti to greet her especially and gave a bar of chocte to her.

    Everyone was stunned at the progress of their situation. A few days before, he treated her like she was a criminal, now he was giving her choctes and greeted her. All the girls were jealous of her, but Jae-Hwa understood that he was feeling bad for spilling c on her, and this was his way of apologising.

    Every day from that day on, Thae woulde to get the scripts and bring something for Nivritti, be it chocte or a cup of coffee. He never came empty-handed. One day even Chung-Ho teased him.

    ¡°You never brought anything for me,¡± teased Chung-Ho.

    ¡°You never scolded me as she did,¡± smiled Thae.

    ¡°Ha-ha. I am d Kat, you guys made up,¡± Chung-Ho was extremely d at the turn of events.

    ¡°I am d too that she forgave me. I was rude and acting like a fool,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°That you were,¡± nodded Chung-Ho.

    Again, Thae collected that day¡¯s scripts and went after saying hello to Nivritti.

 Chapter 38

    38 The Restaurant Drama

    It was thest working day of the week. The whole week the Rencontre team worked diligently and kept reading the iing scripts. No matter what they did, all they had in their mind was the scripts. Now they had a good number of scripts for Kyung-Soo to read. Uing Monday they would have something to show him.

    They were forbidden to do any other work except finding the right scripts. The screen re was making their eyes tired. All were busy with their work when the clock struck at 12.30 pm. Thank God, it was time for lunch. Their eyes would get the necessary rest. One by one everyone started moving towards the cafeteria for lunch.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± Jae-Hwa¡¯s head popped from her cubicle, and she looked at Nivritti.

    ¡°Hmm...¡± Nivritti stopped reading and looked at Jae-Hwa¡¯s cute head.

    ¡°Let¡¯s eat outside today,¡± proposed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti, surprised.

    ¡°I want a change from boring cafeteria food,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti narrowed her eyes and stated, ¡°You are paying then.¡±

    ¡°Fine by me.¡± They both smiled at each other.

    .....

    They informed Dae that they were going for lunch, took out their wallet from their purses and left the department. As it was noon, they ditched their overcoats and left them on the coat rack. They came out of the building and the warm sun rays hit them. The street was busy with people going to caf¨¦s and restaurants for lunch.

    A few of the girls were still camped outside the K&Q building to catch a glimpse of their favourite band, ASD. They kept taking pictures of the giant hoarding that was still there disying the Rencontrepetition.

    Nivritti and Jae-Hwa stood outside the building for a second as they had not decided where to go. ¡°Where should we go?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You tell me, you know better,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to a new restaurant that opened just a few weeks back,¡± suggested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°The one on the corner?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Jae-Hwa grabbed Nivritti¡¯s hands and pulled her away with her.

    Happily, they walked to the restaurant and sat near the window. It was a beautiful, sophisticated restaurant. Waiters and waitresses dressed in white and maroonbination were running around serving people. The whole environment was filled with rich aromas. The delicious-smelling food was making them hungrier.

    The walls of the restaurant were the same colour as the uniform of the servers. It looked like they were inside a giant dragon fruit. The dimly lit restaurant had a pleasurable ambience. A waiter came and handed them aminated pamphlet that had a QR code on it. The words ¡°scan for menu¡± was written in Korean as well as English.

    The girls opened their phones and scanned the QR code. An elegant looking menu in white and maroon appeared on their phone. They examined the menu for a minute and ced their order. They ordered kimchi fried rice, Korean fried chicken and Bulgogi.

    When Nivritti first arrived in South Korea, she found the food to be different yet simr. The vour, taste, and texture were not that different from Indian food yet had a uniqueness about them. Now her palette was getting ustomed to Korean food.

    The steaming food arrived after a few minutes and the mouth-watering smell hit their noses. Jae-Hwa picked the chopsticks while Nivritti went for a fork. She was yet to learn how to eat with chopsticks. Jae-Hwa used to teach her, but Nivritti was having trouble handling the chopsticks.

    While talking about the various scripts they received and the ones they liked, they started devouring the food. The hot, spicy, steaming food warmed them from the inside. Jae-Hwa was eating everything by picking it up with chopsticks, but Nivritti had to use her hands when it came to fried chicken.

    After finishing eating, Nivritti leaned back in her chair and huffed loudly. ¡°Oh, I am full. I ate so much, I can¡¯t even walk,¡± she groaned.

    ¡°Me too,¡± Jae-Hwa grunted. She took thest bite of the fried rice and leaned on her chair as well.

    ¡°Oh no! I have to wash my hands. How will I reach the washroom when I am not able to walk?¡± said Nivritti while breathing heavily.

    ¡°Drag yourself there,¡± taunted Jae-Hwa. ¡°I will go and pay the bill.¡±

    ¡°Ask them to bring the cheque to the table,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t sit anymore, I have to stand,¡± said Jae-Hwa and pushed her chair back. The amount of food they ate was making their stomach heavy.

    ¡°Fine, I will be with you in a jiffy,¡± groaned Nivritti, sarcastically.

    ¡°Oh no, take your time,¡± Jae-Hwa was too full to notice her sarcasm.

    Groaning and huffing, Nivritti stood from her seat and looked for the washroom sign. She quickly washed her hands and her face, took out lipstick from her wallet, touched up her makeup and came outside.

    She looked around for Jae-Hwa but could not find her. There was amotion near the cashier¡¯s desk. A few rowdy men wereughing and teasing someone. She thought they were having fun with the cashier. But where was Jae-Hwa? Did she leave the restaurant already? No, she would not leave her alone.

    Then she noticed a few patrons, instead of eating their food were recording those men. That was suspicious for her. She changed her position and came in front of the cashier¡¯s desk. The cashier was standing and trying to calm the men down.

    After seeing what was happening, she closed her eyes and huffed and puffed like a bull in anger. Those boys were not making fun of the cashier, they were harassing Jae-Hwa. By their looks, they were clearly foreigners. They didn¡¯t look like Korean men at all.

    She knew Korean men were soft-spoken, polite, and respectable. These men were nothing like that. They were trying to touch Jae-Hwa and make her talk to them. But the cashier was standing between them.

    Nivritti blew her gasket. First of all, she was angry at the patrons. Instead of helping her, they were recording her unfortunate situation. Second, she was angry at the restaurant owner, even though they had a lot of waiters, none of them was helping Jae-Hwa except the middle-aged cashier. And third, she was angry at the men. They were assholes. They found nothing wrong with touching a girl without her consent.

    First, she moved towards the people who were recording the whole drama. ¡°If you have even a single decent bone in your body, stop this nonsense right away. She needs help and you are recording it. Is that what your mother taught you? Instead of helping someone let¡¯s record and put it on the inte and gather views. How vicious are you?¡± she scolded everyone in Korean and moved towards the men.

    All those who were recording the whole scene immediately lowered their phones and lowered their head in shame. No one recorded a thing after that. A few men stood up to help Jae-Hwa, but the foreigners wererge, so they avoided approaching them.

    One man had Jae-Hwa¡¯s hand in his wrist and wasughing at her. Jae-Hwa was on the verge of crying. She never had to endure such brutal harassment all her life. She had experienced some catcalls every now and then, but no one ever touched her without her consent.

    Nivritti moved forward and grabbed the man¡¯s hand tightly. All the men turned and looked at her.

    ¡°Let her go,¡± shemanded. The men justughed at her. ¡°Oh, you think you are alpha males, strong muscr men, right?¡±

    ¡°You are absolutely right, sweetie,¡±ughed a man.

    ¡°Don¡¯t sweetie me, that will give you diabetes,¡± growled Nivritti.

    But her anger and her seriousness had no effect on them. ¡°Ha-ha, you are funny,¡± said the man who had Jae-Hwa¡¯s hand in his hand.

    ¡°And you are arrogant, misogynist, male chauvinist, stupid morons,¡± snapped Nivritti. ¡°Why are you harassing a small girl? Why are you destroying the dining experience for everyone with your rowdiness? Do you hate women in general or this girl is special? What happened, your mother didn¡¯t love you enough? Should I give her a call and tell her that she raised an idiot? Do you treat all the women like you wanted to treat your mother? If you want, I can get you all help. Let¡¯s walk together to a therapist¡¯s office and talk about your issues. You four people using force on an itty-bitty girl prove that yourrge muscles arepensation for your small penis. Do I need to talk more, or will you let her GO?¡± she shouted at them.

    Jaws dropped all around. No one knew whether she calmed down everyone or made the situation worse. Without saying another word, the man let Jae-Hwa go. Great! She calmed everyone down. Jae-Hwa ran and stood behind Nivritti. Nivritti touched her hand andforted her.

    ¡°Now get out,¡± barked Nivritti.

    One of the men took a step forward and said, ¡°why would we do that?¡± Nivritti stared into his eyes with fury and stood her ground. But the man was not afraid of her. He moved forward and grabbed Nivritti¡¯s hand tightly. He dug his fingers into her skin. Oh no! she made the situation worse.

 Chapter 39

    39 The Restaurant Drama ¨C The whole restaurant was silent. Even the manager of the restaurant was standing in a corner gulping at the situation. All were staring at Nivritti and the group of men. They were not ready to back down. A minute ago, they were harassing Jae-Hwa and now it was Nivritti¡¯s turn. A few men kept moving forward inch by inch to help Nivritti but were scared due to therge stature of the bullies.

    Therge man¡¯s fingers were deeply embedded in Nivritti¡¯s arms. The redness on her skin between the man¡¯s fingers was clearly visible. She flinched with pain, but the man showed no concern. She tried pulling her hand back, but it was useless. She kept tugging but the grip was firm.

    ¡°Hey! Let her go,¡± suddenly one of the patrons spoke.

    All looked at him. He was a short, slim, bespectacled man. There was no way he could help Nivritti, but he was the only one who had the courage to speak to the bullies.

    The rowdy men looked at him and startedughing and bellowing loudly. ¡°Shut up and sit down,¡± shouted the bully.

    ¡°No, you shut up and let me GO,¡± shouted Nivritti and pulled her hand again.

    The bully looked down upon her and pulled her closer. He snaked his hands around her waist and brought her near his chest. Her other handnded on his chest with a loud p. If she would not have stopped herself with her hand, her chest would have bumped into his.

    ¡°WHAT THE HELL?¡± she screamed.

    ¡°Asian girls are his weakness,¡± another bully winked at Nivritti. And the four men started hooting.

    .....

    She was ufortably close to him and wanted to get away from him, but his grip was tight, and he was too strong for her. She clenched her fist and kept wiggling her arms. But after the Asianment, she lost her mind. She stopped wiggling and shouted at them, ¡°you bigots! Utter morons! This proves you areplete idiots. Let me school you. She is of Asian ethnicity, but I am of south Asian ethnicity. All the people sitting around here are Asians. At least get your fetish right, assholes.¡±

    ¡°You are so close to me, and you are still not afraid?¡± asked the bully, impressed.

    ¡°Have dealt with idiots like you all my life,¡± snapped Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, is that right?¡± he licked his lips with lust.

    ¡°Yes, asshole,¡± gritted Nivritti.

    Being an alpha male, it was bothering him that a girl was not afraid of him. She was neither showing him any respect. That made him hurt her more. He stared at her and brought more pain. He took her hand and twisted it behind her back.

    ¡°Ahhh...¡± she groaned with pain. Her long, braided hair was pressed between her hand and her back which kept tugging her braid causing her more pain.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± eximed Jae-Hwa. ¡°Please let her go,¡± she pleaded with those men, but they just keptughing.

    ¡°Jae, never beg,¡± said Nivritti with attitude. His abrasive behaviour was making her angry. She thought back at every time every man who hurt her or teased her or harassed her and her eyes lit with angry fire. She removed her hand from his chest and brought it behind her back. She stared directly into the man¡¯s eyes and grabbed his hand that was holding her arm. She caught his middle finger and kept staring at him with fury.

    Even though it was ufortable for her, she twisted his finger all the way back that it could go. He groaned with pain and rxed his grip from her waist as well as her arm. She turned 180 degrees without removing her grip from his finger, freeing herself from his grip and kept twisting it all the way back.

    ¡°Ow... ow... ow...¡± he groaned loudly, twisting his body in ordance to his finger to ease his pain.

    ¡°Now you know, what it is like to be bullied,¡± she chided and stomped his foot hard with her heels. The bully stumbled backwards. His friends had to help him. But he never stopped crying. One second, he would caress his finger and another he would jump on one foot and caress his other one.

    Everyone present in the restaurant smiled at the scene but not the bullies.

    ¡°You bitch!¡± shouted the second bully. He moved forward and raised his hand at Nivritti. But before he could hit her, his hands were halted mid-air. Before anyone could understand anything, there was a ¡®pow¡¯ sound and the second man fell to the ground, hard. He cried with pain.

    Nivritti immediately turned around and her jaw dropped to the floor. A tall, well-built, handsome man was standing before him in ck clothes and a matching mask. She knew the man. She gulped with fear and confusion. She instantly looked around the restaurant, no one seemed to recognise who came to rescue Nivritti.

    ¡°JJ!!¡± she blurted out. She immediately covered her mouth as she realised that she said his name in a room full of people. Jung-Hwa¡¯s eyes burned with anger when he saw four red lines on her arm. The blood pooled around the area the bully held her arm.

    Nivritti could recognise Jung-Hwa¡¯s mischievous eyes anywhere but now those eyes were filled with anger and hatred. She looked at his bodyguards and her mind started racing with ideas.

    She had to get Jung-Hwa away before anyone could recognise him. It was not good for an idol to be seen indulging in violence. That could hamper his persona. She had to act fast.

    The whole restaurant started murmuring. Nivritti heard words like CEO, Chaebol. It was clear that because of bodyguards, everyone thought some billionaire CEO entered the restaurant. A few girls awed as they thought they were witnessing real-life K-drama.

    In the meantime, another bully started making his way towards Jung-Hwa to take revenge. Jung-Hwa too made a move towards him and opened his mouth,¡± stay...¡± But before he could finish his sentence, Nivritti jumped towards him and covered his mouth with her hand.

    ¡°Do not speak,¡± she shouted. She was afraid that his voice might give away his identity. She saw one girl picking up her phone and ready to record everything. She shouted, ¡°don¡¯t even think about it.¡± The girl put the phone down, ashamed.

    Nivritti then looked at the bullies and screamed, ¡°if you don¡¯t want any more beating, leave the premises before the policee and arrest you.¡± The men helped their friend and ran away from the premises.

    She had to act fast. Everyone knew what car Jung-Hwa drove. If they saw the car in front of the restaurant, the fans would recognise it and it would create a great scandal. Even the fans knew who the bodyguards were, luckily everyone was wearing a mask.

    She looked at the bodyguard andmanded, ¡°scatter. Don¡¯t walk with JJ. Take Jae with you. Take one car directly to the K&Q building and bring the second car around the corner. Don¡¯t take off your masks under any circumstances.¡±

    ¡°But...¡± protested one bodyguard.

    ¡°Don¡¯t contradict me. Do as I say, NOW,¡± she ordered. Jung-Hwa signalled them to follow her order. She then pointed at Jung-Hwa, ¡°you,e with me. Don¡¯t speak, don¡¯t look at anyone.¡±

    Every bodyguard scattered as per hermand. One took Jae-Hwa with him. She then looked at a waiter. ¡°Where is your manager?¡± the waiter pointed at the man standing in a corner. She approached him hastily. He was looking scared.

    ¡°Are you the manager?¡± she asked, directly. She could not waste any time, the clock was ticking. Any moment anyone could recognise the puncher to be Jung-Hwa and his career would be over.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°Do you have CCTV around your premises?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°Run along and get the footage from the moment I arrived and then erase it from your system,¡± shemanded. Jung-Hwa looked at her, surprised. Her demand was impossible. No one in their right mind would do such a thing.

    ¡°Excuse me! I am sorry ma¡¯am, we can¡¯t delete footage,¡± protested the manager.

    Nivritti pursed her lips and stared at him with fury-filled eyes. ¡°Your restaurant is a new one. In just a few weeks, it has gained a reputation.¡± The manager beamed with happiness at herment. ¡°But this stupid restaurant is not safe for women, and I am the proof.¡± Now the happiness of the manager changed into fear. He knew where she was going.

    Nivritti continued, ¡°my friend and I were harassed, manhandled, abused here and none of you did anything. You didn¡¯t even move an inch to control those rowdy men. They kept touching me and my friend and you all were mere spectators. Only your cashier tried to help. Being the manager, it is your duty that your customer eats in peace and not gets harassed. You failed spectacrly. Just imagine what would happen to you and your eatery, if I tell people how coward you are and how girls are not safe at all. Your reputation will go down the toilet. No women, no girl will ever enter your premises. They will stop their male friends, their rtives to enter too. Your restaurant business will be in loss. On top of that, I will file a case against you and your restaurant for emotional and physical damage.¡± She showed his hand to him. It was now getting blue in colour due to bruising.

    ¡°Better, I should document this,¡± she took out her phone and started taking photos of her arms.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t do that ma¡¯am. Then get me the footage. And delete it from your archive. If I ever find even a glimpse of that footage floating on the inte, I will sue your ass. Do you understand?¡± she warned him.

 Chapter 40

    40 The Lecture

    The manager knew he had no choice other than to obey her every order. If the word of abuse in his restaurant would get out, he could lose many customers and a case against him would be a disaster.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. I think you would like to see if I delete it or not,¡± asked the manager, scared.

    ¡°You thought right. Lead the way,¡±manded Nivritti. Jung-Hwa was perplexed. He was not sure whether to be impressed with Nivritti or to be scared of her. She was harassed by a man, no not a man, fourrge men and instead of being scared she was threatening the manager to get her way.

    The manager took them to a small room near the kitchen where a man was sitting before numerous screens scanning the footage. She was so angry at him. Even though he saw what was happening he didn¡¯t even bother to call for help.

    ¡°Kim-ssi, show me the footage from the point this ma¡¯am entered the premises,¡± said the manager in Korean.

    Mr Kim just nodded and started disying the footage. The videos in the restaurant were getting recorded on an hourly basis. The system would make a new file every hour. Nivritti looked for the hour in which she arrived, and all the drama happened. She told them to put the footage in her phone and then made them delete the footage.

    ¡°Is there a backdoor?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. Follow me,¡± requested the manager. He took them through the kitchen and stopped at the back alley. ¡°You go through that alley and that will lead you to the main street.¡±

    ¡°Hmm... Mr manager!¡± she said.

    .....

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡±

    ¡°Hire some guard. This is a tourist area. I think you will get such stupid and raucous footfall all through the year. Even if you freeze in such moments, guards could help and no one like me would be able to ckmail you,¡± she suggested, politely.

    ¡°Thank you, ma¡¯am and I am extremely sorry,¡± apologised the manager. ¡°Ma¡¯am, who are you?¡± he wanted to know how sheposed herself under such circumstances. She not only saved her friend but also tried to fight back.

    ¡°I am literally no one and apology epted. Just make sure it never happens again.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± nodded the manager and went inside the restaurant.

    Nivritti moved towards the direction that the manager pointed to. Jung-Hwa was walking beside her. She noticed him clenching and unclenching his fist and the redness around his knuckles. She knew he was in pain as he punched that man.

    They reached the main street where they saw a ck SUV parked on a corner. Before they could approach the car, a bodyguard jumped out of the car and opened the back door and in an instant, Nivritti and Jung-Hwa were inside the car.

    Before the driver started the car, Nivrittimanded, ¡°drive around for a bit. Don¡¯t go directly to K&Q Building.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± eximed the bodyguard. He was perplexed that a girl wasmanding them and Jung-Hwa was not even saying a word. He even signalled them to follow her every word. But this demand of hers was weird. Why would she want the car to roam around idly?

    ¡°Even if someone recognised him, we don¡¯t want to give them the proof. Drive around, shake them off,¡± she educated him.

    Guard nodded and then tranted her words for the driver. The driver too nodded at her suggestion. The driver started the car and closed all the windows. To her relief, all the windows were tinted ck.

    ¡°Is Jae safe?¡± she asked the bodyguard.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. She already reached the office,¡± replied the bodyguard.

    ¡°Okay, thank you.¡± She then looked at Jung-Hwa and shouted, ¡°and you, what the hell is wrong with you?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Jung-Hwa was scared by her shouting. Even the bodyguard and the driver looked behind at them.

    ¡°Show me your hand,¡± she demanded.

    ¡°Um... why?¡± Jung-Hwa hesitated for a bit.

    ¡°JJ!! Show me your hand,¡± ordered Nivritti.

    He hesitated for a few seconds. As he was sitting to her right, he gave his left hand to her first. She stared at him in anger and said, ¡°do you want me to hit you? Your other hand.¡±

    Jung-Hwa hesitantly lifted his arm, unclenched his fist, and moved his hand toward her. He softly took his hand in her palm and caressed it.

    ¡°Are you in pain? Don¡¯t you dare lie,¡± warned Nivritti.

    ¡°A little,¡± Jung-Hwa looked down at his feet and replied.

    She opened her wallet and took out a lip balm. After removing the cap, she carefully applied the lip balm over his hand. He looked at her confused and shocked.

    ¡°This is antiseptic. It will help heal all the minor cuts and bruises and take care of infections,¡± she educated.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Jung-Hwa, politely.

    She kept his hand in her left palm and with her right hand, hit the back of his head in anger.

    ¡°Ow...¡± he cried. The bodyguard and the driver were stunned. They never saw anyone hit the idols but this girl had no fear. She was scolding him, hitting him and Jung-Hwa was taking everything silently.

    ¡°Shut up! Do you have any idea what would have happened if anyone would have recognised you?¡± she screamed at him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± muttered Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°I beg your pardon,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    Jung-Hwa lifted his head and looked into her eyes, her fiery eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t see anyone disrespecting women. They were harassing you, touching you, I could not see that.¡±

    Nivritti exhaled and calmed herself down. ¡°I understand that but I was handling it,¡± she said, calmly.

    ¡°They were four. And he touched you!¡± Jung-Hwa raised his voice.

    ¡°And I broke his finger!¡± she replied to him with the same gusto. ¡°I was out of his grip.¡±

    ¡°You handled one, what about the other three?¡± he demanded.

    ¡°I would have handled them as well. Do you have any idea what NK will say? How angry will he be at you?¡± she scolded him.

    ¡°Yeah, he will be very angry at me. He will say how that man touched you if I was standing there. If he would have been there, he would have killed those guys,¡± he snapped back.

    ¡°What?¡± his answer shocked her.

    Even though she was in shock, she was not ready for the next shock he gave her. He suddenly threw himself at her and hugged her tightly. She froze. Her eyes kept blinking involuntarily.

    With a sad voice, Jung-Hwa apologised to her, ¡°I am sorry for the bathroom event. I am sorry that I did that to you. You are angry, I get that. I will apologise for everything. But I will never be sorry for helping you. I would hit all the guys who harass you.¡±

    ¡°JJ!¡± she softly ced her hand over his head and patted his head.

    He raised his head and looked at her face but never let her go from his grip. ¡°Ritti! You should have seen his face when Hyung told me about you. He likes you; can¡¯t you tell that? We all like you, you are very nice and intelligent and a little bit scary.¡± He smiled at her. ¡°How you forgave TK Hyung just like that when he insulted you in front of everyone, was amazing. If you could forgive someone after that, it means you have a big heart. He insulted you in front of everyone but apologised to you when you guys were alone, yet you forgave him. I love you for that. As Choi-ssi said, we failed to protect you when we first met, but we will never fail you again.¡± He broke the embrace and smiled at her again.

    Nivritti took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. She never let go of his hand. She kept caressing his hand softly. ¡°Listen JJ, thank you for saying such kind words but you need to think about yourself, your team and yourpany. You have a public image, you are an idol, you are people¡¯s idol. You need to be away from violence, aggression, and negativity. You spread dreams, hope, joy, and happiness in the world. People look up to you, they follow you blindly. You are like lights in their darkness. You are their moon on a dark lonely night. You are the candle that lights their paths. Many people have ovee their depression by listening to your songs, your melodious music, your hopeful words. The whole world gets colourful when you sing and dance. One negative drama and everything will be for nothing. Not only you, but they too will lose everything. Don¡¯t destroy those things for me. I¡¯m not worth it. No one is worth it,¡± lectured Nivritti.

    ¡°But...¡± Jung-Hwa tried to protest.

    But Nivritti stooped him before he could finish his sentence. ¡°No, JJ. Your fans are your everything and you are everything to your fans. Don¡¯t let anyonee in between. No one,¡± she lectured him again.

    And suddenly the car stopped.

    The bodyguard turned around and said, ¡°Ma¡¯am, we are here.¡± She looked out the window, they were at the K&Q building.

    ¡°Are youing?¡± she asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°We have the dance practice in a different building,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Right!¡± She unlocked the car and opened the door. When she was almost out of the car, she again warned him, ¡°remember my words. Don¡¯t let anyonee between your fans.¡± She jumped from the car and was about to close the door-

    -When JJ mumbled, ¡°when you get married to NK Hyung, you won¡¯t say these words to me.¡± And she closed the door. And the car moved away.

    ¡°What? What did he say?¡± Nivritti was not sure that she heard him right. ¡°Did he say something about NK?¡± she asked herself. She shook her head and moved into the building.

 Chapter 41

    41 The Berating

    Still trying to figure out what Jung-Hwa said, Nivritti entered the building. When she crossed the reception, she heard everyone talking about Jae-Hwa being escorted by JJ¡¯s bodyguards. They were shocked and confused. They kept spewing out theory after theory, but Nivritti paid no heed. She ced her ID over the turnstile and walked towards the lift.

    While waiting for the lift, a few people came and stood with her. Finally, when the lift arrived all entered in. Her eyes fell on their badges, a few were from the production department and a few of them were from the camera department.

    Suddenly there was the continuous chiming of the phone. A woman instantly shouted in Korean, ¡°oh, San-ssi¡¯s daughter was escorted by June¡¯s bodyguards.¡± Nivritti raised her head as soon as she heard the news. She was shocked that everyone was talking about it.

    Well, not that shocked. She was aware of how the grapevine in K&Q worked. Every news spread in the K&Q building like wildfire. She still remembered what happened after Thae scolded her. She was treated by one and all as an outcast.

    ¡°Do you think he is dating her?¡± asked another person.

    Nivritti rolled her eyes in disbelief. Why was dating life of an idol the first thought in everyone¡¯s mind? They had no idea what happened with Jae-Hwa but could not help themselves from specting. She wanted to set the record right but for that, she would have to tell everyone that Jung-Hwa punched a man. She worked so hard for this news to never see the light of day, she could not divulge this information under any circumstances.

    The lift dinged at the 11th floor, and she got down. Her mouth fell open after seeing that the whole corridor was filled with people. No one was going to their floors, they were emptying the lift on the 11th floor. She crossed the sea of people in her corridor and turned to enter the script department. She opened the door but to her surprise, it was blocked by threerge men. She recognised them as Jung-Hwa¡¯s bodyguards.

    The whole script department was chaotic. People from outside were trying to look inside and find out what was happening. She could see that no one in her department was in their seats. She took a deep breath and realised that her problem was not yet over. She had to take care of the situation once again.

    She tapped over the shoulder of one bodyguard and he turned around. The moment he saw her, he stood straight with respect.

    .....

    ¡°Is he okay?¡± he asked in Korean, hesitantly. He was not sure if she could understand Korean.

    But to his relief, she fluently replied in Korean, ¡°He is fine, he is on his way to dance practice.¡±

    ¡°No one recognised him?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No one recognised him,¡± she assured him.

    ¡°Thank you, ma¡¯am,¡± he expressed gratitude.

    ¡°To thank me, you can help me get rid of this circus. We have to make people stop talking about this. It¡¯s only K&Q talking about it now, imagine if the news goes outside this building,¡± she exined.

    ¡°You are right,¡± said another bodyguard. They looked at her and then at the crowd behind her. With a firm hand, they started escorting everyone out of the corridor. Within minutes, the whole corridor was empty.

    She looked around her department. Everyone was huddled around Chung-Ho¡¯s seat, but she could clearly see him. She made her way towards them. Now a faint sob was audible to her. She cautiously moved towards the sobbing.

    Abruptly, Chung-Ho saw her and shouted her name, ¡°Nivritti!¡± Before she could reply. His chair flew back, and Jae-Hwa threw herself in Nivritti¡¯s arms. She was pushed slightly back but bnced her footing the very next moment. Lovingly she patted Jae-Hwa¡¯s back and consoled her.

    She looked at everyone, they were all staring at her. No one spoke. Jae-Hwa kept sobbing.

    ¡°Everyone is saying that I am having affair with June,¡± wailed Jae-Hwa. Nivritti looked at everyone with fire in her eyes. Her nostrils kept ring with anger.

    But she first had to console Jae-Hwa. ¡°First, calm down! Are you alright?¡± she asked.

    Suddenly, Jae-Hwa realised that Nivirtti too was hurt. She broke the embrace and looked at her hand. It was now, bluish-ck in colour. ¡°Me? Are you alright?¡±

    Before she could answer a middle-aged man politely asked, ¡°are you the girl who saved my daughter?¡±

    ¡°Your daughter?¡± Nivritti looked at the man first and then looked all around. They all were looking at her eagerly waiting for a reply. Which meant only one thing, they all knew everything.

    ¡°Jae! Jae, look at me. What did you tell them?¡± whispered Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa again threw her in Nivritti¡¯s arms and replied near her ear, ¡°that you saved me.¡±

    ¡°And?¡± Nivritti whispered again.

    ¡°And nothing.¡±

    ¡°Sure?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, nothing about you-know-who,¡± murmured Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti sighed with relief. ¡°Okay.¡±

    It was clear that she had to do some damage control. She had to protect both Jung-Hwa and Jae-Hwa. She made Jae-Hwa move her head from her shoulder. ¡°First, stop crying and tell me who was talking about you and JJ.¡±

    Jae-Hwa pointed at everyone present there and cried, ¡°everyone!¡± Her father came and stood beside her holding her hand to calm her down. She looked at Chung-Ho who was looking at her defeated.

    She closed her eyes and berated everyone, ¡°Okay, you guys work for K&Q, she works for K&Q. we are part of a team. Sorry for saying this, but shame on you to belittle one of your own. She just had a traumatic experience and instead of showing her support and sympathy, you guys are talking nonsense. It is right that you make money by writing stories, but it does not mean that you should try making stories about someone else¡¯s life. I am shocked and appalled to know that not only you guys are talking about her in a demeaning fashion but also you are spreading these nonsense rumours in the whole K&Q building.

    ¡°Do you have any idea how damaging it is for her and JJ? These nasty rumours can even impact Rencontre. Have any of you thought about that? Or do you just like to spread nonsensical things? This is what is wrong with this team. You don¡¯t support your own people. This happened to me and now it is happening to her. Why don¡¯t you ask about every detail before making up the story on your own?¡±

    Everyone was looking at the floor with shame.

    She raised her voice andmanded, ¡°you all will immediately stop messaging your family and friends about what happened with Jae. Here she is sharing her traumatic experience and you are treating her like juicy gossip.¡±

    The moment Nivritti finished her sentence, Chung-Ho saw red. Smoke starteding out of his ears. ¡°You, stupid, morons, you messaged everyone?¡±

    ¡°People will talk if she arrives with June¡¯s bodyguards,¡± a woman in herte twenties was not ready to back down.

    Nivritti squinted her eyes with wrath and snapped at her, ¡°she spends all her time with me and Mr Seong. It should mean that we three are in a rtionship.¡±

    ¡°I... I didn¡¯t,¡± the woman realised that her logic was wed.

    But Nivritti ignored her word and kept scolding her, ¡°moreover, she came with the bodyguards, maybe she is involved with one of them, why did your stupid mind go to June? Also, if you want to know, the bodyguards came to the restaurant by themselves. They saw us in distress, and they helped us. Next time, before making stories up in your mind,e talk to me.¡±

    ¡°Where were you? Why are youte?¡± another man tried to poke holes in her cover story.

    But Nivritti was ready. ¡°For your kind information, I was giving a piece of my mind to the manager of the restaurant. We were harassed, bullied in his ce of work and no one helped us until the bodyguards arrived. We didn¡¯t even know that they were JJ¡¯s bodyguards. I realised after I arrived in this building where everyone was talking about it. Today I realised what a storm in a tea cup is.¡±

    ¡°Nivritti, your hand,¡± shouted Chung-Ho. Everyone lowered their eyes to look at her hand.

    ¡°Right! This is what happened to us in the restaurant.¡± She raised her hand and showed it to everyone. Everyone was now quiet and realised that they exaggerated an insignificant matter. But Nivritti was still angry, ¡°I came here to sit in peace, but my department is full of toxic people. Instead of showing concern, they are doing what they are best at, throwing mud. We should stand together but I don¡¯t think that is ever going to happen.¡± The disappointment was all over her face.

    After she was done, Chung-Ho started berating everyone, ¡°she is right. I am so disappointed in all of you. She is crying and telling all of you what happened to her and the first thing you do is message your people. How insensitive could you be? Everyone back to their work. If I hear any phone chime or ring, I will throw it out of the window. No one will talk about it ever if you cannot talk about it sympathetically. Am I clear?¡±

    Everyone just nodded and went back to their seats. Nivritti was extremely angry at everyone. All they knew was how to gossip and bully others. Only a few were showing genuine concern for Jae on their face, others had shame written all over their faces.

    Jae¡¯s father again approached Nivritti and said, ¡°thank you again for protecting my daughter.¡±

    ¡°Mr San, you don¡¯t have to say it. Just make sure your department stops talking about your daughter,¡± replied Nivritti and bowed down to him.

    ¡°That I will do.¡± He was too overwhelmed with gratitude. So, he grabbed Nivritti by her shoulder and pulled her into a bear hug.

 Chapter 42

    42 The Narration

    Everything quieted down after that. All were busy working on their scripts and all the phones were silent. asionally one or two phones would vibrate but the owner of the phone would immediately put them in their bag. They didn¡¯t want Chung-Ho¡¯s wrath.

    They all knew what they did was wrong. They spected things about Jae-Hwa when they had to support her, console her. She had been working with them for a few months and was part of their team. They had no idea why they acted like that when ASD was involved.

    When Thae scolded Nivritti, they med her, they shunned her. Again, today they med Jae-Hwa just because a few bodyguards came to drop her. They would get judgy and nasty if the name of ASD was ever involved. They were just too possessive about them.

    Meanwhile, Mr San broke the embrace, apologised to Nivritti for hugging her without asking and thanked her again for protecting his daughter. He said goodbye to his daughter and Chung-Ho and left. He had to talk to his team and ask them not to spread rumours about his daughter.

    Nivritti went and sat in her seat. Chung-Ho came to Nivritti¡¯s seat and asked, ¡°are you alright?¡±

    Before she could answer, threerge men entered the script department again. Nivritti saw them and stood up. They bowed down to her and said softly in Korean as the whole department was eerily quiet, ¡°We are leaving, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± she replied.

    ¡°You did all the work. Do you need first aid?¡± the bodyguard showed concern.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I came to ask too,¡± interrupted Chung-Ho.

    .....

    ¡°No, thank you. I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    They bowed down to her again and left.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± inquired Chung-Ho, again and pointed at her arm.

    ¡°CH! I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti, smiling.

    ¡°Okay.¡± He patted her head and moved back to his seat. He nced a death stare at a few people who were looking at his and Nivritti¡¯s interaction. They immediately went back to work.

    Chung-Ho was so angry at his team, that he kept making them work harder. He would find mistakes with every script, every paragraph, every sentence, every word, everyma and kept scolding them for every mistake.

    In the meantime, Jung-Hwa reached the practice room. Everyone was pacing around the room waiting for him. He waste. His bodyguards phoned ASD¡¯s manager that they had to split up, but he didn¡¯t go into detail as Nivritti made clear that no one can know about the incident. Everyone was concerned for Jung-Hwa.

    The door flung open, and Jung-Hwa stormed in with his bodyguard. Rest three were still in transit. All the members saw him and ran up to him.

    ¡°Where were you? What happened to you? Where are your bodyguards? Why did you have to split? Are you alright?¡± They showered him with questions. The manager who was still on the phone disconnected his call and came running to Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Show me your hand,¡± he demanded.

    But Jung-Hwa was shocked. ¡°Lee-ssi!¡±

    ¡°You have no idea how much pressure I had to apply but finally your bodyguards told me everything, show me your hand,¡± he ordered, again.

    Jung-Hwa moved his hand inside his pocket instantly and answered, ¡°I can¡¯t. my bodyguards will hear from me once they arrive. Also, there are many people here. Someone tried hard to hide everything from the world, I cannot let her work be undone.¡±

    ¡°Her?¡± only one word ¡®her¡¯ was enough to get Kyung-Soo¡¯s attention. Till now, he was concerned for Jung-Hwa, trying to figure out where he was and what he was hiding. One word out of his mouth and he realised he was protecting ¨C her.

    But before he could say anything, their manager, Lee shouted politely, ¡°Everyone! Please be advised that today¡¯s practice has been cancelled. Please leave the room in an orderly fashion. Khamshamnida! We will inform you about the next practice via email.¡±

    Every backup dancer nced at each other in confusion and shock and started gathering their things. After a few minutes, the room was empty except for ASD, their manager, and their bodyguards.

    ¡°Now tell us,¡± demanded Lee.

    Jung-Hwa looked at Kyung-Soo with concern. He knew that the news was going to cause him pain. But before he could talk, there was a knock at the door and the rest three of Jung-Hwa¡¯s bodyguards came in.

    Before they could ask him the questions, Jung-Hwa blurted out, ¡°why did you tell him everything on phone?¡±

    ¡°We are sorry but Lee-ssi was very persistent. He kept calling us for updates,¡± one of the bodyguards replied and hung his head low with shame.

    ¡°She worked hard so that no one can know what happened? What if someone was listening in on the conversation,¡± scolded Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°We never used your name. We made sure that the details were vague,¡± the bodyguard replied.

    ¡°Yes, they were vague. They just told me that something happened in the restaurant, you helped someone, you all had to split and then they said to look at your hand,¡± exined Lee.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± exhaled Jung-Hwa with relief. He again looked at his bodyguards and asked, ¡°now tell me, is she alright? Are they both alright?¡±

    ¡°She is amazing!¡± blurted out the second bodyguard. It was clear that everyone involved in the restaurant fiasco was impressed by Nivritti.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± eximed Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Well, when we reached the K&Q building all started talking nonsense about you and the other girl, Jae something,¡± narrated the second bodyguard. Hearing the word Jae, Jeong-Eun jerked his head up and stared at Jung-Hwa¡¯s bodyguard.

    ¡°What?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, because we are your bodyguards, they started talking about your and her rtionship, no one was ready to listen to us. She kept crying and telling them that she was bullied by four men and now they all were doubting her, but no one was ready to listen. We could hear them typing and messaging on their phones. We even tried talking to them, but no one was listening to us as well. Then she arrived, she just rained hellfire on them,¡± answered the second bodyguard.

    ¡°Yeah, I heard everything. She was on fire. She ripped everyone apart and took your and that girl¡¯s side. I was standing at the script department door and these two were making sure that everyone would return to their department,¡± continued the third bodyguard.

    ¡°Um... sorry, everyone to their department?¡± Kyung-Soo asked as he had no idea what the bodyguard was implying.

    ¡°Yes, the whole corridor of the 11th floor was upied by people from every department to get the gossip after they heard that we dropped a girl,¡± the third bodyguard exined and rolled his eyes.

    ¡°I tell you these K&Q employees, they are too much sometimes,¡± shouted Jeong-Eun. He was furious on Jae-Hwa¡¯s behalf. He was more furious that everyone tried to associate her with Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Enough with the suspense, will you tell us what happened?¡± screamed Kyung-Soo. He had enough. He knew who they were talking about, and he wanted every detail.

    Jung-Hwa gulped, ¡°okay, you send me to get lunch from that new restaurant.¡±

    ¡°Yes, so?¡± shrieked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°When we reached there, we were still outside when we saw a bunch of men harassing two girls inside that restaurant,¡± Jung-Hwa started his narration. Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes widened. He realised what he was about to hear. His body started shaking with fear and anger. He clenched his fists tightly. ¡°And no one was helping them. Girls were, Jae-Hwa and Ritti,¡± narrated Jung-Hwa hesitantly.

    ¡°What??!!¡± everyone shouted at once. They knew that the bodyguards were talking about Jae-Hwa and a girl but were shocked to know that the girl was Nivritti. But Kyung-Soo was furious and concerned.

    ¡°First, they were holding Jae-Hwa¡¯s hand and we saw Nivritti saying something and they let Jae-Hwa go. But then they held Ritti¡¯s arm and pulled her by her waist.¡± There was a collective gasp. Him-Chan gritted his teeth. Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes started shooting fire. Jung-Hwa was actively trying to avoid looking at him. He knew his Hyung would be enraged. Yet Jung-Hwa continued, ¡°but she was not afraid, I was very impressed. She twisted his finger and got out of his grip. But then another man moved forward to hit her. I could see no longer, and we all ran in and I... I punched that man.¡±

    ¡°You did what?¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you intervene sooner?¡± screamed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You told me to stay away from violence,¡± protested Jung-Hwa. ¡°Anyway, I intervened as fast I as could. I reacted as they were about to hit her, and I could not see that. Then she made sure that no one would record me and even made the restaurant delete all the footage and gave the manager a piece of her mind. The only footage of the whole drama is in her phone.¡±

    ¡°What happened to those men?¡± inquired Young-Chul.

    ¡°They ran away, Ritti made them do that,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What? Why was the police not called?¡± demanded Him-Chan.

    ¡°Ritti avoided that, for me. If the police would havee, it would have gotten out in the world that I punched someone,¡± exined Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°So what, it was not a blind act of violence, you were helping people,¡± snapped Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, Ritti was right, violence is never good. She handled the situation just by talking and a simple act of self-defence. I punched that man violently. She said that our fans love us, and we are their idols. We have to lead by example. Moreover, if our fans would have found out that I saved a girl, the overzealous fans would have started saying nasty things about her. They would have made her life hell,¡± educated Jung-Hwa.

    Everyone realised he was right, Nivritti was right.

    ¡°That girl!¡± murmured Kyung-Soo. His heart was jumping up and down in heart as he wanted to see her eagerly.

    ¡°Now, show us your hand,¡± said Lee. Jung-Hwa took his hand out and showed it to everyone.

    Everyone gasped. ¡°Oh, your knuckles,¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°That¡¯s nothing. You should see her arm,¡± blurted out Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± demanded Kyung-Soo.

    Jung-Hwa closed his eyes on his blunder and murmured, ¡°shit!¡± He then exhaled and answered, ¡°the man grabbed her arm with all his strength. There are four purple marks on her arm.¡±

    Smoke came out of Kyung-Soo¡¯s ears. He was mad to hear that she was injured.

 Chapter 43

    43 The Footage

    Jung-Hwa could not look at Kyung-Soo. He knew what he was feeling. Even he could not look at Nivritti¡¯s arm then how would Kyung-Soo look at it. He liked that girl. Kyung-Soo on the other hand was overwhelmed with emotions. He was feeling sad as the two people whom he loved were hurt, he was feeling angry that Jung-Hwa didn¡¯t intervene fast, he was furious that Nivritti let those men go free.

    All others were concerned after looking at Jung-Hwa¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Does that hurt?¡± asked Young-Chul, sad and concerned.

    ¡°A little. Moreover, she applied some antiseptic lip balm over my hand,¡± said Jung-Hwa sweetly and proudly. He was happy that she was not angry at him anymore for the bathroom incident. Now she was angry at him for a whole new reason and that reason was that he tried to help her. She was really crazy.

    ¡°Huh!¡± all were confused.

    ¡°She said it would keep the infection at bay,¡± Jung-Hwa exined.

    ¡°We need to take you to the hospital to check for fractures. Your knuckles are red and swollen,¡± noted Lee.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go to the hospital and then I have to talk to her, in detail,¡± barked Kyung-Soo. Everyone was now afraid of Kyung-Soo. He rarely got upset and angry and when he would get angry, they all tried to avoid him as they didn¡¯t want his wrath.

    ¡°I know,¡± muttered Jung-Hwa. He nced at Kyung-Soo but averted his eyes immediately as he noticed his furious face. He was right if Kyung-Soo would have seen Nivritti being bullied, he would have killed those men.

    .....

    They collected their things and started moving out when suddenly Kyung-Soo¡¯s phone rang. He put his bags down and took out his phone. The phone disy read ¡°Hu-ssi¡±.

    He exhaled with despair as he knew that his boss would want to know everything in detail which would mean that he would have to dy meeting with Nivritti.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo, Hu-ssi.¡± Everyone looked at Kyung-Soo. ¡°Yeah, we were about to take him to the hospital. Okay, fine we will be there in a few minutes.¡±

    ¡°How did he know?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°You know K&Q is a gossip hub,¡± Korain rolled his eyes.

    ¡°What did he say?¡± asked Jung-Hwa, scared, and concerned.

    ¡°He wants to meet us as soon as possible. You all go to him, I will take JJ to the hospital,¡± announced Kyung-Soo.

    They all went down to the parking lot and entered their car. As Kyung-Soo ordered everyone else went to the K&Q building and he took Jung-Hwa to the hospital with their manager Lee.

    After a few tests and an X-ray, the doctor was happy to inform them that his hand was alright. It was just swelling which would subside in a few days. Kyung-Soo was still angry at him and was not talking to him. He just asked a few questions to the doctor about what to do about the swelling and how long should they apply the ice pack. The doctor patiently replied to his every query and after Kyung-Soo was satisfied, they left.

    Jung-Hwa¡¯s hand was carefully bandaged to hide his swelling from the world. He never took out his hand out of his pocket after that. After the doctor¡¯s visit, they started their journey towards the K&Q building. Kyung-Soo was impatient to see Nivritti.

    Even before the car stopped, Kyung-Soo jumped out of it and ran towards the lift.

    ¡°Go to Hu-ssi. I will meet you there,¡± he ordered Jung-Hwa. Jung-Hwa knew where he was going. His Hyung waited so long for him at the hospital but now he could not wait anymore.

    ¡°Go,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa back.

    Kyung-Soo walked into the lift and kept looking at his watch. For him, even the lift was moving at a slow pace. The lift reached the 11th floor and ran out of the lift. When he reached the door of the script department he stopped, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down. He didn¡¯t want to look agitated.

    After taming his hair with his fingers, he opened the door. Chung-Ho looked at him, surprised. Kyung-Soo just bowed down to him from distance and walked up to Nivritti. He didn¡¯t care what anyone would say, he had to talk to her. Everyone lifted their head like a meerkat but went back to their work as soon as they saw Chung-Ho staring at them.

    Kyung-Soo went and stood near Nivritti¡¯s chair. His shadow on her screen made her look at him. She gulped. She knew why he was there. Jung-Hwa told him everything. Her tongue automatically came out and licked her lips.

    ¡°We need to talk,¡± he ordered and started walking towards the conference room. Before he could enter, he turned back and shouted, ¡°and bring your phone.¡±

    Nivritti closed her eyes and sighed, ¡°shit!¡±

    Chung-Ho saw everything and was sceptical. He knew something was up but was concerned that Kyung-Soo was going to scold her. He walked up to Nivritti and asked, ¡°is everything alright?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, CH. Everything is fine,¡± assured Nivritti.

    ¡°What are you not telling me? What happened in that restaurant? Why is he here?¡± he whispered.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you,¡± she spoke softly so that no one could hear their conversation.

    ¡°Nivritti!¡±

    She took his hand in hers and squeezed it hard. ¡°Please trust me. It is better that it remains a secret. You saw what happened to Jae. If the truthes out, it will be bad.¡±

    ¡°Bad for whom?¡± inquired Chung-Ho.

    She bit her lips and answered, ¡°Uhh... JJ.¡±

    ¡°What? So, what they are saying is true?¡± he asked in a hushed tone.

    ¡°What? No, no. it¡¯s something else,¡± she immediately shut him down. ¡°CH, please trust me, what I am doing is for the greater good.¡±

    ¡°He won¡¯t scold you?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Come on! Never.¡±

    ¡°Okay, go.¡±

    She again squeezed his hand and reassured him, ¡°I will be fine, I promise.¡± He nodded and signalled her to go to the conference room.

    She nced a look at Jae-Hwa who was looking at her with concern, but Nivritti blinked at her and smiled. With every eye on the floor following her, she entered the conference room.

    Kyung-Soo was pacing inside the conference room waiting for Nivritti. She opened the door and saw him. He instantly stopped moving and looked at her. His eyes immediately fell on her arm. It had four ck marks on it. He gritted his teeth with anger.

    ¡°You are hurt,¡± he noticed.

    ¡°It¡¯s just bruising, I am fine,¡± she replied.

    ¡°I need to see that footage,¡± hemanded.

    Nivritti gulped. She now realised that she should have deleted that footage from the face of the earth. ¡°But,¡± she protested.

    ¡°JJ told me you have the only copy. Nivritti, show it to me,¡± he ordered again.

    ¡°Fine.¡±

    She unlocked her phone and moved to the folder that had that video. She rotated her phone and faced the screen in Kyung-Soo¡¯s face. He nced at her and took the phone from her. With one touch, the video started ying.

    There was no audio, yet he could tell the whole restaurant was buzzing with conversation. He moved his fingers across the screen and scrolled the video forward. He stopped when he saw Nivritti and Jae-Hwa eating their food. He again pressed the screen and fast-forwarded the video. Again, he stopped when Jae-Hwa was paying the bill and four men arrived.

    They started touching Jae-Hwa improperly. With a clenched jaw, he nced outside the room and his eyes fell on Jae-Hwa. he felt bad for her. He again fast-forwarded the video, he stopped when he saw Nivrittiing back. After that, his fingers froze. He saw every second of drama that unfolded before his eyes.

    He could see her standing up to the men and Jae-Hwa running and standing behind her. The moment he saw the man grabbing Nivirtti¡¯s arm he kicked a nearby chair so hard that it flew all the way to the back wall of the room.

    Nivritti looked at him, scared. But no one spoke. Kyung-Soo kept looking at the phone¡¯s screen. He kept looking at how she was trying to get out of his grip. Then that man twisted her arm and pulled her closer. Kyung-Soo closed his eyes and shouted loudly.

    ¡°Ahhh...¡±

    ¡°Hey! Hey! Hey! Shh... shh... shh...¡± Nivritti moved towards him and covered his mouth with her hand. ¡°Everyone will hear you and would like to know what is happening here.¡± But he was not listening to her. His eyes saw the ck marks and he forgot everything.

    He softly grabbed her arm and ran his fingers over her soft, injured arm.

    ¡°I am fine,¡± she reassured. With her arm in his hand, he went back to the footage. He saw that she twisted his finger and came out of his grip, and he was somewhat rxed. The next moment he saw Jung-Hwa entering the restaurant and punching the daylights out of the man.

    After seeing the bulky, fit, bodyguards, the men retreated and ran out of the restaurant. He closed his eyes and shook his head in disappointment.

    ¡°Why did you let them go? I would have killed those guys,¡± he gritted his teeth. ¡°I am so happy that JJ hit him. Just look at your hand.¡± He lifted her hand up and showed her the injury.

    She smiled and tried to calm him down. ¡°No, he did a bad thing. Only the presence of his could have done the job he didn¡¯t need to hit them. That¡¯s what I mean when I say you all are children, not every matter needs to be solved by aggression and violence.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but few situations need a firm hand. I hate to see you get hurt,¡± he said and closed the distance between them. Nivritti had no answer after that. She neither could open her mouth nor could close it. Her lips kept quivering. Kyung-Soo looked at her and brought her arm closer to his lips. Delicately he ced his mouth over her marks and nted a kiss.

 Chapter 44

    44 The Allegation

    Nivritti had no idea how to react after Kyung-Soo closed the distance. She never understood why Kyung-Soo had such a hold on her. She wanted to stay away from him but every day something or other would happen that wouldnd them face to face with each other.

    Kyung-Soo was too angry after looking at the video but as soon as Nivritti came close to him, he forgot everything. He forgot that he had her phone in his hand. He forgot that he was angry at those men. All he could see was her beautiful face and bruised hand. He had no idea why he reacted that way, he just brought her hands closer to his lips and nted a wet kiss on her marks.

    Abruptly, she pulled her hand out of his hand. She stepped back shaking her head, almost on the verge of crying. ¡°Enough, I cannot do this again. I literally can¡¯t do this again.¡±

    That was the moment Kyung-Soo understood everything. Why was she opposed to love? Why she was so adamant about her not getting involved? Why was she so adamant about the age? ¡°How bad did he hurt you?¡± he asked.

    She snapped, ¡°As I told you I¡¯m not hurt, it¡¯s just a bruise.¡± She started moving towards the door.

    But he instantly grabbed her by her waist, twisted her and pulled her closer to him. Her handnded over his chest. Without wasting a beat, he said, ¡°I¡¯m talking about your ex-boyfriend. How bad did he hurt you?¡±

    Nivritti was shocked. ¡°What?¡± she murmured. She was surprised that Kyung-Soo asked her such a question. She never talked about him then howe he knew about that? She looked into his eyes with shameful, fearful, and guilt-ridden eyes.

    ¡°What was the age difference Nivritti?¡± asked Kyung-Soo. He softly peered into her eyes.

    Her mouth fell open after his invasive question. She felt as if the earth slipped from under her feet. Her face went sad. Pearls of tears started forming in her eyes. She looked at him with tearful eyes. He moved her hand to caress her cheeks, but she shoved him and ran away forgetting her phone.

    .....

    Kyung-Soo closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief, ¡°she needs to stop running away and talk for once.¡±

    Nivritti controlled her tears and sat back in her seat. She realised that Chung-Ho was continuously ncing in her direction to make sure she was okay. She lowered her head so that Chung-Ho would not see her. Her flight mode kicked in. She wanted to run away from everything but that would again make Chung-Ho suspicious so she suppressed that thought.

    Kyung-Soo came out of the conference room and went near Nivritti. Without speaking a single word, he simply ced her phone on her desk and walked away. He realised that she was not ready to talk. Maybe, it was him or the office, but it was neither the time nor the ce to talk about her ex-boyfriend. Also, he knew that Bong would be waiting for him with his team members.

    He ran to the 21st floor. A sweet, middle-aged woman wearing old-fashioned chained spectacles was sitting outside. The que before her read ¡°Executive Assistant¡±. The moment she saw Kyung-Soo she stood up with respect, smiling brightly. Kyung-Soo bowed down to her twice with respect.

    ¡°Is everyone here?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes, they are waiting for you,¡± replied the assistant.

    ¡°Thank you, Kim-ssi,¡± he again bowed down to her and moved towards the CEO¡¯s door.

    ¡°Anytime, King.¡±

    Kyung-Soo opened the door and barged in without knocking. Everyone looked at him. He looked around. The room was full of people. Not only his team member but the CEO, the COO, the head of the legal department and his team, and the head of the PR department and his team were also present. He bowed down to every one of them.

    Hu Bong didn¡¯t speak a word. He just looked at everyone sitting beside him and signalled them to ask away to their heart¡¯s content.

    The first person to open her mouth was the head of the legal department. ¡°Where is it?¡±

    ¡°Where is what, Yun-ssi?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, confused.

    ¡°The footage!¡± she replied.

    ¡°Oh! In her phone,¡± answered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What is her n with the footage?¡± asked the head of the PR team.

    ¡°n? What do you mean, n?¡± shouted Korain. He was not sure what he was hearing. Being a quick-witted person, he immediately understood what the PR team was hinting at.

    ¡°Why she has that footage and what is nning to do with it?¡± asked one of thewyers. It seemed everyone had the same idea, making a criminal out of Nivritti.

    Jung-Hwa stood up from the couch with a jerk and gave everyone a death stare. ¡°Excuse me! What do you want to say?¡±

    ¡°JJ!¡± Kyung-Soo held his hand and tried to calm him down.

    But he jerked his hands away and moved a step forward. He shouted, ¡°no, they are insinuating that she has some ulterior motive with that footage. They are using her of using that footage for her benefit. Do you have any idea what she did for another girl and me in that restaurant? If not for her, you would have a PR nightmare on your hand.¡±

    ¡°Then why does she have the only footage, JJ? Have you thought about that?¡± asked Yun.

    ¡°You think she has that with her for ckmail?¡± questioned Kyung-Soo, appalled.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied a few members of the legal department and PR department.

    He too stood up and moved next to Jung-Hwa. ¡°Then why did she hand me over her phone and left me alone with it?¡± Kyung-Soo spat fire.

    ¡°You saw the footage?¡± Bong asked, shocked.

    ¡°With my own eyes,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°She made sure that no one would recognise me in that restaurant. She made sure that that footage was deleted from the restaurant server. She made my bodyguards scatter so that people won¡¯t recognise me because of them. She even scolded me because I used violence, and you are doubting her,¡± interrupted Jung-Hwa. He was shouting at the top of his lungs. He was known to be a happy-go-lucky kid. He rarely was angry. Many were looking at his angry avatar for the first time.

    ¡°JJ is right. Have you lost your mind? She saved you guys from a headache, she saved K&Q from a scandal and this is how you reward her,¡± Young-Chul too stood up.

    Everyone was silent after Young-Chul¡¯s intervention. He was a man of few words but when he talked everyone listened. Seeing that even Young-Chul was talking on her behalf, the legal team and the PR team went silent.

    ¡°King! What do you think?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°You know her, you saw her, you talked to her, you know she speaks her mind and never takes shit from anyone, well except when there is a dog present, she sometimes takes shit,¡± informed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh, the dog girl, whom Kat...¡± Bong did not finish his sentence and let his words trail.

    ¡°Yes,¡± nodded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Well, she is intelligent and smart. And after everything June and his bodyguards said, it is clear that she is on our side. Correct me if I am wrong,¡± notified Bong.

    ¡°You are right,¡± all the members of ASD as well Jung-Hwa¡¯s bodyguards said in unison. Everyone lowered their head in shame except Hu Bong.

    He had a sweet smile on his face. ¡°Hmm... seeing how even these guys are in favour,¡± he pointed at the bodyguards and continued, ¡°it seems that my legal team is highly distrustful. Don¡¯t be angry at them JJ, it¡¯s their job to be sceptical.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. He was too angry to calm down so soon. ¡°They can be sceptical all they want but at least use their head. They should consider everything that happened and ponder on it, think about it logically, not talk out of their asses.¡±

    ¡°JJ!¡± Korain stood up and ced his hands over Jung-Hwa¡¯s shoulder. As usual Korain¡¯s angelic voice did its work. Jung-Hwa calmed down a notch.

    ¡°I am sorry.¡± He took a deep breath and continued, ¡°two girls, who work for us were being harassed and I helped them. Everyone has been treating me like Imitted a crime, even Ritti lectured me. You think she has an ulterior motive but for your kind information, she scolded me because I used violence. She made sure that there was no trace of my activity in the restaurant and these people are suggesting that she had a different n in her mind. Do you think, she has the only copy of the footage so that she herself could destroy itter?¡±

    ¡°I am d that she kept a copy. I saw it and now I understand why JJ acted the way he did,¡± Kyung-Soo spoke in his favour.

    ¡°I too would like to see that footage,¡± said Korain. ¡°Imagine if she would have not made that copy.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, instead of helping her, rewarding her for taking care of JJ, we are making her the criminal,¡± protested Him-Chan.

    ¡°Really! We should make those girls talk to a therapist about their trauma at our expense. They at least deserve that. They faced public humiliation, harassment and we are piling on them instead of helping them,¡± snapped Jeong-Eun.

    Last but not the least, Thae stood up with fire in his eyes. ¡°I scolded her, I was in the wrong, but instead of going to HR or your legal team, she chose to forgive me. How can you think that she can do something cunning?¡±

    Bong was smiling to see that his boys were standing together. No matter if they were taking a stranger¡¯s side. This was the moment Bong understood that Nivritti was something special. Within a few days, she influenced the whole ASD team which was a rare task. ¡°Guys! Calm down,¡± Bong stood up.

 Chapter 45

    45 The Fear of Getting Fired

    Hu Bong tried his best to be the mediator, but the boys were too angry at the PR team and legal team. He was concerned that a fight might break out.

    ¡°Guys! Calm down,¡± Bong stood up.

    ¡°Calm down!¡± chided Jung-Hwa. ¡°You should throw everyone out as they are not needed. She single-headedly did their work and that too within minutes. There is no single piece of footage on the inte about what happened in that restaurant.¡±

    ¡°There are a few conversations on themunicator app,¡± the head of the PR team chimed in, carefully.

    ¡°Saying what?¡± shouted Young-Chul. He had enough of this nonsense. ¡°That Jung-Hwa punched the daylights out of a man in a crowded restaurant?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± the head of the PR team lowered his head with shame. ¡°They are calling the girl a hero for helping the other girl and saying that a CEO came to save her. #reallifekdrama is the talk of the nation.¡±

    ¡°Then why are your panties in a wad?¡± snapped Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°If the news gets out that you were ¡®the CEO¡¯ who saved them, they will start associating you with her and it won¡¯t be good news,¡± said the head of the PR.

    Immediately Jung-Hwa shouted, ¡°Oh, now they will associate me with her. I know you guys heard what they were talking about me and Jae-Hwa. The girl was in tears and now you want to make another one cry. This whole office is a gossip hub. And how will the news get out? She destroyed all the footage. The only remaining footage we have is with her.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Okay, okay, June, chill! Legal team, PR team, get out. It is clear that you are not needed. Moreover, you are pissing my boys off. But, PR team, keep an eye on themunicator app. Be on the lookout,¡± announced Bong. Everyone stood up and started moving out, dejected. In their eyes, they were just trying to help K&Q avoid a scandal, but ASD were working against them. No one understood why they were taking the side of a girl who was basically a stranger. After they were gone, Bong looked at Kyung-Soo and asked, ¡°King! What do you want to do with that girl?¡±

    ¡°Do? I don¡¯t want to do anything with that girl,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo abruptly. Jung-Hwa facepalmed. His gesture made Kyung-Soo aware that he said something wrong. He immediately corrected himself, ¡°reward her, what else? Her quick thinking saved you a disaster.¡±

    Bong, for a minute, was confused by Kyung-Soo¡¯s first reply and Jung-Hwa¡¯s gesture. But then he decided to pay no heed. ¡°Well, you are not wrong.¡± He picked up the phone and dialled the number for the script department. Chung-Ho¡¯s phone rang loudly.

    They both talked for a minute. Chung-Ho took a deep breath and stood up. ¡°Nivritti!¡± he said. She too stood up and faced him. ¡°Yes, Mr Choi.¡±

    ¡°Follow me,¡± said Chung-Ho and started walking out of the room. Perplexed, Nivritti locked her screen and walked behind him. Jae-Hwa peered through the side of her cubicle and looked at Nivritti. Nivritti assured her with a show of her hand and followed Chung-Ho out of the room.

    Following him, she entered the lift.

    She took a deep breath and asked, ¡°where are we going?¡±

    ¡°To see Bong-ssi,¡± replied Chung-Ho and pressed the button for the 21st floor.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± shouted Nivritti. A chill ran down her spine.

    ¡°No idea, he just asked me to bring you up,¡± replied Chung-Ho casually.

    ¡°Shit! They are going to fire me,¡± Nivritti rubbed her forehead, tensed. Another situation she was about to face that she wanted to run away from, but she was already inside the lift.

    ¡°What nonsense! Why would they fire you?¡± asked Chung-Ho, rmed.

    ¡°Because...¡± she could notplete her sentence. She had no idea how to tell Chung-Ho. What if he too would get angry at her?

    ¡°Yes,¡± he nudged her politely.

    She closed her eyes and blurted out, ¡°Because JJ was in a fight because of me.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± he shouted back.

    ¡°That¡¯s what happened in the restaurant.¡± Nivritti exhaled loudly and narrated everything that happened in the restaurant. Her narration was apanied by Chung-Ho¡¯s disbelief, gasping, anger, concern and sometimes disappointment. To her surprise, even he was happy that Jung-Hwa punched the man and protected the girls.

    Softly he touched her cheeks and said, ¡°I am sorry that you guys had to experience that. But why do you think you would be fired, none of this is your fault.¡±

    ¡°He was there to help me. He punched him because of me. If this gets out... I think I would be held responsible,¡± Nivritti lowered her head. Two small drops of tears fell down. She sniffled.

    ¡°That¡¯s absolutely balderdash!¡± screamed Chung-Ho. He made her look at him and wiped her tears.

    ¡°CH! I am no one. I am expendable, I am a liability whereas JJ is an asset, the most loved Idol in South Korea.¡±

    Chung-Ho ced her chin in between his thumb and forefinger and looked into her eyes. There was love and pride in his voice. ¡°Ritti! You are now part of my team. No one, I repeat no one can fire you without my consent. Moreover, this Rencontre is your baby, you are going nowhere till you see it to itspletion.¡±

    Nivritti tilted her head and fought hard to keep her tears inside. ¡°Why do I feel like hugging you?¡±

    He opened his arms and said, ¡°well, you should not stop yourself from doing things that you feel like doing.¡± He smiled at her.

    She threw herself in his arms and held him tightly. Lovingly, he kept patting her back and her head. She was away from her family but in Chung-Ho she found a father figure, an elder brother.

    Ding! The lift reached its destination. The doors opened and Nivritti broke the embrace. She wiped her tears and again followed him. Chung-Ho gave a look to the receptionist and walked into a cabin.

    Nivritti gasped as she walked into an all-white cabin. The beautiful room has white walls, white chairs, a white table, even the couch was white. The blinds were slightly different as they were off-white. The only contrast that filled some colour in the room was the paintings. The beautiful, elegant paintings were beautifullyplementing the room.

    The moment she walked in Kyung-Soo gasped. ¡°She was crying,¡± he murmured to Jung-Hwa. ¡°Why was she crying?¡±

    Even though only Jung-Hwa heard what he said, Bong noticed his expressions. He looked at Kyung-Soo, then at Jung-Hwa and his eyes thennded on Nivritti. He didn¡¯t realise but he kept looking to and fro at Kyung-Soo and Nivritti. He noticed that Kyung-Soo was uneasy after looking at her.

    He too noticed her red eyes and red nose. It was clear that she had been crying. Was he uneasy because he didn¡¯t like her as Jung-Hwa was in a fight to save her? Or was he uneasy to see her cry? Bong¡¯s mind was working overtime.

    Nivritti tried her best to avoid looking at everyone, but Jung-Hwa came and stood before her.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti without looking at him.

    ¡°Ritti! Look at me,¡± hemanded. Slowly, Nivritti lifted her head. ¡°If you are fine, why were you crying?¡± he asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± she answered.

    ¡°That¡¯s not an answer,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. He was extremely ufortable after looking at her red face. He wanted an answer. In his mind, he was the culprit as he kissed her hand.

    His voice sent a shiver all over her body. Her mind went back to his kiss. She held her right hand with her left and caressed the part where he kissed. She had no answer after that.

    ¡°It¡¯s my fault,¡± interjected Chung-Ho. ¡°She was overwhelmed while telling me what happened in the restaurant. She is also under the impression that you are going to punish her,¡± he said to Bong.

    ¡°Punish her?¡± Bong was confused. First, he was surprised to see that Kyung-Soo could not keep his eyes off her and now Chung-Ho gave him a shock. Finally, it struck him like lightning. Why did Kyung-Soo give such a reaction when he asked what he wanted to do with the girl? Now, it was clear as a day to Bong that his boy, his King liked the girl.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting fired. Aren¡¯t I?¡± Nivritti lowered her head and spoke softly.

    ¡°What? Why would you say that?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    She still could not look into his eyes, so she turned towards Bong. ¡°He got into a fight because of me.¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding? He didn¡¯t get into a fight because of you,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. His sentence shocked her to her core.

    She instantly looked into his eyes. ¡°What?¡± But his piercing look made her lower her eyes. Her mind could not get rid of the feeling she felt when he kissed her. For a second she felt loved, cared for but then she remembered his age, her past, and every feeling washed away.

    Kyung-Soo closed his distance and walked up to her. ¡°Yes, you and Jae-Hwa were his first priority, he threw the punch to save you but then chose not to fight because of you guys. He didn¡¯t fight because you asked him not to fight. His fighting could have escted the situation, so he took a step back. You know he is ckbelt in Taekwondo, right? He could have taken those men down in a jiffy. He wanted to get you guys out but ultimately you got him out.¡±

 Chapter 46

    46 The Thanking

    Everyone was listening to Kyung-Soo quietly and nodding at his every word. Nivritti tried looking at him but would lower her eyes after every nce.

    ¡°So, I am not fired?¡± she stammered.

    Bong, who was quietly looking at all the sparks flying between Kyung-Soo and Nivritti, the looks they kept exchanging, the obvious tension between them, came forward and said, ¡°that¡¯s not the reason you are here. We wanted to, no, I wanted to thank you for using your fast-thinking brain to get out of that situation quickly. You took care of yourself, San-ssi¡¯s daughter, and June. You made sure no one knew he was famous or travelling with bodyguards. Everyone thinks he was some CEO. You got the CCTV footage. The way you handled everything was amazing. I would like to reward you with a bonus.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°I will inform the finance team and they will be in touch with you,¡± smiled Bong.

    ¡°But that is not necessary. You gave me a bonus recently, I don¡¯t need another one,¡± protested Nivritti. Bong was again impressed. Who in their right mind would say no to a bonus? This girl was different.

    ¡°Ritti! Just take it,¡± emphasised Young-Chul.

    ¡°Yeah, just take it,¡± nodded Korain.

    ¡°Congrattions,¡± Jung-Hwa threw himself at her and grabbed her in a bear hug.

    .....

    Kyung-Soo faced her and said, ¡°thank you for taking care of our kid.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a kid anymore,¡± pouted Jung-Hwa and let Nivritti go. Bong and Chung-Ho could not help but smile at his cuteness.

    Korain hit the back of his head yfully and everyone started smiling.

    ¡°By the way, why did you take that footage in your phone?¡± asked Bong, abruptly.

    Nivritti looked at him and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just kept a copy, you can have it.¡± She took her phone and presented it to him.

    ¡°I feel it would be best if we destroy it,¡± said Bong.

    Before Nivritti could reply, Kyung-Soo interrupted, ¡°but what about those men?¡±

    ¡°What about them?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you want justice?¡± questioned Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°For me to get justice, JJ will have to face assault charges, I don¡¯t want that. Moreover, he punched one and I broke another¡¯s finger. That is enough justice for me,¡± answered Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo was not happy with her answer while Bong was overwhelmed that she was still thinking about Jung-Hwa. ¡°Thank you,¡± he cried.

    ¡°You are wee. Here, this is the footage, you can delete it by yourself,¡± she again gave her phone to him, but Bong never moved a single finger towards the phone.

    ¡°I want to keep it,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa, unexpectedly.

    ¡°Why?¡± screamed everyone, simultaneously.

    ¡°I like the way I punched him,¡± Jung-Hwa grinned from ear to ear. Korain and Young-Chul facepalmed, hard.

    ¡°No, your phone could be hacked, and then this footage could end up on the inte. It¡¯s best to delete it permanently,¡± suggested Nivritti. Bong widened his eyes at her suggestion. It was true that his phone could get hacked in the future. He never thought about that. Even the PR team didn¡¯t think about the same but this girl, this quick-witted girl thought about it.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do this. Let¡¯s all watch it onest time,¡± said Bong.

    ¡°Few of us will be watching it for the first time,¡± interrupted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s watch it for the first and thest time, and then we will delete the footage. All in?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°Yes,¡± was the collective answer.

    Nivritti gave her phone to Bong and all huddled around him. The facial expressions kept changing as per the events happening in the video. There was a collective ¡°ooh¡± when Jung-Hwa threw the punch.

    ¡°Assholes!¡± eximed Young-Chul after viewing the video. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you hit them on their nuts?¡±

    ¡°That thought didn¡¯t even ur in my mind,¡± Nivritti thought back.

    ¡°Come with me to Wing-Chun sses,¡± offered Young-Chul.

    ¡°With you, no thanks,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Am I that bad?¡± teased Young-Chul.

    ¡°No, no, don¡¯t take it otherwise. I meant I won¡¯t ever go anywhere with an idol. You guys have some crazy fans, jealous fans. I don¡¯t want to deal with them, ever. Just look at what happened with Jae. No one saw her with JJ, only his bodyguards came to drop her off, yet she was left in tears,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Well, you are not wrong,¡± nodded Him-Chan. ¡°Some of our fans are too possessive, especially yours, Hyung,¡± he said to Young-Chul. ¡°Spare her.¡±

    Nivritti smiled at him, and he smiled back. Bong gave her phone back and she deleted the footage in front of them.

    ¡°Okay, so that¡¯s done. Let us all get back to our work and Ms Rathod, thank you again,¡± thanked Bong.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say it, Sir,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Choi-ssi, take extra care of her. Her brain can be a great asset,¡± praised Bong.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me that,¡±ughed Chung-Ho. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Ritti.¡±

    She just nodded and smiled at him. Before leaving the room, Nivritti halted and turned around. First, she looked at Kyung-Soo but averted her eyes immediately. She then looked at Jung-Hwa and finallynded on Bong.

    ¡°I have a request, Sir,¡± said Nivritti addressing Bong.

    ¡°Anything.¡±

    ¡°Could you make sure that everyone stops gossiping about JJ and Jae-Hwa?¡± requested Nivritti. It made Jung-Hwa smile. She was still thinking about his reputation and Jae-Hwa¡¯s honour. Jung-Hwa respected her even more.

    ¡°I am sorry, but you keep talking about JJ, is JJ, June?¡± inquired Bong.

    ¡°Right! Yeah, it¡¯s a nickname I gave him. I don¡¯t want to offend anyone by mispronouncing their name. Also, nickname suggests that I am in their inner circle, and I like that,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°I like that too,¡± smiled Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°We all like that,¡± Thae moved near Nivritti and ced his hands softly around her shoulder.

    ¡°I will have a conference call with all the HODs. I will instruct them to quash every gossip that is floating around,¡± assured Bong.

    ¡°Thank you, thank you very much, Sir,¡± bowed Nivritti and moved out with Chung-Ho.

    Surprisingly, Jeong-Eun shouted, ¡°oh I forgot to thank her. I will be back.¡± He ran after her leaving all perplexed.

    The moment he came out, she was about to get in the elevator. He called her by her name, ¡°Ritti!¡± she turned around and looked at him. ¡°I need to talk to you.¡± Chung-Ho was in the lift, and he ced his hands on the door to stop them from closing.

    She first looked at Jeong-Eun and then at Chung-Ho. ¡°CH! You go, I will be there in a minute.¡±

    ¡°You sure?¡± inquired Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I am sure,¡± she blinked once and assured him.

    ¡°Okay,¡± he moved his hands from the lift door and the lift closed.

    She walked up to Jeong-Eun and asked, ¡°Yes, PJ!¡±

    He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a bear hug. She had no time to react. Her eyes widened and her body stiffed. Slowly every member of ASD kept hugging her. It was strange to her, but she started epting their touch. ¡°Thank you,¡± exhaled Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°PJ!¡± Nivritti realised that Jeong-Eun was tensed, and he rxed after hugging her. She moved her hand on his back and caressed him with adoration.

    ¡°Thank you for helping JJ and... Jae,¡± he stammered.

    ¡°Jae!¡± eximed Nivritti. It was a sudden shock to her, but it made her smile.

    He broke the embrace and faced her. ¡°How is she?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    She smiled and assured him, ¡°she is fine. She cried for a bit but now she is fine. I will always be there for her, PJ. You never have to worry.¡±

    He again hugged her, this time tighter. ¡°Thank you again.¡±

    ¡°You are wee,¡± she patted his back. He let her go, ran his fingers through his hair, and with a final smile started walking inside the cabin. She too started moving towards the lift when a thought appeared in her mind. She turned around and called him, ¡°PJ!¡±

    He turned around, ¡°Yes.¡±

    A devilish smile was ying on her face. ¡°Evening, six o¡¯clock, basement level 2, grid no. 52,¡± she gave him a cryptic message.

    ¡°What?¡± Jeong-Eun was confused.

    ¡°Evening, six o¡¯clock, basement level 2, grid no. 52,¡± she repeated. ¡°Be there,¡± she winked and left him pondering over what she said. Before he could ask her again, she was inside the lift and gone.

    He stood there bewildered. ¡°What? What did she mean by that? Oh, not everyone is smart as she is. What do I do with that message? Basement level, grid 52. What is grid 52?¡± she left him scratching his forehead.

    While he kept working on breaking her coded message, the members of the team came out of the room.

    ¡°Did you thank her?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°What?¡± but Jeong-Eun was still working out her message.

    ¡°Did you thank her? What were you thinking?¡± Him-Chan hit him on the back of his head.

    But he ignored him. He looked at Kyung-Soo and Korain and questioned, ¡°Hyung, do you know any grid 52 in this building?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Grid 52!¡± repeated Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Yes, every parking level has grid 52. Why do you ask?¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°Oh,¡± eximed Jeong-Eun.

    .....

    People park in grids, every space is given a number. How do you not know that?¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°Do I drive a car?¡± inquired Jeong-Eun.

    Right! You don¡¯t have a driver¡¯s licence. But you travel in a car. You never noticed where we park?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°I have asked you hundreds of times to get one. You should know how to drive,¡± mocked Thae.

    ¡°You all are my drivers. Why do I need to learn to drive?¡± taunted Jeong-Eun with a smirk.

    ¡°So, you will take one of us on your date?¡± teased Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Why not, people do take their drivers,¡± mocked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Idiot!¡± Kyung-Soo shook his head in disbelief. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Everyone followed him and they went to their practice room.

 Chapter 47

    47 The Feelings of Chung-Ho

    Chung-Ho came out of the lift and slowly started moving towards the script department. He had a feeling of pride in his heart. He knew he fought with other people to finalise Nivritti for the job. All others wanted to hire someone from South Korea as they would know about the local customs andnguage. They would also be aware of the idol situation prevalent in Korea.

    But Chung-Ho saw her resume and her overwhelming talent. She even had a glowing rmendation. Even hiswork of other scriptwriters in otherpanies informed him they too were trying to recruit her. He advocated hard for her recruitment. All others said yes when they were informed that she is fluent in Korean.

    And since the day she arrived, she has been working diligently for K&Q. Today she didn¡¯t even think about herself, she protected ASD and helped K&Q avoid a big scandal. He felt as if his own daughter was getting such aplishments.

    She gave them an amazing idea which was approved in an instant by the CEO. Her idea would make this Rencontre even great. Never in the history of K&Q has it happened that an employee was given bonuses one after the other. First her idea for Rencontre scored her a bonus and today she got another one for saving Jung-Hwa and Jae-Hwa. He was too proud.

    Suddenly he realised, he has been there for Nivritti, but Jae-Hwa too needed his attention. He had to talk to both girls. He had his hand on the handle of the door, but he could not open it and enter. He kept thinking about both the girls.

    The ding of the lift broke his concentration and he saw Nivritti walking towards him.

    Nivritti was concerned, ¡°are you okay? What are you doing outside?¡±

    ¡°Was waiting for you,¡± he smiled at her.

    ¡°For me, why?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Just coz,¡± he said proudly.

    She smiled back at him, e on! Mr Choi, let go in.¡±

    ¡°Hey! What happened to CH?¡± rebuked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°You said not to call you by that,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°As if you never called me, CH,¡± yfully he hit the back of her head.

    ¡°Just teasing.¡±

    ¡°Follow me to the conference room,¡± he made his voice extremely serious.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± she asked, worried.

    He startedughing, ¡°I am not going to scold you, Ritti, just follow me.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Chung-Ho pushed the door opened and they both entered the room. Everyone nced at them but as soon as they saw Chung-Ho, they went back to their work.

    ¡°Jae-Hwa, follow me,¡± hemanded.

    She shot a look at Nivritti who just shrugged her shoulders. She stood up from her seat and followed Chung-Ho and Nivritti. The moment she entered the conference room, Chung-Ho faced her.

    Softly he ced his hands over her head and patted her. ¡°I am sorry for what you had to endure today. Not only in the restaurant but in your own department.¡±

    Tears dropped from Jae-Hwa¡¯s eyes. ¡°Please don¡¯t cry,¡± he pulled her in a bear hug. Jae-Hwa let herself feel everything and bawled. Even Nivritti could not control her tears. She just stood away from them and looked at them lovingly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, no one will say anything to you anymore, I promise,¡± Chung-Ho assured her.

    ¡°Why is everyone like this?¡± sniffled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You know they are possessive about ASD. They have seen them grow from nothing to the best boyband in the world. Even if they sneeze, they talk about it. When such a situation will happen to them then they will learn,¡± his voice had a hint of anger.

    ¡°I was so scared,¡± sobbed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be anymore. If you hear anything about yourself,e and tell me, and I will show them who I really am,¡± Chung-Ho gritted his teeth.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone will say anything after how badly Ritti scolded them,¡± noted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ohe on! Anyone would have done that,¡± protested Nivritti.

    Chung-Ho broke the embrace but never let Jae-Hwa leave his side. He held her hand and talked to Nivritti, ¡°no, you were brilliant, you were brave, you were loyal, you were a good friend. I am so proud of you. I am so happy that you chose us, that you chose to work with me.¡±

    Nivritti clenched her jaw and tried hard to fight her tears. She curled her lips in O and exhaled loudly to avoid crying. ¡°CH! I am already crying, do you want me to cry a river?¡± she teased him.

    ¡°No,e here,¡± he too was smiling and crying simultaneously. He pulled both the girls close and hugged them adoringly. After a minute or so, he let them go and said, ¡°now, go back to work. Scripts are pouring in.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± both girls saluted him and smiled at him.

    They all came outside smiling yet wiping their tears. A few of the writers nced at them trying to find out what they were talking about. Chung-Ho cleared his throat to signal them that he was still angry, and they immediately went back to their work.

    Nivritti and Jae-Hwa too went back to their seats and started their work. Nivritti unlocked her screen and the script that she left open, greeted her. The Rencontre team kept reading the scripts and cing the good scripts in the ¡°Kyung-Soo¡± folder.

    Suddenly all the screens in the script department were hijacked by the pop of the internal messenger. A message burst from the CEO was sent to everyputer in the K&Q building.

    ¡°IT HAS COME UNDER THE LIGHT THAT EMPLOYEES OF K&Q ARE MORE ACTIVE WHEN IT COMES TO GOSSIP AND SENDING MESSAGES VIA GRAPEVINE. THE MANAGEMENT HEREBY GIVES THE PERMISSION TO EVERY HOD TO QUASH EVERY GOSSIP AND FIRE PEOPLE WHO WOULD WASTE THEIR TIME GOSSIPING RATHER THAN WORKING DURING THEIR WORKING HOURS. RENCONTRE IS AROUND THE CORNER, AND WE HAVE TO BE PROACTIVE ABOUT THAT NOT SPREADING RUMOURS. IF THE NAME OF ASD WOULD BE HEARD UNDER ANY WRONG CONTEXT, THAT PERSON COULD FIND THEMSELVES A NAMED PARTY UNDER A DEFAMATION CASE. NO SLANDER, NO VILIFICATION OF ANY KIND WILL BE TOLERATED.¡±

    Everyone looked at each other but had no courage to speak. Jae-Hwa peered through her cubicle and looked at Nivritti who just smirked at her. She tried hard to stifle herughter, but her eyes keptughing. She was happy that Bong listened to her and gave a firm scolding to everyone.

    No one spoke a thing about Jae-Hwa or Jung-Hwa after that. In fact, they avoided looking at Jae-Hwa with shame. Yet a few of them wanted to know where Nivritti and Chung-Ho went. It waster on spread through the grapevine that they went to see the CEO. Now, they wanted to know what happened inside the cabin. They knew that neither the legal team nor the PR team would ever spill any beans.

    It was their job to stop any scandal so why they would fan any rumours anymore?

    The evening arrived and it was 5.55 when it urred to Nivritti that Jae-Hwa still sitting in her seat reading the script.

    She stood up and went to Jae-Hwa¡¯s cubicle. ¡°What are you doing?¡± shouted Nivritti, quietly.

    ¡°What?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa, confused.

    ¡°Go home, now,¡± ordered Nivritti.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Go home, girl.¡±

    ¡°I will go after finishing a few more scripts,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No, no, that will be toote,¡± cried Nivritti. ¡°Shut down theputer and leave.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, confused.

    Nivritti looked all around thinking of an excuse. ¡°Um... we had a traumatic experience. We should leave on time today and rest.¡±

    ¡°I am fine. You are with me, I will always be fine,¡± Jae-Hwa hugged her dearly and went back to her system.

    ¡°I am not staying with you. I am leaving. I have a lot of chores to do,¡± lied Nivritti.

    ¡°I can help,¡± chimed Jae-Hwa, excitedly.

    ¡°Jae, go home, stay with your parents tonight,¡± ordered Nivritti.

    ¡°But Ritti!¡± protested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Do you want me to tell everything to CH?¡± threatened Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I know he will take your side. Fine, I am leaving,¡± said Jae-Hwa, defeated.

    Nivritti grinned like a Cheshire cat. ¡°Good girl!¡± she chirped. ¡°Oh, I so hope that PJ is ready,¡± she murmured.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Hwa as she could not hear what she said.

    ¡°Nothing, just leave,¡± repeated Nivritti.

    ¡°And you?¡± asked Jae-Hwa while shutting her system down.

    ¡°I aming too. I will get down at the lobby, you go all the way down to your basement,¡± Nivritti could not stop smiling.

    ¡°Why are you acting weird?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? I am not acting weird. I am perfectly normal,¡± shouted Nivritti in a high-pitched tone and startedughing like an idiot.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± Jae-Hwa raised her eyebrows.

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti defended herself. ¡°I am just tired. You know fighting with those men, then with JJ, then with that manager and again with JJ, then saving you again from these vultures, then the meet with CEO, then crying with you,¡± Nivritti rolled her eyes. ¡°Emotions after emotions have worn me down,¡± she exhaled loudly.

    ¡°Right, sorry! But you have to tell me what happened inside the Hu-ssi¡¯s cabin,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Let¡¯s meet tomorrow for lunch and I will tell you everything and you tell me everything,¡± smirked Nivritti.

    ¡°What everything?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, confused.

    ¡°How will you spend your night? How your parents took care of you, all that?¡± Nivritti did some damage control.

    ¡°You really are acting weird,¡± noted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I told you the reason,¡± Nivritti faked a yawn.

    ¡°Fine, if you say so.¡±

 Chapter 48

    48 The Grid 5Jae-Hwa was sceptically looking at Nivritti, but all Nivritti did was smile sweetly at her. No matter how many times Jae-Hwa asked her, Nivritti would reply that she was tired so was behaving irrationally.

    Finally, Nivritti exited the lift in the lobby and gave a final smile to Jae-Hwa. Jae-Hwa narrowed her eyes and shouted, ¡°what the hell are you hiding?¡±

    But Nivritti just blew a kiss in her direction and turned around smiling like a maniac. The lift door closed, and Jae-Hwa started going down the floors.

    ¡°Wait! Why am I excited? PJ is going to meet Jae, he was concerned about her, he likes her. Oh no! I never checked if he likes her or not. What if he was asking about her because of his good heart? Did I make a fool out of myself? Shhhiittt! I told him six o¡¯clock. What if he iste? Then she will leave, no worries. Oh, then he will think I lied to him. And she won¡¯t know that he came to meet with her. What if other people would see them? Oh, that will be a disaster. But what if he is early? Uh... well he is her bias, but what if she doesn¡¯t like him like that. Oh, God! What have I done? Should I go and tell her to leave? No, then he wille and see that she is gone and that will be bad for me. Why do I have to meddle in things.¡± She facepalmed.

    But had no idea what to do. All she could do was take a deep breath and let life take its course. She did exactly that. She took a deep breath and exited the building. In her mind, she kept praying that nothing would backfire.

    Jae-Hwa was busy thinking about Nivritti¡¯s strange behaviour. She never acted the way she was acting now. The nonsensical smile, the urgency to leave for home and her abrupt talking about her parking area was strange.

    Nivritti¡¯s house was within a walking distance, so she never epted Jae-Hwa¡¯s suggestion of dropping her home. Today too she was noting along with her but was eager for her to reach her car. Why? Did she y a prank on her? No, they both experience the same trauma today why would she want to traumatize her further? Or maybe she was thinking that a prank would cheer her up. Jae-Hwa kept pondering about what was going in on Nivritti¡¯s mind.

    Finally, the lift reached her destination. Carefully, she stepped outside. As it was on time to leave work, only a few people were leaving the office. Extremely rarely people would leave right at six o¡¯clock. They tend to leave half an hourter or so. The parking lot was packed with cars with only a few spaces vacant.

    Slowly, while looking around, keeping an eye on everything and on high alert, she moved towards her car. She turned towards the corridor that read ¡°GRID 40-60.¡± She crossed 50, 51 and reached 52. Everything was normal. Her old, red car was parked the same way she left in the morning.

    .....

    This confused her further. Everything is the way it is supposed to be then why was Nivritti acting like a moron. The moment she came from the CEO¡¯s cabin, she was behaving strangely. What the hell happened there?

    Jae-Hwa scratched her head and moved towards her car. With a single press of her key fob, she unlocked her car. After opening the back door, she chucked her bag on the seat and with a thump closed the door.

    The moment her hands reached the car door handle, a soft voice greeted her, ¡°Hi!¡±

    ¡°Hi!¡± she replied and turned around to see who greeted her. But her ¡°Hi¡± changed into an ear-piercing shriek. Jeong-Eun was standing before her looking handsome in his over-sized white cardigan. Jeong-Eun urgently closed his ears with his palms and closed one of his eyes.

    But Jae-Hwa never stopped screaming. Her mouth fell open and herrynx kept working on its own. Jeong-Eun looked around for people but luckily there was no one. But he was aware that soon everyone would start flooding the basement level to get to their cars.

    He ran to her and ced his palms over her mouth to make her shut up.

    ¡°Shh, shh, shh... why are you screaming?¡± she whispered. His mesmerizing voice shut her up. Her eyes widened and she kept staring at him. ¡°I am moving my hand, okay? Don¡¯t scream, promise?¡± inquired Jeong-Eun.

    Jae-Hwa just nodded her head. Slowly, Jeong-Eun moved his hands away but to his surprise the moment he removed his hands, Jae-Hwa started screaming. She wanted to talk but what came out of her mouth was a scream.

    Jeong-Eun wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her in his arms and again ced his palm over her mouth. ¡°What the hell? You just promised you won¡¯t scream,¡±ined Jeong-Eun. She looked sheepishly at him and shrugged her shoulder. Jeong-Eun started smiling at her.

    ¡°Promise you won¡¯t scream,¡± ordered Jeong-Eun. Jae-Hwa again nodded. Delicately, he removed his hand, and this time Jae-Hwa was quiet. She lowered her eyes with embarrassment.

    ¡°Am I so ugly that I made you scream?¡± taunted Jeong-Eun. Still unable to talk she just shook her head vigorously in no.

    ¡°Then why were you screaming?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I... I...¡± she started speaking but made a mistake. She looked into his eyes, his twinkling eyes, his smiling face, his long, beautifulshes and forgot everything she had to say.

    ¡°Yes,¡± encouraged Jeong-Eun.

    Ding! She heard the faint sound of a lift opening in a distance. ¡°Shit!¡± she cursed loudly. Jeong-Eun startedughing at her crass reaction. Jae-Hwa knew that she had to act fast and hide Jeong-Eun. She was already associated with Jung-Hwa all day and didn¡¯t want any more drama in her life.

    She grabbed his hand and started pulling him away.

    ¡°What?¡± he protested.

    ¡°Someone ising, get down,¡± she whispered and took him between the bo of her car and the wall. She made him crouch down and kept stretching her neck to see if anyone wasing their way.

    A man came near Grid 45 and within minutes left with his car.

    ¡°Phew!¡± Jae-Hwa rxed. She looked fiercely at Jeong-Eun and gritted her teeth, ¡°what are you doing down here? Do you have any idea what would have happened if someone saw you with me, in this parking lot, alone?¡±

    ¡°Woah! You were not able to talk to me a second ago and now you are scolding me?¡± teased Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Listen to me! The whole day I have been teased and mocked and harassed and I am in no mood to experience the same, again,¡± she muttered, angrily.

    Jeong-Eun grabbed her shoulder and made her look into his eyes. ¡°Rx! I didn¡¯te to create a problem for you. I am here to just make sure that you are okay,¡± Jeong-Eun expressed his concern. ¡°I saw the video, I am sorry that happened to you.¡±

    ¡°Oh sorry! I am just not in the right state. If Nivritti and June would not have been there... Wait! You came to check up on me?¡± she first felt guilty over scolding him and then she realised that he was worried for her.

    He just smiled at her and nodded. ¡°Why? Can¡¯t I show concern for you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can. You can do anything you want. But Ritti is your friend and June is part of your team, I am... I am no one to you,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Maybe from my point of view, you are my friend. I am hurt to hear that I am not your friend,¡± pouted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it that way, sorry,¡± apologised Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I am teasing. Three people were involved in what happened today, I saw two of them and had to see you. I had to make sure, you were doing alright. I heard that you were crying, sorry that you had to shed tears. I am sorry that those men mistreated you, I am sorry that everyone is K&Q gossiped about you. I hated that they associated you with JJ. How can they do that? Don¡¯t they have eyes? Just because his bodyguards came to drop you off, you must be dating him. What if my bodyguardse to drop you off, they will associate you with me, well that won¡¯t be so wrong, he-he,¡± joked Jeong-Eun. He didn¡¯t realise that he blurted out how he felt about Jae-Hwa.

    But Jae-Hwa understood everything. ¡°What?¡± she was shocked.

    By her expressions and her reaction, Jeong-Eun realised that he said something wrong. He instantly lowered his eyes and started looking in all directions except at Jae-Hwa. He removed his hands from her shoulder too. Abruptly he stood up and looked around. ¡°I should leave. You, take care,¡± he stammered and started creating distance between himself and Jae-Hwa. ¡°Go home and take care of yourself. Say thanks to Ritti,¡± he kept screaming and walking away.

    ¡°I already said thanks to her, everyone did,¡± Jae-Hwa shouted back.

    ¡°Not for that,¡± replied Jeong-Eun and vanished immediately. She ran after him to get onest look, but he was gone.

    ¡°What? What did he say? He wants his name associated with me?¡± she started jumping up and won like a child. She threw her hands in the air and yelled, ¡°Yay!¡± Her cheeks turned red due to shyness.

    Giggling and smiling and dancing she opened the car door and sat inside. She turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared. She was still smiling thinking about what Jeong-Eun said, then his voice echoed in her ears, ¡°Not for that.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what? He wanted me to thank her but for what. Oh shit! I am an idiot. This was the reason she was acting weird. How else would Jeong-Eun know my car parking spot? She definitely told him. She knew he woulde to meet me. This was her setup. Ahh... annoying girl! Well, it did cheer me up. I will deal with her tomorrow,¡± pondered Jae-Hwa and backed her car and turned it on the path.

    Onest nce at the lift and she drove her car out of the building. Her heart was still beating fast thinking about the fact that Jeong-Eun was worried about her. Her frown turned upside down and now she was happy. Again, thanks to Nivritti.

 Chapter 49

    49 The Discussion

    Jeong-Eun happily went back to his team members. He wanted to see Jae-Hwa, find out if she was okay and he did. He knew that the day was bad for her but was d that she was fine. He knew he thanked Nivritti before but made a point to thank her again.

    The atmosphere of the ASD mansion was chaotic that evening. Jung-Hwa was in no mood to practise so they retire early and came back home. A few were in the kitchen preparing dinner and others were cleaning the house, but everyone would scream from their location either asking a question or answering one.

    Everyone ordered Jung-Hwa to just sit and rx. He was enjoying all the attention. Munching the chips with chopsticks in his hands, he would just shout and reply to whatever everyone kept asking him.

    ¡°That was lucky that you went to the same restaurant,¡±mented Korain while chopping the vegetables in the kitchen. Loud sniffling sounds and groans filled the kitchen as Young-Chul was chopping onions in a corner of the kitchen.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± replied Jung-Hwa while chomping on the chips.

    Thwack! Thwack! Sniff! Sniff! Munch! The rustling of the packet, all the sounds were mingled with the sounds of the vacuum cleaner and washing machine. On top of that everyone kept screaming at Jung-Hwa at the top of their lungs.

    ¡°But you punching that man was not necessary. You could have asked your bodyguards to handle the situation,¡± sniffled Young-Chul and wiped his tears.

    ¡°I, for one, am in favour of what JJ did. No matter what Ritti says, we should be allowed to choose violence if it is to help someone or protect someone. It is like making positive impressions on our fans that we are there to protect if necessary. It does not mean we will go on a hitting spree,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo from Thae¡¯s room after changing his sheets. That was his work, changing sheets in every room.

    ¡°I am not in favour of violence just like her,¡± said Korain.

    .....

    ¡°Me too. But I also feel sometimes, hitting someone is necessary,¡±mented Young-Chul.

    The sound of the vacuum cleaner died down and Him-Chan ced the machine back in its ce. He was done with all the rooms.

    ¡°What are we talking about?¡± he sat on the floor near Jung-Hwa with a thud and spread his legs. He let his shoulder slouch and Jung-Hwa fed him a chip.

    ¡°We are discussing whether my punching that man was right or wrong,¡± said Jung-Hwa and ced a chip in his mouth.

    ¡°You were right, absolutely right. We all saw the video. Poor girls! Did you see Ritti¡¯s arms when she came to Hu-ssi, cabin? They were ck. I wanted to hit those men too,¡± Him-Chan gritted his teeth.

    ¡°Yeah, I noticed that too, she must be in pain,¡± said Thae while giving a final wipe to all their trophies and awards. He went to the utility room and threw the rag at Jeong-Eun who was doingundry.

    ¡°Both the girls had so much to endure today, physically as well as emotionally. I love that K&Q thinks so highly of us and they are extremely protective but sometimes they are too much. The spection and gossips need to rein in. I loved when I received that message burst from CEO¡¯s office. Hu-ssi was firm in his words,¡± noted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I hate when people ship us with other people. Without a single ounce of proof, they keep babbling about us. They don¡¯t even think about what we may feel after that,¡± chided Jung-Hwa. He ced the packet of chips and folded his arms over his chest.

    ¡°We are lucky that Ritti took care of everything else media would have spun this news the way they wanted. JJ would have been viral by now and would be shipped with both Ritti and Jae-Hwa,¡± Young-Chul rolled his eyes.

    ¡°I remember when Kyungsoona Hyung was dating. They never left him alone. Don¡¯t know but they always found out where they went,¡± Thae lowered his voice so that Kyung-Soo would not hear him.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. It was all her. She wanted fame. Hyung was her stepping stone in the world of modelling,¡± replied Young-Chul bitterly.

    ¡°I never liked her,¡±mented Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Me too,¡± a collective reply echoed all through the house.

    ¡°I am done with all the sheets. Have ced the dirty ones in the hamper, PJ,¡± abruptly Kyung-Soo appeared and spoke. Everyone heard him and stopped talking. ¡°What?!¡± he asked after reading the room.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± all shouted at once.

    ¡°Jee Jung-Hwa, what?¡±manded Kyung-Soo. Everyone looked at Kyung-Soo first and then at Jung-Hwa. They pressed their lips together, tightly and looked at each other. They never used to talk about his previous rtionship in front of him. It would always make him angry.

    It was a bad breakup. The media reported on that for days. It was impossible for Kyung-Soo to leave the house during those days. Few fans were in his support, but the possessive ones started sending death threats to both Kyung-Soo and his ex. It was a difficult time for Kyung-Soo, and he wanted to forget all that. After that break-up, the heartbreak, the public scrutiny, the invasion of privacy, he vowed he would never date again.

    Jung-Hwa gulped hard and looked at Kyung-Soo. ¡°Well!¡± prompted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Um... we were just talking about Ritti,¡± lied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°No, you were not,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°We were talking about her, you-know-who,¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°How does shee up in the conversation?¡± rebuked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Well, we were talking about media and how people ship us with everyone they see us, and her name came up,¡± replied Young-Chul, carefully.

    ¡°Well, no one said her name. We just said that we didn¡¯t like her,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Your opinion would have been great before I started dating her. Not after everything is finished,¡± reprimanded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You are a grown man, Kyungsoona. We thought you knew better. But not everything was negative about that rtionship, now you know what kind of girl you want to date,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Enough about me. We were talking about JJ, let¡¯s talk about him,¡± Kyung-Soo tried to change the topic.

    ¡°I hope they both are okay. Well, Jae-Hwa has family here so they will be her support, but Ritti lives alone, far away from her home. Will she be, okay?¡±mented Jung-Hwa with concern on his face.

    His words made Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart jump out of his chest. He realised that Jung-Hwa was right. She was all alone and in pain. She must have been thinking about the harassment she had to experience today. She needed someone to talk to.

    ¡°I was so impressed by her. I don¡¯t think she needs any help. She is very much capable of taking care of herself,¡± said Him-Chan, proudly.

    ¡°Right on!¡± Young-Chul raised his hand and shouted.

    ¡°I can never thank her enough,¡± said Jeong-Eun while staring at the wall before him.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Jung-Hwa curiously.

    ¡°Um...¡± Jeong-Eun ran and sat next to Jung-Hwa hugging him tightly. After nting a kiss on his cheeks, he said, ¡°she was with you at every step. She made sure you were out of the media¡¯s eyes. She also took care of you.¡± Jeong-Eun sighed loudly as he hid his real intentions. He was happy that Nivritti helped Jung-Hwa but was happier that she saved Jae-Hwa.

    Now the only sounds audible were from the washing machine that was on itsst load, the overhead chimney in the kitchen and the boys¡¯ voices. They all were sitting in the living room while Korain and Young-Chul were in the kitchen.

    ¡°Yeah, she was brave. But I am d that I could help her,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°I think we should ask her to treat us,¡±mented Thae.

    ¡°What?¡±ughed Him-Chan. ¡°Why would you say that?¡±

    ¡°She is rich now. She got two bonuses within days,¡± noted Thae.

    ¡°He is right,¡± nodded Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°You don¡¯t even think about saying a word to her. I think she is still angry at you. For that bathroom fiasco and now choosing violence when she is against it,¡± scolded Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Yeah, he is right,¡±ughed Korain. Others too joined him.

    ¡°Hey!¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. ¡°No, she is not. Would she have cared for me if she was still angry?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± shouted everyone at once and startedughing.

    ¡°You guys are mean,¡± pouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°You guys have fun, I am going to take a bath. I won¡¯t be having dinner tonight with you, I have some work to look after. Sleep and don¡¯t wait for me,¡± announced Kyung-Soo.

    Everyone was shocked to hear that.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°I have a meeting, an extremely important meeting,¡± replied Kyung-Soo, cryptically. ¡°There are some answers I need.¡±

    Only Jung-Hwa understood what he was talking about. He kept noticing his expressions whenever anyone talked about Nivritti. He was not even that angry when they talked about his ex. He knew he was not angry as his mind was upied by Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, you all need to take a bath. Go, sitting here after dusting and vacuuming, go have a bath,¡± scolded Korain. Everyone jumped from their seats after his shouting and ran to their room. ¡°Kyungsoona, I will ce some food in the fridge. If you are hungry after your meeting, heat it and eat.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Hyung,¡± said Kyung-Soo and ran to his room for a bath.

    After a quick bath, he dressed in his white cashmere shirt and paired it with blue denim jeans. It was the same shirt that he wore when he first saw Nivritti. She cried on his shirt, and he kissed her while wearing it. The shirt was special for him. It was the shirt thatforted her. Again, tonight she neededfort, and he was going to be there for her.

    Not only he was going tofort her, but he also needed answers to all his questions.

    He grabbed his mask, his cap and his keys and went to the parking area of the house. With a loud sigh, he started the car and reached his destination. Tonight, even if someone would cross her threshold, no one would recognise him.

    He reached her floor, stood before her door and pressed the doorbell. It was hidden behind his mask, but he had a big smile on his face.

 Chapter 50

    50 The Chores

    Keeping Jae-Hwa and Jeong-Eun in mind, Nivritti exited the building. She kept her fingers crossed. ¡°Please don¡¯t let it backfire, please don¡¯t let it backfire,¡± she kept praying over and over. ¡°I am an idiot, I did what JJ tried to do with me and NK,¡± she shook her head in disappointment. ¡°Jae would be angry at me too,¡± she sighed.

    Her feet kept moving forward but her mind kept going back to the moment she told PJ about the parking area of Jae. She really wanted to go back to that moment and take everything back. Because of her muscle memory, she started moving towards her house.

    Suddenly she realised that she had chores to do, errands to run. She groaned with disappointment and turned around. Walking all the way, she reached the supermarket and went to aisle after aisle. She picked food and drinks worth a week and paid for everything.

    Picking the tworge stic bags filled with food and drinks, she walked all the way to her house. She dumped the stic bags on the kitchen counter and went to her room to change her clothes. As her mind was still upied by Jae-Hwa and Jeong-Eun, she decided to clean her house and forget about them.

    What done was done, she could not do anything about it. To keep pondering over the same subject would help her in no way. Rather, she must spend her time doing something productive. She folded her hair in a tight bun and went to the kitchen. First, she arranged all the things that she brought in the pantry and in the fridge.

    Next, she decided to cook her food. She boiled some potatoes and prepared Alu curry with some rice. She left her food covered in the kitchen and came to her living room.

    She mapped out every chore she had to do in her mind and started with the living room. She changed the cushion covers, dusted the couch, and wiped the table. She changed the sheets of her room and dumped all the clothes in the washing machine. While the clothes were being washed, she grabbed the broom and swept the floor.

    By the time she wiped her floor, her clothes were done. They were half-dried from the dryer and then she hung them on her balcony. She walked into her living room and exhaled with happiness. Her house was looking clean and tidy. It was the turn of the bathroom to be clean.

    She spread the cleaner all over the tiled bathroom, wore her yellow gloves and started scrubbing. She was humming a Hindi song when her doorbell rang.

    .....

    ¡°What? No! how am I going to open the door? Bathroom cleaner is all over my hands, well, over my gloves, but still,¡± she groaned.

    She crooked her head out of the bathroom door and shouted, ¡°who is it?¡± But there was no answer.

    Kyung-Soo had no idea how to reply to that question. Should he say his full name or just NK?

    ¡°Who is it?¡± she shouted again.

    ¡°Ah... this girl!¡± murmured Kyung-Soo. ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± his voice croaked.

    Nivritti¡¯s mouth widened with surprise. She knew that voice. ¡°What the hell is he doing here?¡± she asked herself. ¡°Um... sorry! Won¡¯t be able to open the door now,¡± she shouted back.

    ¡°What? Wait! Why won¡¯t she be able to open the door now? What is she doing? Is she with someone? Oh! I am an idiot,¡± Kyung-Soo facepalmed.

    But Nivritti continued, ¡°I am cleaning my house at the moment and my hands are dirty, sorry.¡±

    ¡°Phew! Thank God!¡± eximed Kyung-Soo. ¡°But I am all exposed here. What if someone sees me?¡± he lied.

    ¡°You again forgot your mask?¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Idiot!¡± murmured Nivirtti. ¡°Ohh... he is so irritating.¡±

    ¡°What did you say?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Nothing, just type 2048 and enter before anyone sees you. I don¡¯t want to manage another scandal today, hurry!¡± she shouted.

    Kyung-Soo shed a devilish smile but of course, it was hidden behind his mask. Instantly he pressed the numbers and pushed the door open. He entered and closed the door behind him. He turned around and saw a little head tilted and popped out of the bathroom staring at him with narrow eyes.

    ¡°You liar!¡± she screamed.

    Kyung-Soo removed his mask and shed his pearly teeth at her.

    ¡°You are not as cute as you think you are,¡± she rebuked.

    ¡°Hey! I am not cute. I am hot,¡± protested Kyung-Soo. Nivritti just rolled her eyes at him.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked Nivritti. Now she was standing at the threshold of her bathroom with a toilet cleaner brush in her left hand.

    ¡°Question is what are you doing there?¡± he smirked.

    ¡°What? I am cleaning my house. This is thest stop, my bathroom,¡± she replied, proudly.

    Kyung-Soo tried to stifle hisughter but failed spectacrly. She startedughing out loud.

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti raised her eyebrows.

    ¡°Nothing! Nothing,¡± he again startedughing.

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti raised her voice.

    ¡°Really, nothing. I just never pictured you cleaning your toilet,¡± he said.

    ¡°Not everyone is a multi-millionaire like you. We have to do our work on our own,¡± she mocked him.

    ¡°Hey! We do all our work on our own,¡± he objected.

    ¡°What?¡± she was shocked.

    ¡°Yes, cleaning, cooking, everything, we do it on our own,¡± he informed her.

    She lowered her gaze with guilt. She judged him too soon. ¡°Even with your busy schedules?¡±

    ¡°Sometimes we do get help when we are too busy but mostly, we do all our work on our own, except shopping for groceries,¡± he notified her.

    ¡°Groceries?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we can¡¯t go to a supermarket or any market. We can cause trouble for local authorities,¡± he said.

    ¡°Right! Your fans,¡± she nodded.

    ¡°Are you going toe out or we are going to keep talking like this?¡± interrupted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Give me a few minutes,¡± said Nivritti. ¡°Meanwhile, sit. There is c in the fridge and chips in the overhead pantry, help yourself,¡± she said and closed the bathroom door. Kyung-Soo for a minute looked around and whistled at the pristine condition of her house. Not a single thing was out of ce.

    He removed his shoes and entered her kitchen. He opened the fridge and took out a can of c. He opened all her pantries and finally found the chips. He looked for the spicy vour and took it out. He looked around for chopsticks but found none. So, he had to wash his hands before eating.

    Even after he finished his chips and c, Nivritti was still inside the bathroom.

    ¡°What is she doing? What is taking her so much time?¡± pondered Kyung-Soo. While he was waiting for her, he dumped the packet of chips and can in her garbage can and started working on his phone.

    After about an hour or so, the bathroom door locked and opened. Kyung-Soo looked at the door after the click. Nivritti came out wearing a grey t-shirt and ck trousers with a towel tied to her wet hair.

    Kyung-Soo gulped after looking at her fresh face. His legs involuntarily stood straight. His phone dropped on the floor, but he never even noticed. He kept looking at her from head to toe. Even her heels were beautiful. With the opening of the door, the whole room started smelling likevender.

    He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, taking in the sweet smell. He loved when she smelled likevender, now he knew why she smelled like that. Her bodywash wasvender scented. He wanted to run to her, grab her tightly and kiss her for eternity.

    His hands automatically moved to his chest and started rubbing to ease his emotions. His heart was filled with joy and love. His heart was so full that it was overflowing with adoration.

    Nivritti closed the door behind her and looked at Kyung-Soo. His eyes were staring at her. His nce sent goosebumps all over her body. She had no idea why, but she liked the way he was looking at her, with love in his eyes.

    ¡°What?¡± he asked, softly.

    ¡°Huh...¡± was all Kyung-Soo could say.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Kyung-Soo smiled awkwardly. ¡°Why do you have such a hold on me?¡± he thought.

    ¡°Did you eat?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Want some tea?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°If you are having.¡±

    Smiling, she went inside the kitchen and started preparing tea for both of them. While the water was boiling, she opened one of the overhead pantries and tried taking out one of the cups. Her daily cup was at the counter and needed one more, but it was kept too deep for her to reach.

    She stood on the tip of her feet and started feeling with her fingers. But before her fingers could reach the cup, Kyung-Soo¡¯s fingers touched her fingers. A sigh escaped her mouth. Every single hair on her body stood up. As she kept crooning her head to see the cups her towel came undone, and all the wet hairnded on Kyung-Soo¡¯s chest.

    The towel fell on his feet. The coldness of the towel and her wet hair send a shiver all over his body. Even her hair smelled likevender. He lowered his head and took a big sniff of her head. He wanted the moment to freeze but he was in her house for a mission.

    He simply grabbed a cup for her, ced it on the counter and backed up.

 Chapter 51

    51 The Annoyance

    Nivritti¡¯s heart was ready to jump out of her chest. It was thumping loudly, so loudly that she could hear her own heartbeat. She could feel Kyung-Soo¡¯s warmth through her shirt. He was leaning over her to get the cup. His warm fingers were touching her cold ones. That sent a shiver down her spine. Even her towel dropped to the floor leaving her wet hair uncovered.

    She wanted to turn around and embrace the warmthpletely. The water was boiling vigorously but all she could think about was her hands in his, his body close to hers. She wanted him to hold her close but suddenly he grabbed the cup, ced it on the counter and moved back.

    His actions annoyed her to her core. She closed her eyes and cursed herself. When she was adamant about not caring for him or his actions then why was she praying for him to embrace her? If she wanted him away from her then why did she like the closeness?

    After clenching her jaw, she ced tea bags in the cups and poured the boiling water into the cups.

    ¡°Here,¡± she handed him the cup, violently. A few drops of hot water sshed near his feet. She bent down and picked up the towel.

    He was taken aback. She was fine a few seconds ago, what happened suddenly? Why was she so angry? ¡°Um... thanks?¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    Without looking at him she went and sat on her couch. She threw her towel on the headrest of the single couch before her. After dipping her tea bags a few times in the water to infuse all the vours, she brought the cup near her lips and sipped the hot, orange-voured tea. She licked her lips to get rid of the extra water in her mouth.

    Kyung-Soo was still standing in the kitchen and kept staring at Nivritti. She was angry and sad. He had no idea why. She was alright aftering out of the bathroom then what happened within minutes? He kept staring at her to figure it out. Then suddenly she sipped the tea and when she removed the cup her upper lips were wet with the tea. He lost his mind when she casually licked her lips.

    ¡°Shit, this girl! She will kill me one day,¡± he shook his head and started smiling as the picture of him touching her lips shed before his eyes. He calmly walked over to her and sat next to her.

    .....

    The heat emanating from his body hit Nivritti like a storm. She immediately jumped away from him to the far end of the couch and asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Confused, Kyung-Soo replied, ¡°um... sitting.¡±

    ¡°No, I mean why are you here?¡± she asked. ¡°That too at this time. Didn¡¯t your teammates ask you where you were going?¡±

    ¡°No, we value each other¡¯s privacy. We just live with each other, we don¡¯t tell everything to everyone. Something needs to be private,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°NK! Why are you here? What do you want?¡± Nivritti stared into his eyes, firmly.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t Ie to visit you?¡±

    ¡°Um... no. No, you can¡¯t,¡± replied Nivritti, decisively.

    ¡°Ouch! That hurts,¡± Kyung-Soo teased.

    ¡°NK!¡±

    ¡°Fine, I am here for the story,¡± answered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Story! What story? JJ and I told you everything that happened in the cafe. You even saw the video,¡± said Nivritti, confused.

    Kyung-Soo rolled his eyes. ¡°Not that story, your life story.¡± He picked up his cup and took a sip of the tea.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± Nivritti immediately ced her cup on the table as she didn¡¯t want to spill the tea all over her.

    ¡°What happened to you in India? Why do you always run away? Why do you get so angry and sad at even the thought of dating someone younger than you? What did your ex-boyfriend do?¡± asked Kyung-Soo politely.

    ¡°Are you out of your mind? That¡¯s literally none of your business. Get out,¡± instantly Nivritti jumped from the couch and pointed towards the door.

    Kyung-Soo coolly and calmly stood up and moved towards her. His face was nk, not even blinking. He just kept looking at Nivritti. His expressionless face made her gulp with fear. Was he angry because she shouted at him? But it was his fault. He kept talking about privacy a moment ago and now he was barging into her private matters.

    Kyung-Soo took a step forward staring at Nivritti. Involuntarily, her feet stepped backwards. He would take a step forward and she would take a step back. They kept mirroring each other¡¯s moves. It looked as if they were engaged in a slow waltz, a very boring slow waltz.

    Slowly Nivritti reached the end of the room. She stopped when a wall crept behind her. She turned around to see what made her stop and the moment she looked back, Kyung-Soo was standing before her, towering before her. She gulped, hard.

    He lowered himself down and brought his mouth near her ears, ¡°no one shouts at me, Ritti!¡± he softly ced his hands around her waist and pulled her closer to his chest. ¡°If you want to shout, I can make you shout, easily,¡± he teased her. A gasp escaped Nivritti¡¯s mouth. Kyung-Soo smiled at her reaction and sweetly removed his hands from her waist.

    His erotic sentence fired her brain. Her eyes kept blinking vigorously. She had no answer to hisment. The quick-witted girl was outwitted. She pushed him away from her and moved away too. She turned away from him and kept breathing heavily.

    ¡°What the hell is wrong with you? Who says such things casually? Who talks like that?¡± she shouted back.

    ¡°I do,¡± smirked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Please leave,¡± she said firmly and looked at him.

    Kyung-Soo raised his eyebrows and warned, ¡°fine, I will get out of your apartment, but I am going nowhere until you tell me the story. So, it is your choice, I can wait outside your apartment, without a mask and greet everyone, where people can recognise me, or I wait inside your apartment till you are ready to share your story with me. I will keep sitting at your door.¡±

    She squinted her eyes and scrunched her nose with anger. ¡°Do whatever you like, I don¡¯t care. Keeping sitting there for eternity, see as if I care.¡±

    ¡°Fine!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Fine!¡± Nivritti shouted back and went back to the couch and picked up her tea. Kyung-Soo followed her, grabbed his cup of tea, and went back to the door. He folded his legs and sat on the floor, sipping the tea.

    ¡°Stubborn!¡± she murmured but Kyung-Soo heard it.

    ¡°Keep yourmentary to yourself,¡± taunted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Keep your ears to yourself,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    They both went back to sipping tea. After their tea was finished, Nivritti stood up and went near him. Without saying a single word, she picked his cup up and ced them in the kitchen sink.

    Completely ignoring him, she took out herptop and started working on her scripts. Kyung-Soo for a few minutes tried to sit silently and work on his phone but then he thought of a way to annoy her. He started calling all his friends and family and started talking to them at full volume.

    She would try to read a script, but Kyung-Soo would talk at the top of his lungs orugh out loud. He thought that her not knowing thenguage would annoy her but her knowing thenguage was annoying her more. She knew what he was talking about and who he was talking about. He was indirectly telling everyone that he came for a meeting but the person he came to meet was rude and stubborn and was not ready to give time to him.

    She kept fuming with anger, exhaling loudly as he called her names, but he thought his loud voice was annoying her. Violently she closed herptop and looked at him. He fell quiet instantly after she gave him a death stare. She looked at the time, it was 10 p.m. Her stomach too started grumbling with hunger.

    She looked at him and then bit her lower lips. With a deep sigh, she stood up, ted food on two tes and came out of the kitchen.

    ¡°Come, eat!¡± she ordered. But Kyung-Soo looked at her and turned to his side pouting at her. She closed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. ¡°Ahhh...¡± she shouted in frustration. Angrily, she picked up both tes and ced them before him. She too sat down in front of him andmanded, ¡°eat, it¡¯ste.¡±

    He saw the beautiful colour of the gravy ted with in white rice and cut-up cucumber ced in a corner of the te. The mouth-watering smell of the curry hit his nose and his stomach grumbled loudly. Nivritti ced the back of her palm over her mouth to hide her smile.

    ¡°Stopughing,¡± he grimaced after realising that she heard the grumble.

    ¡°Who isughing? I am notughing,¡± she lied but could not stop smiling.

    ¡°I will eat on one condition,¡± Kyung-Soo folded his arms over his chest.

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti rolled her eyes.

    ¡°You will tell me everything I ask.¡±

    She looked at him and said, ¡°eat.¡±

    ¡°Fine!¡± he picked up the te and lifted the spoon. The first bite he took was of curry. The vours, the spices, the taste blew his mind. He closed his eyes with pleasure and munched the soft potato.

    Nivritti nced at him and smiled at his reaction. She loved that he loved her food.

    ¡°You made this?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Who else?¡±

    ¡°Wow! This is amazing,¡± he said and stuffed his mouth full of rice and curry.

    ¡°Oh, this is nothing. My mom is the better cook. All I know, I learned from her,¡± she said proudly.

    ¡°You miss India, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t miss their country, their family?¡± she said with a sad smile on her face.

    ¡°You ran away from there, didn¡¯t you?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Shut up and eat,¡± replied Nivritti, annoyed.

 Chapter 52

    52 The Dreamy Kiss

    Kyung-Soo would ce a spoonful of rice and curry in his mouth and would close his eyes the next second to feel all the vours ying in his mouth. Nivritti was low-key loving his reaction. She was eating and sipping her can of c while looking at him. He was too busy eating and forgot to ask any questions or even drink the c meant for him. When he was almost on the verge of finishing the food, Nivritti asked, ¡°May I offer you more?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please,¡± said Kyung-Soo, excited and happy. She took the te from him, but he held the spoon in his hands. He licked the spoon clean while she bought him some more rice and curry. Eager as a child he grabbed the te and devoured the food, happily.

    After they were done, Nivritti collected the tes and Kyung-Soo finally opened his c and drank. She went up to the kitchen sink and started cleaning the dishes.

    Kyung-Soo came running and offered his help, ¡°let me help.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Hey! Let me help,¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Huh...¡± Nivritti was confused over his shouting.

    ¡°Sorry, but you are very frustrating,¡± he exined.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡±

    .....

    ¡°You don¡¯t reply to my questions, you don¡¯t let me help you. Whatever I ask, your answer is always no. Do you have any idea how annoying that is?¡± he scolded her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t always say no or don¡¯t let you help me,¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°Want a demonstration?¡± he challenged.

    ¡°Yeah, show me,¡± she epted the challenge.

    Without any notice, he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. A loud gasp escaped her mouth seeing that she was again standing close to him. With his other hand, he softly ran his fingers over the four ck marks.

    ¡°Did you apply anything on them?¡± he pointed at her marks.

    ¡°NK! They are bruises, what can I apply on them?¡± she replied softly. She wanted to prove him wrong that she always shut him down.

    ¡°So, there¡¯s no pain?¡± he asked with concern.

    ¡°Only when I touch them with a little bit of pressure.¡±

    ¡°Do you have some pain relief spray?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Let me spray.¡±

    ¡°No, Than...¡± she immediately stopped herself and pressed her lips together with embarrassment. She looked at him with one closed eye. Kyung-Soo was smirking at her. ¡°Fine, you can spray pain relief on that. Wait here.¡± She ordered him and went to her room to get the spray with her.

    But as soon as she came out of her room, she froze for a second. She saw Kyung-Soo washing the dishes. She instantly ran to him and shouted, ¡°what are you doing? Stop it. You don¡¯t need to do this.¡±

    ¡°See, again, you won¡¯t let me help you. You are injured, you need help,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti ced her hands over her waist and stood crooked. She tilted her head and said, ¡°really! I cleaned my whole apartment without any hitch. I told you they only hurt when I touch them, else they are not bothering me. They are just four marks on my hand.¡±

    ¡°Then you should have called me, I would have helped you clean your apartment, hell I would have brought my boys. They would have loved to help you,¡± snapped Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Do you hear yourself sometimes? What are you saying? Why would I call you guys to clean my apartment? Do you need to see a doctor? Are you losing your mind?¡± Nivritti shouted at him.

    ¡°Hey! We clean our apartment so why can¡¯t we clean yours? Moreover, think like this, you will have the most expensive cleaning boys to yourself,¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti closed her eyes and facepalmed at his answer but startedughing at him. ¡°You are an idiot.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much, now go sit down, I will be there with you in a minute,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Nivritti saluted him, sarcastically.

    With a smile on his face, he cleaned the tes and the cups and ced them on the rack to dry. He wiped his hand on the towel hanging on the fridge door handle and came to the living room. He sat next to Nivritti and took her hands in his. Carefully, he sprayed the pain relief liquid on her hand.

    ¡°Where is the bandage?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need...¡± she started the sentence, but Kyung-Soo immediately gave her a death stare. ¡°Fine, I will get it, chill.¡±

    She stood up and again went to her room. Kyung-Soo shook his head in disbelief and murmured, ¡°this girl!¡±

    After a few seconds, Nivritti came back and tossed the bandage towards Kyung-Soo, ¡°catch!¡± He looked at her, but his reaction waste. The bandage hit him on his forehead.

    ¡°Ow!¡± he cried. Nivritti could not help herself and she startedughing like an idiot. Kyung-Soo started rubbing his head to ease the pain and started at Nivritti with a stink eye.

    She ran to him, stillughing but kept apologising, ¡°I am sorry, very sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Did that hurt?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡± he snapped. Nivritti stifled herughter and sat next to him.

    ¡°Show me.¡± He removed his hands from his forehead and showed her the ce where the bandage hit him. There was nothing, not even a dot. His shiny skin was wless as always. ¡°There is nothing,¡± sheined.

    ¡°Hey! It hurtsss,¡± scowled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, sorry. I thought you would catch it. I didn¡¯t know you had butterfingers,¡± she teased him.

    ¡°You are mean,¡± sulked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Alright! Come here,¡± she moved closer to him and softly rubbed his forehead. She moved her hand and blew air on the area that was hurt.

    Kyung-Soo gulped as her neck was close to his mouth. He was fighting the urge to ce his mouth on her smooth neck. The small ck mole on her neck was inviting him to kiss. It was the first time he was noticing the mole. He wanted to touch it. His fingers started itching with the sensation to touch it.

    Moreover, she was blowing warm air over his forehead. Her soft fingers were ced on his cheeks to keep his face in ce. Hervender smell was overwhelming his senses.

    He closed his eyes, grabbed her by her waist and without thinking ced his mouth over hers. The mesmerizing sensation took all over him. He softly moved his hands under her shirt and gasped as his fingers touched her soft skin. His forehead was still warm from her breath.

    He kept sucking on her lips and the sound of kisses filled the atmosphere. He was almost about to push his tongue inside her mouth to taste her when she asked, ¡°are you okay?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± he thought. ¡°If I am kissing her, how is she able to talk?¡±

    ¡°NK! Hey! Are you alright?¡± she asked again.

    Kyung-Soo blinked his eyes and the picture before him became clear. His hands were empty, she was sitting before him looking at him weirdly.

    ¡°What?!¡± he asked.

    ¡°Where were you? What were you thinking? I had to snap you out of it,¡± she notified.

    ¡°Um... nothing,¡± he lied.

    ¡°NK! I know you are lying. Tell me,¡± she emphasised.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you,¡± he averted his eyes. Why the hell he dreamed about kissing her? And how did he dream about kissing her with open eyes?

    ¡°Huh... you can tell me anything. Come on! I won¡¯t judge you,¡± she replied.

    ¡°You can¡¯t promise me that,¡± he objected.

    ¡°Fine, I promise you I won¡¯t judge you,¡± she assured him.

    ¡°As you wish. I... I was... was thinking about...¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I was thinking about kissing you,¡± he replied abruptly and closed his eyes.

    Nivritti¡¯s first reaction was to shout but she immediately ced her hands over her mouth and stopped herself. ¡°Okay!¡± she eximed. ¡°See, not judging you, at all. I am not judging you. I will never judge you.¡± Her voice tone kept climbing a notch with every sentence.

    Kyung-Soo hung his head low for a minute. No one spoke after that. They avoided looking at each other. But then suddenly Kyung-Soo grabbed her bruised hand and again sprayed with pain relief. He softly wrapped the bandage around her hand. They still could not look at each other.

    After gulping a lot of times and looking all over her ce just to avoid looking at Kyung-Soo, Nivritti awkwardly said, ¡°It¡¯s gettingte, your team members would be waiting for you. I don¡¯t want to say this, but I think you should leave.¡±

    ¡°Woah! Woah! Back up! Wait a minute,¡± he shouted and stood up instantly.

    ¡°What? Did I say something wrong?¡± she asked innocently.

    ¡°You said you will tell me everything after I eat,¡± he grimaced.

    ¡°I never said that. I just ordered you to eat and you ate,¡± she replied, proudly. His mouth fell open. It was true, she never said that she will tell him anything. She just asked him to eat, and he ate. He fell on the couch with a thud and a slouched shoulder. The disappointment was written all over his face. How could he be so stupid?

    He then sat straight and looked at her with determination. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what you said. I am not leaving without getting answers. He folded his legs and sat on the couch in protest. He then folded his arms over his chest and stared at Nivritti. ¡°No matter if I have to stay here for ages, I am not moving even an inch till you tell me what is wrong with dating someone younger than you. Who was your boyfriend and why you are running away from him? What the hell he did, that you closed your heart forever?¡±

 Chapter 53

    53 The Life Story

    Nivritti was fuming with anger. Kyung-Soo was being invasive, and she was not at all liking it. She ran away from India to avoid all the stares, all the questions, all the concerns but here Kyung-Soo was asking her to relive all the painful memories and she was not ready to do that.

    ¡°Oh my God, NK! Stop it,¡± she shouted at him.

    ¡°No, I am not leaving,¡± he shouted back.

    Smoke came out of her ears, and she shrieked, ¡°you really need to stop behaving like a stubborn child. Get up!¡±

    The word ¡®child¡¯ blew Kyung-Soo¡¯s gasket. He grabbed her hand forcefully and pulled her closer making her sit next to him. He immediately ced his hand over her neck and brought her face closer to him. She could see the anger in his eyes. The soft expression that she saw every time was gone. Something hurt and angry was staring at her.

    ¡°Child? Stubborn child? A mere gap of five years makes me a child? This age difference is okay if the man is older but not okay when the girl is older. You hypocrite! No, I know you made this rule of age difference after you got your heart broken. I just want to know why you won¡¯t give me a chance.¡±

    He closed his eyes and when he opened them, his kind eyes returned. He tenderly came close to her cheeks and caressed them with his cheeks. Nivritti shivered after experiencing his delicate touch. ¡°Do you have any idea how badly it hurts every time when you say nothing can happen between us? It breaks my heart into million pieces.¡±

    He was pouring his heart out seriously and wanted Nivritti to understand his emotions, but a devilish smile appeared on her face, and she covered her mouth with her hand. She tried hard but could not control herughter. The moment he saw that she wasughing at him, hurtfully, he let her go.

    But Nivritti never stoppedughing. She keptughing so hard that she fell from the couch andnded on the floor.

    .....

    ¡°What?¡± screamed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I am sorry, really sorry. He-he... he-he... he-he...¡± she keptughing. It was getting hurtful and annoying for Kyung-Soo. He rolled his eyes at her. And then suddenly she stoppedughing. She stood up and stared at Kyung-Soo with all seriousness. One could even say that she was more hurt than Kyung-Soo.

    She clenched her teeth and sneered, ¡°that¡¯s what heartbreak is for you. Huh...¡± she shook her head and scoffed. ¡°You... have... no... idea... what... heart... break... means.¡± Her voice started breaking up. Drops of tears started appearing in her eyes. Kyung-Soo now realised that she startedughing as she had no idea how to express herself. She heard about heartbreak, and she burst outughing. But what she was really feeling was way opposite. She continued, ¡°you have... not even... felt 0.000001% of pain... thates... with heartbreak.¡±

    But he knew heartbreak was. His rtionship, his breakup was public affair. How was it possible that she never heard about it? But all he could think about was the tears in her eyes. He could not see her crying. He lowered his head and quietly answered, ¡°I know what heartbreak is.¡±

    ¡°No, no, you don¡¯t,¡± cried Nivritti. ¡°You don¡¯t know how it feels to get your heart ripped out by the person you trusted most in the world. You don¡¯t know how it feels to be betrayed by the person you love most. You spend years of your life together and one day suddenly everything ends, everything. You are ready to give your life to that person, but you were never his priority. You wish for happiness but every day, every minute of your rtionship you spend crying. You fight with your family for that person, but he never thinks that you are worth fighting for. He is jealous of your achievements, the whole world is praising you, but he gives you the silent treatment. And when he loses his job, you support him for months but in the end, he leaves you alone, gets married without even saying a word. He gets you pregnant but is not ready to support or raise the child with you, so you have... have to get an abortion,¡± she broke down and tears started streaming down her face.

    Kyung-Soo ran to her and enclosed her in his arms. But he opened the floodgate. She continued, ¡°after getting the abortion you are so angry at him that you go and cheat on him. But he is so busy that he won¡¯t even hear about your infidelity. Have you, have you experienced all that, NK? I have. I have.¡± Kyung-Soo tightened his grip over her and held her tighter. ¡°I have tried for years to forget about everything, but I don¡¯t know if I can,¡± she kept sniffling. Her whole body was shaking violently due to her bawling.

    Kyung-Soo lowered his hands and lifted her into his arms. She sat on the couch with Nivritti in hisp. She wrapped her arms around her neck and hid her face in his chest. For almost half an hour, she kept crying her eyes out. His soft, cashmere shirt was as usualforting. But now it was all wet with her tears. Seeing her crying, he too could not control his tears and silently kept crying with her.

    The emotions with which she told him everything, broke his heart. He never thought that her past could be this tragic. She not only had to suffer heartbreak but also had to deal with an unsupportive boyfriend, she had to face an abortion, she had to face a betrayal. This small girl in his arms had to endure such hardships.

    Every girl dream of a fairy tale romance where the boy would sweep her off her feet but hers was a horror story where she was the mature one and had to deal with a child. A literal bulb lit over Kyung-Soo¡¯s head. He now understood why she was so adamant about the age factor. She already dealt with a child and does not want to deal with the same situation again.

    He realised that somehow, she was right. As in his case, he never again wanted to date a model, the same way she didn¡¯t want to date a man who was younger than her. He felt her pain now.

    He didn¡¯t ask anything more from her. He just let her sit in hisp sobbing on his chest. It is said that it is difficult to forget first love, and if that love is so heart-wrenching, it is impossible to forget. That¡¯s why shepletely closed her heart.

    Nivritti kept sobbing but was feeling secure in his arms. She didn¡¯t want him to let go. Maybe it was the shirt or the warmth emanating from his body, but she was slowly calming down. Her whole life story was shing before her eyes.

    Kyung-Soo turned to look at her to make sure she had stopped crying. At the same moment, Nivritti opened her eyes and looked at him. Their eyes met. The time stopped. Her red eyes and red nose made his heart beat faster. He remembered the first moment he saw her cute face and kissed her. He knew kissing her at this moment would be wrong. All he could do now was be there for her, be a shoulder for her to cry on.

    Nivritti looked at him and realised that she was in his arms. Not only in his arms but also sitting on hisp. She immediately removed her arms from around his neck and stood up with a jerk. Kyung-Soo¡¯s hands froze in their original position and gasped when he realised that she broke the embrace.

    She could not look at him after telling him her life story. In her eyes, she was a cheater, a killer, a criminal and had no strength to look his way. She wiped her tears and before she could move away, Kyung-Soo grabbed her hand and stopped her from running away.

    He stood up, faced her and asked, ¡°are you okay?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± sobbed Nivritti.

    ¡°Come with me,¡± he started pulling her and took her to her balcony. He made her stand next to the railing and wiped her tears. ¡°You need fresh air. Fresh air makes you feel light.¡±

    She closed her eyes, lifted her head and inhaled deeply but again contorted her face and started crying.

    Kyung-Soo grabbed her shoulders and assured her, ¡°hey! Hey! Hey! Please don¡¯t cry. I hate it when you cry.¡± He again pulled her closer and hugged her.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t be so kind to me. I deserve punishment,¡± sobbed Nivritti.

    ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°I told you what I did. I must never be forgiven,¡± she cried.

    ¡°You see yourself as guilty that¡¯s why you never allow anyone to treat you with kindness, that¡¯s absurd,¡± he rebuked.

    ¡°I just told you the synopsis of my story. You don¡¯t know the whole story,¡± she sniffled.

    ¡°I am here for you, even if it takes the whole night. If you want someone to judge you, I will be there, if you want someone to treat you right, I will be there. If you want someone to hear you out, I will be there. Even if you want someone to just sit silently with you the whole night, I will be there. I am going nowhere, Ritti.¡±

    ¡°Fine! Then hear this...¡±

 Chapter 54

    54 The shback

    *****

    Delhi, India. It was the first day of my third year in college. I was on the weingmittee. It was my team¡¯s job to help our fellow freshers. We set up a table at the entrance of the gate and guided every fresher to their respective departments.

    A lot of girls and boys passed through our table after thanking us for helping them. Our job was to hand them a visitor¡¯s pass, the brochure of our college and a map that had every department highlighted on it.

    We were busy with our work when a group of boys approached our table. Some were from the Media Journalism department, and a few were from thew department. Suddenly a boy with a happy and go-lucky attitude and a breezy smile approached me. His pearly whites were glowing in the morning light. The slick back hair and square jaw were enhancing his ck, beautiful eyes.

    ¡°Hi! My name is Ritvik,¡± he said.

    ¡°Hello! Ritvik, here is your weing packet. Wee to Deep Institute of Education,¡± said I and moved on to the next boy.

    But he was not ready to move. ¡°May I know your name?¡± he asked. Everyone stopped what they were doing and started staring at him.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± I eximed with surprise.

    ¡°I would like to know the name of the beautiful girl who helped me,¡± he flirted.

    .....

    I stood up angrily and faced him. ¡°First of all, I am your senior not some girl you flirt with. You better remember it next time. Also, you are here to learn, so concentrate on that. Don¡¯t think you will score a girlfriend the first day you arrived. Now get lost and go to your department before I get you expelled for your inappropriate behaviour.¡±

    ¡°Sorry! I didn¡¯t mean to offend you. Extremely sorry, please forgive me,¡± he said, guilt-ridden.

    ¡°Move, you are blocking up the queue,¡± I snapped.

    He hung his head low and started to walk away when one of my friends, Nishant shouted, ¡°Hey, Ritvik! Her name is Nivritti.¡± And he winked at him. That made him smile.

    But I was angry. I hit Nishant on his head, angrily.

    ¡°Ow!¡± he cried.

    ¡°Shut up! Concentrate on your work,¡± I shouted at him but never looked at Ritvik.

    I was in the English Literature department, and he was in Journalism. All those two years I would catch him staring at him with his friends. But after that scolding, he was always afraid to talk to me. He never approached me or even tried to talk to me, he would just stand in a corner and watch me talking orughing with my friends.

    It was well-known in the college that a junior had a crush on a senior. My friends would tease me, even my teachers would tease me. Sometimes I would ignore them, sometimes I would scold them but most often I would end up hitting them.

    My two years werepleted, and it was graduation day. No juniors were allowed to attend the ceremony but somehow, he got himself into the culturalmittee that organised every event in our college, and he was present in our graduation ceremony.

    His job was to hand over our caps and robs. We would go inside a room ording to our roll number and after signing a sheet he would hand us graduations caps and robs. It was my turn, my roll number was called.

    I went in, he saw me and froze. The cap fell from his hand.

    ¡°The cap,¡± I said.

    ¡°Huh...¡±

    ¡°I pointed at the cap at his feet and again said, ¡°the cap.¡±

    ¡°Right, sorry!¡± he bent down and picked up the cap. ¡°Please sign this sheet.¡± He forwarded a sheet on the table.

    ¡°Um... pen?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Right, of course,¡± fumbling he picked up a pen and handed it to me. Carefully, not touching his hands, I grabbed the pen and signed the sheet. He ced the cap and the rob in a white packet and gave them to me.

    But this time, the unthinkable happened. My fingers touched his fingers. I could see his eyes widening and mouth opening. But he immediately closed his mouth and gulped. I can¡¯t say what he was feeling but I know that he liked the touch.

    I pulled the packet from his hands and turned around. Without looking at him, I said thank you and left. But before I could exit, I heard a faint sigh and an ¡°I love you¡±. I don¡¯t know why but that made me smile. I shook my head at his silliness and left.

    I thought that would be thest time I would see him but after the ceremony, he was waiting at the gate. He never said a word, he never approached me. He just had his hand over his chest and kept staring at me.

    ¡°He wanted ast glimpse of you. Oh, how I wish I had someone to obsess over me. You are so lucky girl,¡± teased one of my friends.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± I snapped at her. I don¡¯t know why but her words made me turn around and look at him for the first andst time. The moment I turned around to look at him, he threw his hands in the air and shouted, ¡°Yay!¡± I could not help myself and startedughing.

    A few years went by. Ipleted my masters and got a job as a content writer in a reputed advertising firm in Delhi. It was my daily routine to board the metro from near my house and the metro would take me near my office. My friends and I would walk to the office after that. It was within a walking distance.

    After all these years I even forgot about Ritvik when one day the doors of the metro opened, and everyone started deboarding the metro in a hurry. My friends and I were pushed out of the door, and I stumbled by two firm hands that held me tightly and stopped me from falling face down.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said and looked above to see who the person was. My mouth fell open. Ritvik too was staring at me with shock. It was clear that he never even thought of meeting me like that but there I was in his arms. But the waves of people kepting. He pulled me closer, spun me and took me into a corner to keep me safe.

    My friends were lost from me. I had no idea where they went. The crowd kept forcing them to move down the stairs to the exit gate.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± he asked politely. This was the first time in all those years that he gathered the courage to talk to me.

    ¡°I am okay, thanks to you. Oh shit! My friends,¡± I shouted.

    ¡°Sorry! I could not do anything to help them. As you know today the metro is facing some technical problems, so the crowd iste and thus in a hurry to reach the office,¡± he exined. I had never heard him talk so much in a single sentence. It was bizarre to me.

    Then I realised that his hands were still on my waist holding me tight, scared that I would fall. ¡°You can let me go now. I am fine,¡± I assured him. Awkwardly he smiled and stepped back.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°Um... IT city, building No. 2. I work there,¡± I replied.

    ¡°What? That¡¯s a great coincidence. I start my job in that building today,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Oh, which firm?¡±

    ¡°Truth Media!¡± he replied proudly.

    ¡°Congrattions!¡±

    ¡°Thank you and you?¡±

    ¡°You are on the fifth floor, and I am all the way up to the thirteenth floor, working for ¡°Fresh India Advertising.¡±

    ¡°Wow! That¡¯s the most reputed Advertising firm in North India. You were always an over-achiever,¡± he smiled.

    ¡°Your firm is not bad. It¡¯s an up-anding media firm in India,¡± I said.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he smiled shyly.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go. It¡¯s your first day you must not bete,¡± I said.

    Happily, he followed me. I took him to our building and after leaving him at reception, I walked up to my office.

    Then it became a routine. He would meet me and my friends at the metro station and we all would go together to the office. Slowly, he gathered up the courage and asked me for my number. For a few days, he didn¡¯t send me a message but then he started messaging me.

    Something happened to me, in my heart and I started liking the time I would spend with him. I loved talking to him, eating with him, and partying with him. He was charming and polite. We would spend the whole night messaging each other. Slowly those messages turned intote-night calls.

    My friends would tease him that his crush is now changing into love. They would tease him about his puppy loveing to fruition. But now I was not angry. I too loved the teasing.

    Then I was promoted and received a huge bonus. I wanted to stay away from my parents, wanted to be independent. I had to fight with my mother and my sister to get a separate house near my office. That would reduce mymute time. Finally, my family said yes, and I bought a house in the residential area near my office.

    It was my housewarming when my parents first met with Ritvik. But he was still a friend or maybe more, I didn¡¯t realise at that time.

 Chapter 55

    55 The shback ¨C I Missed Him

    During the whole housewarming party, he was very caring and helpful. He even took great care of my parents. They were very impressed with all my friends. After seeing the type of acquaintances, I had, they were at ease for me to live alone.

    Life was going on like usual. We would talk to each other every night about our day then would meet up for lunch and he woulde with me every evening to drop me at my house.

    And then one week he had to go to Germany to cover some festival. Before boarding the flight, he informed me that he would call me the moment he wouldnd.

    Hours passed by, but there was no call, no messages. That day I could not concentrate on my work. I kept checking my phone the whole day. Every second of every minute of every hour I kept fiddling with my phone. But my phone never rang, there was no notification.

    I went home after a stressful day. I could not eat, could not sleep. I was living in a nightmare. I never thought not talking to him, not seeing him would cause me so much pain. But there I was tossing and turning in my bed.

    I left him messages, tried calling him but his number was not reachable. My mind started creating nightmarish scenarios. What if his ne was hijacked? What if he was in a ne crash? What if he got kidnapped the moment hended in Germany? I could never find him as I didn¡¯t possess certain skills. I was not a spy. The most painful scenario was ¨C what if he befriended a girl on the ne and forgot all about me?

    My heart started aching. I was having difficulty breathing. I jumped out of bed and suddenly realised I could find out if his nended or not. I searched for his flight number online and found that hended an hour ago but still there was no answer.

    Clutching my phone close, tears streaming down my eyes, somehow, I fell asleep. Early in the morning, a faint ring broke my slumber. I could keep my eyes open. I looked at the phone and an unknown number shed on my screen.

    I was skeptical about picking up an unknown number that too the initials were not from India. I didn¡¯t recognise the code. I let it ringpletely. The ring died down. But after a second the same number shed again. It meant someone meant to call me. But who that can be?

    .....

    Hesitantly, I picked up the call and brought my phone near my ears.

    ¡°Sorry, sorry, sorry!¡± Ritvik¡¯s voice streamed in. The moment I heard his voice I broke down crying. He was safe, he didn¡¯t forget about me.

    I controlled myself and asked, ¡°where were you?¡±

    ¡°I tried calling you but realised that I didn¡¯t get my international roaming activated beforeing here. I am calling you from Hotel¡¯s phone. I didn¡¯t mean to trouble you. I am sorry, extremely sorry,¡± he exined.

    ¡°Do you have any idea what happened to me? How many disturbing scenarios my mind went through?¡± I shouted at him.

    ¡°Ritz!¡± (That was the nickname he used to call me by.) ¡°I am sorry. I knew you must be waiting for my call. I tried getting my roaming activated but nothing could be done. I could not fall asleep without hearing your voice, so I called you. I hesitated for a bit coz I knew that it would be early morning in India, but I had to hear your voice even if you would be sleeping.¡±

    ¡°You think I was sleeping, you moron,¡± I shouted again. I was too angry at him.

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you pick up the call the very first time?¡± he taunted.

    ¡°Because it was a new number,¡± I screamed.

    ¡°Hey! I am fine. I reached safely. Just a mix-up with my phone. Please don¡¯t be angry,¡± he said softly. His manners melted my heart.

    ¡°Fine! Be safe and sleep well. Good night,¡± I said.

    ¡°Can¡¯t we talk a little bit longer?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Do you want to spend all your money on international calling?¡± I scolded.

    ¡°Right! You are right as always. I will talk to you as soon as I get time,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Have fun, Vik,¡± finally I smiled.

    ¡°I miss you,¡± he chimed.

    ¡°I miss you too,¡± I replied. ¡°Good night.¡±

    I was about to disconnect the call when he interrupted, ¡°Ritz!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°I...¡± and he stopped.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, go back to sleep,¡± he changed the topic.

    ¡°Vik, what?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, I just wanted to ask what I should get you from Germany?¡±

    ¡°You idiot! Nothing. I want nothing. Juste back soon,¡± I said.

    We disconnected the call and finally, I was content. I went back to sleep peacefully. The next morning, my face was showing all the signs of stress and a sleepless night. I had a puffy red face and red eyes. I applied ice on my face to reduce the puffiness and got ready for my office.

    The rest of the week was boring without Ritvik by my side. I missed him in the morning, during lunchtime, on my way home, during eating, and at night. Some days he would call, some days I would just wait for his call and would fall asleep with my phone in my hand.

    The weekend arrived and I wasted my Saturday eating ice cream and watching TV. I was a couch potato the whole day. I even fell asleep on the couch. The next morning, I woke up looking like a homeless person. I looked in the mirror and could not recognise myself.

    Disheartened, I cleaned my house and went to take a bath. Finally, I cooked myself a healthy meal and ced the te on the table. The moment I was about to put the food in my mouth my doorbell rang. I was not expecting anypany, so I was annoyed.

    Frustrated, I went to the door and opened it. I gasped the moment I opened the door. Ritvik with his all bags and baggage was standing at my door. His tired eyes started twinkling as soon as he saw me. I exhaled loudly and threw myself in his arms. He was not expecting such a reaction but was extremely happy to receive one.

    I could hear his heartbeat increasing. I didn¡¯t care that he was full of germs after travelling, all I knew was that he came back, he came back to me. Tears started streaming down my face.

    ¡°Hey, Ritz! I am here. Please don¡¯t cry,¡± he said while rubbing my back tenderly. ¡°Oh sorry, I disturbed you while you were eating.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± I lifted my head, hit him on his chest and again buried my head in his chest.

    ¡°Hey! What will people say if they see us like this,¡± he said while looking around.

    ¡°Right!¡±

    We both came in and shut the door.

    ¡°You came directly from the airport?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I could not spend another minute without seeing you. I missed you terribly. Being away from you I realised that you are an important part of my life. I have to see you every day,¡± he said.

    In his own way, he confessed to me at that moment. I understood what he said, he understood what he said but I could not act on it at that moment. I don¡¯t know why.

    ¡°You should freshen up,¡± I changed the topic even though my heart was ready to beat out of my chest. I knew that I too felt the same way he felt. I too realised that he was an important part of my life. He was like a routine for me.

    ¡°Right!¡± the disappointment was visible on his face. But he unpacked his suitcase and took out his towel and clothes. He had been in my house, so he knew his way to the bathroom. He went in and ced my food back in the kitchen. I waited for him to get out so that we could eat together.

    But after a mere second. He shouted from the bathroom, ¡°Ritz!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°I cannot get the shower on,¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a little jammed, you have to lift the knob slightly and then turn it,¡± I told him the way.

    He tried and tried but the water refused toe out. ¡°I cannot get it on,¡± he pouted.

    ¡°Oh, you idiot! Open the door,¡± I teased him.

    The moment he opened the door, I gulped. He was shirtless with a towel wrapped around his waist. He had no abs but had toned muscles. Not a speck of fat was visible on his body. I lowered my eyes and moved towards the shower.

    He had turned the knob, but the water was still noting out of the shower head. I barely pressed the knob and water poured all over me. I moved my hands frantically to close the knob, but it was stuck. Ritvik too approached the knob and tried closing it.

    But the water kept wetting us. My white t-shirt became transparent, and my nude bra became visible. We kept hard to turn the knob, but the rust had jammed it all the way. The water was all around our feet.

    I stepped forward to get a better grip, but all the water pooled under my feet, made me slip. I was ready to fall down on my ass and get hurt. Suddenly, Ritvik swept me up in his arms and pulled me closer to him. My handsnded on his wet, toned chest. I stopped breathing. Our eyes met and everything else around us stopped. Everything froze.

 Chapter 56

    56 The shback ¨C The Nightmare and The Kiss

    The water was dripping all over us, but we were too into each other to notice anything else. His hair which always was slicked back was now all over his forehead dripping with water. The water kept streaming down his chest making him more handsome.

    All my senses were numb. I just kept looking into his ck eyes. They were mesmerizing. My hands over his chest could feel his heart beating fast. Slowly he pulled me closer to him but all I saw was his irises getting bigger. His heart was ready to pound out of his chest and I realised that our lips were too close to each other.

    Being this close to him after a whole week was providing me with the necessaryfort but somehow, I was not ready to kiss him yet. I just knew that I missed him like crazy but in love with him, I was not sure.

    I could sense that he was ready for the kiss. He was about to close his eyes when I pushed him away and gulped. I ran away from the bathroom and ran to my room. I closed the door and breathed heavily for almost a minute. It felt as if I was having a panic attack, but I was just overwhelmed with emotions.

    First, I missed him, then was overjoyed to see him before my eyes, then cried with happiness and now my heart was overflowing with emotions for him. The boy whom I rejected on the very first day somehow booked a ce in my heart and started living there without my knowledge. Now my heart belonged to him and that was a bizarre sensation for me.

    I kept clutching my heart for a minute trying to slow it down. But his lips, his face, his eyes would sh before my eyes and my heart would again beat like crazy. I somehow calmed myself and got out of my wet clothes. My room too was wet due to my clothes. Before Ritvik came out of the bathroom, I cleaned up the water and threw my clothes in the washing machine.

    After he came out, we could not look each other in the eye. I brought food for both of us, and we ate together. In silence, we ate our food. No one spoke. TV was on, what was on it, I still don¡¯t know.

    After having the food and awkwardly hugging each other, he left. But we both kept thinking about the almost kiss. How do I know? He told me that night. He said that he was sorry for the moment and that it would never happen again. All he wants is my friendship. He hoped that one moment would not poison our sweet friendship and I agreed.

    The fact was I was never angry that he tried to kiss me. Because if I would have one more second of weakness, I would have ended up kissing him too. But I never told him that. We went back to the daily routine of talking during night hours.

    .....

    We would meet in the morning outside the building, have lunch together and he would drop me at my house, and we would talk at night. The routine continued.

    Then my neighbourhood was gued by a series of thefts and burries. A number of houses and the people living inside them were attacked. Police were working overtime to catch the culprits. Two more watchmen were appointed for our society for our safety. My parents offered me to take back in for a few days but I was not ready to give up my independence which I would regret soon.

    One night while sleeping, I heard some noise and jumped out of my bed. I double-checked every door and every window and went back to sleep. But could not fall asleep. Every time I would close my eyes, a series of nightmares would hit my brain. Every time I would close my eyes a burr would enter my house and slit my throat or choke me to death.

    Now, the offer from my parents was looking good to me, but I could not go to their house at that time. I was too scared and could not fall asleep. Only one person came to my mind at that time. Shivering with fear, I called up Ritvik even though it waste. He took time to pick up the phone as obviously he was sleeping.

    He was concerned to see my call at such a time. He too knew about the burr situation and thought something like that happened to me.

    The moment he picked up the phone, I could hear the concern and the urgency in his sleepy voice, ¡°are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Vik!¡± I sobbed.

    ¡°Ritz! What happened?¡± he could barely speak.

    ¡°I had a nightmare,¡± I cried.

    ¡°Nothing else? You are okay?¡± he asked urgently.

    ¡°Yes, I am fine, well not fine. Every time I shut my eyes, I imagine someone killing me and looting all my earthly possessions,¡± I answered.

    ¡°Stupid girl!¡± he sighed with relief. ¡°You almost gave me a heart attack. I woke up thinking something happened to you,¡± he scolded me. ¡°Don¡¯t ever scare me like this.¡±

    ¡°Sorry! I was just scared and wanted to talk to you,¡± I pouted.

    ¡°What about how you sacred me?¡± he rebuked.

    That would have been my first red g. He was scolding me when he should have been taking care of me. His being scared was more important than me being scared. He gaslighted my feeling and made me feel bad about scaring him.

    ¡°I am sorry. I just thought of you,¡± I replied.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I forgive you. Do you want me to be on the phone while you fall asleep?¡± he offered. I was over the moon, that he cared for me. Ipletely forgot that just a few seconds ago he made everything to be my fault.

    That night we fell asleep with our phones connected and the call disconnected on its own after it crossed the time limit.

    The next morning was the usual and we met outside the building. He again warned me not to scare him like that. Me being a fool again apologised to him.

    That evening he dropped me at my house and said to expect a surprise. I asked him multiple times, but he never gave me a clue. After I was done preparing my meal and taking a bath, my doorbell rang.

    It was 10 in the evening. No one came to my house thatte. I thought maybe some neighbour came for a favour. I opened the door and my jaw dropped to the floor. Ritvik was standing at the door with an overnight bag in his hands.

    I smiled at him and asked, ¡°what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°My sweet friend had a nightmarest night. I am here to make sure no one kills her in her dream,¡± he taunted.

    ¡°You idiot!¡± I was over the moon because of his sweet gesture and hugged him dearly. He too embraced me tightly in his arms and dropped his bag.

    ¡°Is it okay if I spent the night in your house?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for thinking so much about me,¡± I appreciated him.

    ¡°Anytime.¡±

    I brought him inside and locked the door. ¡°Did you eat?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am full. I am not here to finish your food, I just came to sleep with you,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Huh...¡± his sentence fried my brain. ¡°Sleep with me? He wants to sleep with me?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± he asked innocently maybe he didn¡¯t realise what he said.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I smiled and changed the topic. ¡°Well then you can take the couch, I will have my dinner and we can both retire for the night.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his feet before sleeping. He changed into pyjamas and was ready to sleep. I too had my meal, gave him a pillow and nket and retired to my room.

    It was in the middle of the night when I again heard some noise. I again woke up to check all the doors and windows. To my surprise, my bedroom window was open. I froze with fear. A shadow shed behind me. I turned out with a jerk. A tall dark figure hovered near my door for a minute and then swoosh! it came running at me.

    I closed my eyes and screamed at the top of my lungs. When I opened my eyes, I was on my bed and Ritvik¡¯s voice was asking me to wake up urgently. He jolted me out of my sleep and my nightmare.

    I could barely breathe. I was shuddering and shivering but he held me tightly in his arms. ¡°I am here, you are safe, nothing will happen to me, when I am here,¡± he caressed my back tenderly.

    ¡°It was so scary, Vik,¡± somehow my voice came out.

    ¡°Look at me, Ritz, look at me. I am here. Nothing will happen to you,¡± he assured. I looked up and he kissed my forehead.

    I hid my head in his warm chest and kept holding me for minutes. His hands were running up and down my back assuring me that I was safe. Slowly he moved his hand over my face and ced my chin between his forefinger and thumb and forced me to look at him.

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I came to sleep here, else you would have called me again in the middle of the night, ¡± he teased.

    ¡°Vik!¡± yfully I pped his chest.

    He wiped my tears and asked seriously, ¡°are you okay, now?¡±

    I just nodded. My room was still dark just the yellow light of the streetlight was streaming in through the crevices of curtains. His ck eyes were cker. The light was hitting his jaw enhancing his jawline. He was handsome but somehow, he grew more handsome.

 Chapter 57

    57 The shback ¨C The Honeymoon Period

    His embrace calmed me down, but his touch was making my heartbeat go berserk. He was too close to me. I was still in his arms. None of us moved even an inch. Just instead of my head on his chest, it was in his hands. Our eyes met and the feeling came back. Our mouths were parted as if ready to receive the kiss.

    My mouth and my throat were dry, and I kept gulping. I was breathing heavily.

    ¡°Ritz!¡± he whispered.

    ¡°Hmm...¡±

    ¡°I am going to kiss you,¡± he whispered again.

    My eyes widened, I stopped blinking. I gasped but said nothing. I had no idea what to say. Maybe I too was ready to kiss him. ¡°Okay!¡± I spoke.

    Softly he lowered his lips and ced them on mine. A gasp escaped my mouth. I was being kissed for the very first time. I had no idea what to expect. But he was kissing me tenderly. His soft lips on mine stirred emotions in my heart. His hands moved to my hair and pulled them to gain more ess. Slowly he moved his tongue inside and the feeling was out of the world.

    I had no idea that this would be the moment I would get my first kiss. I would get kissed by my friend, my friend whom I rejected the very first day. I won¡¯t go into much detail but slowly our kiss grew into something more. I made love for the first time in my life.

    I slept like a baby in his arms. The next morning when I opened my eyes he was already out of the bed. I wore my clothes and went to look for him. He was in the shower. I smiled at what happenedst night. He was so patient, so tender with me. I was falling for him even more.

    .....

    While he was taking shower, I prepared tea and toast for him. I didn¡¯t hear when he came out, but I was startled when he hugged my back in the kitchen.

    ¡°Good morning!¡± he greeted.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± my voice croaked.

    He turned me around and made me look into his eyes. ¡°Are you alright? You are not mad about what happened between us?¡± he asked carefully.

    ¡°No, Vik, I am not mad,¡± I assured him.

    ¡°Are you in pain?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Liar!¡± he teased.

    ¡°A little!¡± I answered.

    ¡°You should rest today. Don¡¯t go to the office. I will see you in the evening. I have to run. Today is an important meeting,¡± he exined, grabbed a toast, and ran from my apartment.

    I realised that he was right. I should rest so I took a sick leave that day. I was in my bed watching videos on my phone when I realised that we made love without a condom. The earth slipped from under my feet. What if I get pregnant? I knew that getting pregnant after the very first time would be a miracle, but miracles do happen. I was not ready to be a mother and a child without wedlock is still frowned upon in India. How would I face societal pressure? What would my parents say?

    The whole day I was stressing over my future pregnancy. I didn¡¯t eat, I didn¡¯t drink. My heart was ready to jump out of my chest. In the evening my doorbell rang. I ran to open the door as I knew it was Vik. I had to discuss everything with him.

    The moment I opened the door he sensed that something was off. He could read my face.

    ¡°I knew you would be mad. I am sorry, that will never happen again,¡± he immediately apologised.

    ¡°Yes, I am angry. I am angry that we didn¡¯t use a condom. What if... what if?¡± I could notplete my sentence.

    ¡°Oh that,¡± he replied casually. ¡°I know about that, that¡¯s why I brought you this.¡± He reached into his bag and took out a packet of morning-after-pill.

    In that moment I was relieved that he thought about me. But now when I think back, I realise that he again thought about himself. He never asked if I wanted the morning-after pill, he never asked if I wanted to get pregnant, he just assumed that he would bring me a pill and I would just take it without questions.

    But at that time, I was happy to take the pill. I was not ready to be a mom. We just had sex. We never discussed about our future, our life. We had so much to discuss, like if we even wanted to date each other.

    I immediately ran to the kitchen took out a ss of water and drowned the pill in an instant. That night too he stayed with me but slept on the couch. He started sleeping in my apartment after that. Police were actively trying to capture the burrs and Vik was keeping me safe.

    For the whole week, he slept in my apartment, took a bath in my apartment and we would leave together for the office. But we never had sex. His presence alone would make me sleep well. I never had a nightmare after that.

    The weekend arrived and the news went viral that the police apprehended the culprits in burries. My whole neighbourhood sighed with relief. There were happy faces all over. Now there was no need for Vik to stay at my house.

    That Saturday we nned a movie night and Chinese food. He would then return to his apartment and take his bags with him. Now I was safe, I won¡¯t need him to keep me safe.

    We ordered Chinese and ate while giggling andughing at each other¡¯s stories. I both loved action movies so we chose an overtop action flick and started watching the movie on myptop. We were sitting next to each other on my couch.

    By the middle of the movie, I found him staring at me instead of watching the movie.

    ¡°What? Don¡¯t you like this one? If you want, I can change it,¡± I offered.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Do you want something, Vik?¡± I asked.

    ¡°You!¡± he replied.

    ¡°What?¡± I gasped.

    Without wasting a single moment, he grabbed my waist and pulled me closer. He smashed his lips on mine and started sucking my lips voraciously. It was as if he was hungry for me. He didn¡¯t wait for a thing and slipped his hands under my t-shirt.

    I don¡¯t know how but I was out of my clothes within seconds as well him. But I stopped him, ¡°do you have a condom?¡±

    He shed a devilish smile and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be angry. But the day I bought the pill, I also bought condoms for us. I had hoped that I could make love to you again.¡±

    I lowered my eyes due to shyness, but he started kissing me again. The movie kept ying on theptop and we made love on the couch and then shifted to my bed. That night he didn¡¯t let me sleep. Well, we both didn¡¯t let each other sleep. The fire of carnal desire was burning hot in both of us.

    Now we had no fear of getting pregnant. That night he asked me to date him and I said yes. We both were over the moon.

    The n of him moving out permanently was cancelled after that. Not only Saturday evening but we kept making love the whole Sunday. We would eat and drink and then after resting would jump each other¡¯s bones. We were naked the whole day. We didn¡¯t want to waste time taking off each other¡¯s clothes.

    Instead of him taking his bag away, he started bringing more and more things to my home. It was as if we started living together even without discussing it. He never asked me, I never told him but somehow, his things were in my apartment. His brush was in my bathroom, his clothes were in my wardrobe.

    The honeymoon period was bliss. We were happy, we were content, we were fun, we were yful. I waspletely in love with him. I started nning my future with him. All I had to do was find out what his n is for the future.

    Almost after six to seven months of living together, we were watching a movie on theptop when I tried talking to him.

    ¡°Vik!¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± he replied with his eyes glued to theptop.

    ¡°What is your one wish for the future?¡±

    He looked at me and smiled. ¡°Ritz, I never told this to anyone, but I have an idea for a book. I want to be a writer. That is my one dream. Would you read it if I write a book?¡± he asked.

    My face fell. I was slightly disappointed but was happy that he had a dream and he wanted me to be a part of it.

    ¡°Of course, Vik,¡± I replied. ¡°It means that I am in your future.¡±

    ¡°Hey! Of course, you are in my future. Why won¡¯t you be in my future? I love you,¡± he answered.

    That was enough for me at that time. I was in his future, what else I could ask for? He took care of me, helped with household chores, was independent, responsible, a perfect gentleman. I wouldter realise that everything he did was maniption and gaslighting.

 Chapter 58

    58 The shback ¨C Harsh Words

    Soon he started working on his book. He turned one side of my bedroom wall into his research wall. The whole wall was covered with sticky notes stating the description of the characters, their rtions, the outline of the book and many more facts and trivia.

    He asked for my help, and I helped him with refining his outline and polishing his characters. We would spend a lot of time brainstorming over his book. He was happy and excited about his new project, and I was happy to see him happy. I was happy to see him passionate about something.

    Then that passion changed into obsession. He would spend hours at a stretch researching random facts that had nothing to do with his book. If I would point it out, he would get defensive and justify that every research makes him add something new to his book.

    He even started taking his job for granted. He would skip days to work on his book but would not write a single word. He would keep staring at a nk page. When asked about it he would say he is still thinking about a killer opening. Being the expert in one line as I worked in an advertisement agency, I threw a few lines his way, but he rejected all of them.

    What bothered me was he would get angry whenever I would suggest anything. He would taunt me about my age and wisdom.

    ¡°You are elder than me that does not mean you are more intelligent. I too work in Media, I know how to write. Yes, you have read more books than me which does not make you an expert in books. Let me do my thing on my own. I don¡¯t need your help,¡± he would shout at me. Slowly his words became harsher.

    I thought it was just the fear of failure or writer¡¯s block that every writer faces. I tried to be supportive and calm, but he would snap at me at random. The only time he would smile and talk nicely to me would be when we would make love. This kept happening for another month.

    Then came the grand festival of Diwali. We had been dating and living together for months without any of our parents knowing about it. Still, he had not written a single word. So, he decided to get a fresh perspective. He took some leave and decided to visit his parents who lived in the state of Rajasthan. He would be gone for a week. I went to the airport to drop him off.

    With tears in my eyes, I said goodbye to him and told him that I would miss him tremendously. He assured me that he would miss me more. After hugging and kissing him, I wished him a safe flight and came back home.

    .....

    My parents too kept asking me to spend the holidays at home, so I packed my bags and went to stay with them. My sister came running to greet me as she was seeing me after months. We used to fight with each other but loved each other with all our hearts. The moment I reached she hugged me and the next thing she did was search my bags to steal things out of them.

    I smiled at her cuteness and naughtiness but could not stop thinking about Vik. After almost two hours I left him a message asking whether his flightnded. But there was no answer. There was no answer for two days.

    My family would ask me what the matter was and why my face looked stressed and sad. I lied that I had some big assignmenting up at the office and that is stressing me out. They didn¡¯t think much about it, just gave me the motivation to work happily at my office and were done.

    But Apeksha, my sister, she knew something was up. She kept nagging and nagging. We were sharing the room and she would keep asking me about the matter the whole night and day. One night she caught me crying on my pillow as it was the third day when Vik never replied or sent a message. I kept sending him multiple messages every day but never saw a reply.

    He said before going that he would miss me, but it was clear that he was not missing me at all. I didn¡¯t know whether hended safely, whether he reached his home safely, whether he was alive or dead. My heart never slowed down. At this rate, it was clear that I would get a heart attack.

    ¡°Di!¡± Apeksha softly ced her hands over my hair and caressed it. But I just kept sobbing. ¡°Please tell me what the matter is. Who hurt you?¡±

    I broke down, NK. I could not hold it any longer. I hugged my sister and told her everything. Everything about me and Vik.

    ¡°He is safe, Di. Don¡¯t worry. You know how families are. He must not have any privacy there. The moment he gets time, he will message you. Or his phone was broken, and he could not message you. There are many reasons, just give him the benefit of doubt. You love him, he must be a nice person,¡± Apekshaforted me.

    The next night my phone chimed at midnight. It was a message from Vik. I jumped squealing on my bed. Apeksha was sleeping so I shut myself up.

    ¡°Hi! Sorry for not contacting you soon. My family is crazy. The moment Inded they took me on a blind date. Every day since I have been going on blind dates and have been surrounded by my family. Finally, today I am hiding on my roof and messaging you. Sorry, Ritz. Love you,¡± he messaged me.

    My heart stopped. His family is looking for girls for him to marry and he is going on blind dates. Why didn¡¯t he tell anyone about me? I knew the answer because we never discussed it. Should we tell our families? Even I have not told them about him then how could I expect him to tell his family about me?

    But still, my heart ached after hearing that he was meeting with different girls. The excitement I had after receiving his message, all died down after reading it. With a loud sigh, Iy back down, and tears started streaming down my face.

    My phone chimed again and I read the message. My mouth fell open as he asked what I was wearing. Message after message he started saying absurd things. The messages were highly erotic. First, I thought that he lost his phone, and someone was using his phone to do fraud.

    I immediately called him, but he disconnected the call. He messaged that he cannot talk to me and can only message me. I send him a harsh message asking him to show his face or else I would report the whole chat to the police.

    He immediately called me. To my surprise, he was drunk and hiding on his roof behind a wall and talking in whispers. I was shocked to know that he drank. He had never ever drunk before. ¡°Sorry was missing you, that¡¯s why sent those messages,¡± he smiled.

    ¡°Sober up, we will talk tomorrow,¡± I snapped at him and disconnected the call.

    That was the first time I realised that something was wrong with our rtionship. He missed me and the first thing he thought about was having text sex with me. Was I in his life only to give him sexual pleasure?

    But then I scolded myself and asked myself not to think negatively. He was drunk and had no idea what he was doing. My excuse was that he acted this way because he was drunk.

    And as per my belief, he called me the next day and apologised for his behaviour and not calling me for three days. Everything was back to the way it was before. I forgave him. Now every night he would send me a goodnight message and sometimes give me a call if no one would be around him.

    The holidays were over, and I came back to my apartment. I could freely talk to him there. But he still had restrictions. The week was almost over, and he woulde back and then we would talk and kiss and enjoy ourselves with each other.

    To my surprise, he extended his trip for another week. When I asked about his office and his boss, he again got defensive and snapped at me. He said, ¡°I want the setting of my book to be in Rajasthan and I am researching for it and all you could think is about your needs. What? Can¡¯t you live alone for another week? I shoulde and do all your household chores for you and stop writing my book, is that what you want?¡±

    ¡°Where and when did I mention my needs or chores? I never asked you to do chores at my house. I never asked for your help,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Wow! So, I am a monster if don¡¯t help you and I am a monster even if I help you. Can you ever be happy, Ritz? Just tell me what you want. You want me toe back, I wille back right now, is that what you want,¡± he snapped at me.

    I was taken aback. What was he talking about? Why was he talking in such a manner to me? ¡°I never asked you toe back. I just wanted to know if your boss is okay with you extending your trip, that¡¯s all. You brought my needs, whatever that is and all the talk about doing chores in our conversation,¡± I said calmly.

    ¡°I can¡¯t even...¡± and he disconnected the call. We didn¡¯t talk for two days after that. None of us even tried to call one another.

 Chapter 59

    59 The shback ¨C The Tragedy

    After two days, he called back and apologised again. It was as if he was having mood swings. One moment he would be all adorable and the next he would just snap at me. I had to choose my words carefully as I had no idea what might trigger him again.

    Finally, his two weeks of leave were over, and he came back. He directly came to my house and the moment I opened the door he grabbed me and kissed me with all his passion.

    ¡°You have no idea how much I missed you,¡± he said and moved his hands under my shirt and over my breasts.

    I pushed him away and looked at him.

    ¡°I am sorry,¡± he pouted. ¡°Are you still angry? Sorry, Ritz.¡± He hugged me again. yfully he grabbed my ass and pressed them.

    ¡°Stop it!¡± I shouted.

    ¡°Right! I should take a bath and then we will continue this in the bedroom,¡± he winked.

    Another red g waved before my eyes and this time I could see it. He came to my house thinking about sex. He didn¡¯t miss me, he missed the sex, he missed my body. Not even my anger or myfortability was visible to him. All he could think about was sex.

    I started tearing up. I sat down on the couch and started bawling. He came running from the bathroom after hearing my cries.

    .....

    ¡°Hey, hey, hey! Ritz! What happened?¡±

    ¡°You only care about my body, not me,¡± I sobbed.

    ¡°What are you talking about? Hey! Look at me. I love you, you, your beautiful heart, your kind nature, your sweet personality. I don¡¯t care about sex. If you want, I will be celibate for years and still live with you,¡± he said sweetly and wiped my tears. ¡°I am sorry for hurting you.¡± He grabbed me and hugged me.

    I heard the words I wanted to hear. He loved me, not my body. I believed him, what a fool I was. He kissed me again and lifted me in his arms. He took me inside the shower, and we had sex. I used to believe that we always made love, such sweet words, but all we had was sex. Vik and I never made love, we always had sex.

    Me being a fool thought everything was back to normal. We started going back to the office together, but he would take leave every now and then to work on his book. There were still no words written on that nk page.

    One night I camete from the office, and he was standing at the door fuming with anger.

    ¡°Where were you?¡± he shouted before I could enter my house.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked surprised.

    ¡°Why are youte, you didn¡¯t even call me?¡± he shouted again.

    ¡°I told you in the morning that I had a meeting with a client. It just ran long. Sorry could not call you,¡± I replied casually and hung my bag on the wall.

    I moved towards my room to change when he grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. He dug his fingers into my skin and gritted, ¡°you could not even message me?¡±

    ¡°I was in the meeting, Vik. How could I message you without looking rude?¡± I tried to calm him down. I kept pulling my arm out if his hand, but his grip was strong. He kept digging into my skin with frustration.

    He was in my face and asked, ¡°was that client handsome?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± I shouted at him. ¡°What are you insinuating, Vik?¡±

    His face fell. With a pitiful voice, he murmured, ¡°you are going to leave me for someone else, aren¡¯t you?¡± he let go of my hand and stood like a broken child before me.

    ¡°What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?¡± I took his face in my hands and asked,fortingly.

    He threw himself at me and hugged me. ¡°Please never leave me. Marry me, Ritz!¡±

    ¡°Vik!¡± I gasped.

    He broke the embrace and went down on his knees. He looked around and his keyring was lying on the table. He took out the ring from his keychain and ced the ring on my fingers. ¡°Here, I am officially proposing to you. Marry me. Be my wife, make me your husband. Let me live in your heart forever. The moment I saw you, Ritz, I knew I wanted you in my life. I used to secretly stare at you when we were in college. My crush was never hidden from you. I always wished that you would talk to me, look at me. Now, my dream ising true. I want to grow old with you, no matter what our parents say. I will never ever leave you and I wish that you won¡¯t leave me too. Never leave me Ritz, say you will marry me.¡±

    He looked at me with sad eyes waiting for my answer. I smiled and jumped with happiness. ¡°Yes, I will marry you. I definitely will marry you.¡± He stood up immediately, hugged me and kissed me.

    Smiling, I teased him, ¡°now, we have to talk to our parents.¡±

    ¡°Right! My parents would be difficult. They are very conservative,¡± replied Ritvik with all seriousness.

    I hit him yfully on his chest and shouted, ¡°you idiot! Who says things like that after proposing?¡±

    He smirked, ¡°kidding!¡± He hugged me again and I ced my head happily on his chest. Now we were engaged, and he promised that he would get me a real ring soon.

    We were living in our bubble when one day to surprise me my family came to visit. The earth slipped from under their feet when they learned that a boy was living with me. Even if they knew him, it didn¡¯t matter to them. A live-in rtionship is frowned upon. That moment was chaotic. They were angry, sad, disappointed. My dad was in shock, he could not speak a single word. But my mom could only speak via her hands. p after p keptnding on my cheeks, my shoulder, and my back.

    ps didn¡¯t hurt me, NK. What hurt me was Ritvik kept standing in a corner like a hurt bird, staring at my mother assaulting me and he did nothing. Not even a word. Not even when my mother asked if he wanted to marry me. Not even a word when my mother asked him to get out and he walked out of the house without a single word.

    After my mother threw him out, I fought with her. We exchanged words that we still regret to this day. She wished that I would have died. I wished that I had a different mother. I rebuked, I snapped at her, I pleaded with her, I begged her to ept my rtionship, but both my parents refused. They were against my rtionship with Ritvik because he was younger than me, because he was immature.

    They left me alone to cry and stopped talking with me for months. I too was angry, and I never called them. Apeksha would call me secretly and tell me about them. She would say that they were always sad because of me.

    You know, they were always proud of me. I was their happiness, their pride but now I was the reason they were always sad. They stopped going out, meeting with rtives. They would just all their time in their house, sitting idly and sad.

    But I was drunk on love. All I cared about was Ritvik. All I wanted was him in my life. I wanted to marry him at any cost.

    The day he was thrown out of my house, he came back that night. I broke the moment I saw him. He held me in his arms while I vented my emotions. He assured me that he would talk to his family about us and that he would never leave me alone.

    Stupid me, forgot that he left me alone to get assaulted by my mother. He didn¡¯t even say a single word, he never replied to her queries, and when asked to leave he left instantly. And here he was promising never to leave me.

    Life went on and tragedy kept striking. Due to him taking leave every now and then, he was fired from his job. He only had his savings so he asked me if he could permanently move with me. My family was already angry at me, they were not talking to me, what worst could happen? So, I said yes, and he shifted with me.

    We sold the things he didn¡¯t need, and his savings grew. For a few months, he would buy groceries as he would feel bad that he was living in my apartment for free. I teased him that he was always living there for free. But that was like putting gasoline on a fire. He chided me.

    That day he was extremely rude. His words cut me deep. He left me in tears and walked out of the house. The whole night he didn¡¯te back. I could not sleep or eat without finding him. I went out at night to find him. Frantically I kept looking in nearby parks and hotels but could not find him.

    Crying I came back home and found him sitting on our stairs. I punched and pped him and kept crying for giving me a fright. As usual, he apologised and like a fool, I forgave him, again.

 Chapter 60

    60 The shback ¨C The Possession

    From that day, there was a strain in our rtionship. I could not talk freely in front of him as even the slightest of things would trigger him. I didn¡¯t want him to run away again.

    He would just sit in our home in front of theptop, would open a word document on the side and keep watching a movie or series. He even stopped researching for his book. And I never asked him about it. I was tired of fighting with him.

    His mood would be bad and spoiled all day. He would call me multiple times to ask what I was doing in the office and if he would hear a male voice near me, he would sulk and then I had to assure him that I only love him. He would be happy only during nights after we would have our dinner and were ready for bed. I guess you can understand, why?

    Life went on. Slowly he stopped helping me with chores. I was cooking, cleaning, going to the office,ing back, and again cooking for him. It was like I had a baby, and I was taking care of him. We started having fights because of that.

    Then he suggested that he would rent a small room for himself where he could go and write his book. I was nagging him too much and he was falling behind in his project. He said that I was the reason he had not been able to write a single word. I cried the whole night.

    Now it was routine for me, to cry myself to sleep. He was rude, arrogant, and sexist. He would say things like cooking and cleaning is a woman¡¯s job and he was the man of the household. We would again fight for his sexist remark. One day I even said that if he was not contributing financially, why did he always use the word ¡°man of the household¡±?

    That day I felt as if he was ready to hit me. But he just walked away and didn¡¯t return for the night. That night I didn¡¯t go after him, I didn¡¯t care if he returned. I just went to bed without eating and cried myself to sleep.

    Early morning, he came crawling back and the first thing he did was eatst night¡¯s food. He came back because he was hungry. He didn¡¯t care or even asked if I had eaten anything. He didn¡¯t even apologise forst night¡¯s remarks. He just ate, said goodbye to me and went to sleep.

    I went to work somehow. The whole day I was not myself. I had no focus. I made multiple mistakes and was reprimanded by my boss. When I reached home, he again apologised. I was by now tired of this making mistake and apologising cycle.

    .....

    I didn¡¯t say a single word and without eating, went to bed.

    Maybe he felt bad or something. So, the next day before I woke up, he cooked breakfast for me and apologised again. My smile returned. I thought I got my old Ritvik back. And again, I was wrong.

    Happily, I went to the office and as usual, he called me during lunch. What he said made me realise what was the reason behind his change in behaviour. He asked me for money for his rent. He found a small space to write in. He needed a new table and a chair, and an inte connection and he needed money for all that.

    As his savings were all used up, he wanted my help. He pleaded and begged. Grudgingly, I said yes to all his demands. I almost emptied my bank ount for him.

    He would spend every now and then in his writing den and when asked about his book, he would just say that he was working on it.

    But because of his staying away, we fought less, and I cried less.

    Then came New Year. There was a year-end party in my office. As my boyfriend I invited him. Every year I used to go to the party with my family, but they were still not talking to me. I would run into my mother during one or two grocery trips, but she wouldpletely ignore me. My heart would ache with immense pain.

    We all were enjoying the party when a few of my colleaguesplimented me that I was looking good. Mind you, not only men but a few women too said that. But Ritvik fixated on the words of my male colleagues. He turned the happy environment into a tragic one. He sulked and pouted all night.

    It was almost midnight when the new year cake was brought out. Our boss cut the cake but instead of feeding each other, we all started ying with the cake. Every face was smeared with cream. No one was spared. That was the only moment I had fun at that party.

    After dinner, we reached home. The moment he entered he chided me.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stop anyone from touching you? How much attention do you want for yourself?¡± he shouted at me even before I could take my shoes off.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± I shouted back at him. I was appalled by his words.

    ¡°Everyone kept touching you and you never stopped them,¡± heined.

    And I had enough of his rude and childish behaviour. ¡°So what? They are my friends. They were not touching me with any wrong intentions. We all smeared cakes on each other. What is wrong with that?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know men. They need an excuse to touch a girl,¡± he educated me.

    That boiled my blood. Why was he painting all the men with the same brush? ¡°Is that what you think?¡± I shouted at him.

    ¡°Every man in your office wants to have sex with you. That¡¯s why they are jealous of me. That¡¯s why no one paid any attention to me at the party,¡± he barked.

    ¡°No one paid any attention to you because you were standing in a corner sulking and pouting like a child. Mommy, mommy, pay attention to me!¡± I mocked him.

    That hurt his ego. ¡°Nivritti!¡± he screamed.

    ¡°Is that what this is about? You want attention? Have I not been paying you enough attention? What more do you want? Do I leave my job and stay at home with you, do everything for you, feed you, clean your clothes, clean this house? Or should I keep sitting at your feet the whole day? I fought with my family for you, you have not even talked about me with them. I can not talk with my family, you talk with your family every day. I gave you everything you asked for, what more do you want? Just tell me and as always, I will give it to you. Because you know, I am a fool,¡± I broke down and sat on the couch with a thud.

    Seeing me cry he groaned, ¡°again with the crying. Just talk to me like you used to.¡± But I never said a word. I refuse to look at him and tears kept falling from my eyes. He sighed and approached me and said, ¡°hey, hey, hey! I didn¡¯t mean that. Just imagine Ritz, you have a beautiful, cute giant teddy bear. How will you feel when someone picks it up without your permission and smears cake on its face? How will you feel? They destroyed your teddy, won¡¯t you sulk then?¡± he wiped my tears and made me look at him.

    His analogy at that time made me smile. Like a moron, I instantly forgave him and kissed him.

    Now, when I think back, I realise that he thought of me as an inanimate object, a thing that he could possess. People would need his permission to touch me as if I was his prized possession. You must be thinking, how big of a fool I was. How was I surviving then, being so foolish? But after years I realise that I was immature and a big idiot.

    Now every month, I would pay rent for two ces, food for two ces and inte connection for two ces. He would do some frence writing and would get a small amount of money that he would spend on expensive stationery that he would never use.

    Then one day I woke up with a slight fever. I thought of it as something seasonal and went to the office. The whole day I was tired, exhausted, and feverish. I told him and he advised me to take a pill and drink lots of water.

    The next day it was the same condition. I took a pill and went to the office. After two more days, I stopped feeling feverish, but a feeling of uneasiness was always with me. I talked to him about it, and he advised me to go to a doctor and instantly walked out of the house to go to his writing den.

    My face fell. He didn¡¯t care about me at all. But after that day, I was okay. There was no fever, so I didn¡¯t go to the doctor.

    One night we were having dinner when I gasped and ran to check the calendar. He came after me, worried.

    ¡°What happened? Are you okay? Are you feverish again? I told you to go to the doctor,¡± he rebuked me. But I could not speak. I just looked at him.

    ¡°What, Ritz?¡± he asked, worried.

    ¡°I amte. I am 10 dayste,¡± I whispered.

    ¡°You arete? What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°My period, it¡¯s 10 dayste,¡± somehow I blurted out.

 Chapter 61

    61 The shback ¨C The Pregnancy

    Ritvik and I stared at each other, shocked. I had no idea what to do, or what to say next. My heart was racing fast. It was ready to jump out of my chest.

    ¡°Abort it,¡± he shouted at once.

    I was taken aback. ¡°Excuse me!¡± I shouted, shocked.

    ¡°Well, what do you want to do?¡± asked Ritvik, sweating from every single orifice of his body.

    ¡°Check first whether I am pregnant or not,¡± I said as it was the obvious next step.

    ¡°Right!¡± he immediately grabbed his wallet and ran out of the house to get me a pregnancy test.

    I sat down on the couch, dejected, still staring at the calendar pondering upon myst date of the period. I reminisced and reminisced over and over again, I calcted over and over again. My heart sank when I realised that I was right, I was 10 dayste.

    My brain started thinking all kinds of nonsense.

    What if I was pregnant? What would I do then? Live-in rtionship is still frowned upon then how would giving birth to a child out of wedlock would be epted? My family would disown me. My friends would bully me. People in my office would frown upon me. Myndlord would kick me out of my house. My boss would fire me.

    .....

    Where would I go? Where would my kid be born? Ritvik too has no job, what will I do? Maybe we could stay at his ce for some time. Should I tell my parents? Will they really disown me? They have not talked to me in ages, what will be their reaction to knowing that I was pregnant? Would they ept my kid?

    My kid! If I get pregnant, I will be a mother. Will those 9 months be hard for me, or will they pass on like a cool breeze? Would that be a boy or a girl? Would my kid be cute or ugly?

    I started picturing a cute, tiny baby in my arms and Ritvik by my side. I liked that picture. Tears fell from my eyes. When almost a year back, we had sex without protection, I was scared of the thought of bing a mother but now, that thought didn¡¯t scare me. I liked the idea that I would be a mother.

    Two small feet would keep running round and round in my house I would chase behind him or her. Soft wavy hair would bounce in the air when my child would run. Two thin lips would smile at me and call me ¡°Mumma¡±. I would kiss sweet, pink cheeks. I would easily fit two tiny fists in my hands and y with my child. Toys would be scattered everywhere I would go.

    I was smiling yet my eyes were filled with tears. They were tears of happiness. I realised that I was ready to be a mother.

    I was in my thoughts when the front door flung open and Ritvik barged in, huffing and puffing. He ran all the way to the 24-hour pharmacy and got me two pregnancy tests.

    ¡°Here, check it,¡± he threw the packets at me, breaking my happiness.

    ¡°Ritvik! We should talk,¡± I said.

    ¡°We will after you get the test done. Go, Ritz, go,¡± she shouted, urgently.

    I grabbed the packets and went to the bathroom. Our food was lying on the table getting cold. But none of us was thinking about that. We had more pressing matters to attend to.

    After a few minutes, I came back with the first tube in my hands. He was sitting on the couch, his legs shaking vigorously, his hands were on his chin, and he was sweating like a pig. He kept muttering to himself, ¡°this cannot happen, this cannot happen.¡±

    The moment he saw me he stood up with a jerk and came running.

    ¡°What does it say?¡± he demanded.

    ¡°Nothing, it¡¯s still working. It will take a minute,¡± I told him.

    For a whole minute, he kept pacing in the living room. My head started spinning after seeing him walk fast. I grabbed his hand and asked him to stand still. Still, he kept fidgeting with his fingers and tilting on each leg alternatively.

    We looked at the clock, the minute was up. We slowly lowered our gaze at the test, our hearts beating faster and nervous like hell. The test shed the words ¡°positive¡±.

    ¡°Shit!¡± he shouted. I had no idea how to react. Should I be happy, or should I be sad? ¡°Shit! Shit! Shit¡± he kept repeating over and over again. ¡°This can¡¯t be happening, this can¡¯t be happening, not to me, not to me,¡± he shook his head in disbelief and started pacing again.

    I could just stare at the test in my hands. The word ¡°positive¡± kept shing before my eyes.

    ¡°How could this happen? We always used condoms,¡± he shouted and came to face me. But I was staring at the test.

    He grabbed my shoulder and shook me out of my slumber. ¡°Ritz! Say something.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I asked. I was miles away from him. I was not present at that moment.

    ¡°I always wore a condom,¡± he repeated.

    ¡°You know that they are not 100% effective, right?¡± I questioned him, surprised.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know. But how can this happen to me? Wait! Maybe it¡¯s a false positive. Try the other stick,¡± he suggested.

    ¡°Maybe,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Please use that too,¡± he pleaded.

    ¡°Fine!¡± I said and went back to the bathroom. I discarded the first test and took the second one out of the box. It was a different stick. He brought two sticks from two differentpanies. It was a smart decision. If onepany¡¯s product was wrong, we could try the other one.

    I peed on the stick, washed my hands, and came out to show him. We again had to wait for one minute. That minute was as long as one hour. Time was moving slowly at that moment. After a minute, two lines appeared on the stick. It was again positive.

    I have no clue but after seeing the second positive I just sighed with relief. It meant that I was okay with being pregnant.

    But everything went to gutter after that moment.

    ¡°What does this mean?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Two lines mean positive, I am pregnant,¡± I educated him.

    ¡°I always wore a condom, this can¡¯t happen. This can¡¯t be mine,¡± he said. The earth slipped from under my feet.

    ¡°Excuse me! What the hell are you insinuating?¡± I screamed at him. ¡°Are you implying that I cheated on you? That you are not the father?¡± I don¡¯t know when and how but my palms just made contact with his cheeks and thwack! I pped him. Fire spit out of my eyes, and I could feel the warm air out of my nose.

    He never saw me this angry. He stepped a step back and immediately apologised, ¡°no, no, I didn¡¯t mean that. I can never mean that. Sorry, sorry. Let¡¯s talk.¡±

    ¡°Talk? With you? About what? About how you just called me a cheater, after all, I have done for you? What the hell do you mean that you always wore a condom? So, this child can¡¯t be yours? This child? Yours? You don¡¯t deserve to be a dad. I will get an abortion before I bring your child into the world. This is what you wanted to talk about, right? About getting an abortion because you are not ready to be a father. Or do you want me to get an abortion because you think you are not the father? Well, be assured no child in this world be happy to call you father,¡± I barked at him.

    ¡°Ritz!¡± he was visibly hurt. I could feel that my every word was like a dagger to his heart.

    ¡°Shut up! Get out!¡± I shrieked.

    Immediately he fell to his knees. He joined his hands in namaste and pleaded, ¡°Ritz! Please, Ritz! If we would have been married, I would have been the happiest man in the world with this news. But think about society, think about our family. Everyone will look down upon us and they too will not be spared. So, do you really want that for your family?¡±

    ¡°My family is not talking to me, thanks to you and you don¡¯t even have the guts to talk to your family about me,¡± I mocked him.

    He stood up and faced me. With pleading eyes he brainwashed me, ¡°Ritz! First, let¡¯s get the abortion, I will instantly go back home to talk about us, I promise. Then my parents will talk to your family, and we will have a grand wedding. I still have to buy that ring for you that I promised.¡± He smiled at me and grabbed my shoulder. ¡°I want to marry you and have kids with you after marriage not before. Think about this child,¡± he ced his hand over my stomach, ¡°he will be bullied all his life. This is India, a child out of wedlock is never epted. This child would not get admission to a good school or college, no one will give him a job. No one will marry him. People will call him a bastard, is that what you want?¡±

    I looked away from him and replied, ¡°a child is called a bastard when people don¡¯t know the name of the father.¡±

    He softly touched my chin and made me look at him again, ¡°do you think society clings to the definition of a word? No, they will call him whatever they like. Do you want that for your child?¡±

    To some extent he was right. Still, I was fuming with anger as he called me a cheater. He doubted my character, he doubted my love for him.

 Chapter 62

    62 The shback ¨C The Sad Happiness

    That night I could not sleep at all. Emotions after emotions were wearing me out. I was scared, I was angry, I was worried, I was concerned, I was even happy at times and then that happiness would vanish when I would recall Ritvik¡¯s words about the child¡¯s future.

    Why was I living in such a conservative society? Why couldn¡¯t I give birth to this child without any fear of judgement or his future? I was weak, I was a coward, I was a moron. I really wish that I had the courage at that time to be a mother and raise a child on my own without thinking about the society. But I crumbled before societal pressure, and I am ashamed of it.

    The next morning, I took a leave from my office, and we went to a hospital. I went inside but he waited outside in the hospital¡¯s garden. I told the doctor everything and said that I wanted the abortion. Without asking any personal questions, the doctor just asked me if I was absolutely sure that I wanted to abort the child and I replied yes.

    That was it. First, the doctor did all the tests to make sure I was really pregnant. The test came positive again. I was prepped for the process. And after hours, I was baby free. I was not pregnant anymore. I was not going to be a mother. I spent some time in the hospital due to anaesthesia, but he never came in. He never checked on me.

    I never wanted him to smother me with his love and care but still, I needed someone for moral support. Hospitals are already scary and going to the hospital to get a procedure done is scarier. All I wanted him to do was stand with me and tell me that everything will be alright. Was that too much to ask?

    The doctor came with all the reports and gave me a clean bill of health. Now, I could walk out on my own. I paid the bill and walked out. I was not in any pain but was weak due to anaesthesia. It was almost evening. I went outside and looked for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

    Asst resort, I had to call him. He told me that he went back home after waiting for me for hours. He came back urgently, and we took a cab back home.

    I don¡¯t know if I was numb due to the anaesthetic, or if I waspletely empty of emotions, but I was not angry at him for leaving me alone at such a time. I was in the hospital and instead of being there for me, he went back home. Still, I felt nothing for him.

    That night I didn¡¯t eat or drink. I just slept. Well, not even slept, Iy on the bed like a log. My pillow was wet due to crying. But not even a single sob came out of my mouth. He wasying next to me. In some other scenario, I would have wanted him to hold me while I cry but that night, I didn¡¯t even want to look at him.

    .....

    All I could think about was how I killed a child before he could even see the world. I know I am an idiot. It didn¡¯t even have a heartbeat at that time but in my eyes, he was a cute kid ying in my arms. Now, I won¡¯t get to see that kid, ever, because I killed it. I didn¡¯t even give it a chance to have a heartbeat.

    Another day came and I was stillying like a log in the bed. He prepared breakfast but I was not in the mood to eat. I just kept my eyes closed and kept my mouth shut. That day I received a ton of messages from my office friends asking me toe to the office but never told me why. I just mailed everyone that I was not feeling well and needed another day of rest.

    The messages kepting the whole day. My phone kept buzzing with messages and emails saying that they have something to tell me and that I needed toe to the office the next day.

    Somehow, I got up from the bed, dressed in my professional attire and made my way to the office. It was two days since I ate anything. As soon as I reached the office everyone could tell that something was wrong. They thought that I was still ill. They asked me whether I went to a doctor and I said yes.

    Technically it was true. I did go to see a doctor. But the reason waspletely different.

    Before I could take my seat, my boss approached me and handed me a letter. A sweet smile was ying on her face. I looked around, everyone was smiling at me. I opened the letter and read it. I could not believe my eyes. The promotion I was waiting for so long, I got it. I was promoted to head content writer, now, I would not work in a team, I would head a team of content writers and copywriters.

    I covered my face with my palms and broke down crying. I just killed a person, I didn¡¯t deserve good news in my life. Everyone thought that I was so happy, and I cried due to happiness, but the truth was very different. My team came and hugged me and consoled me.

    I wanted to tell them everything and scream out loud what I did. But my mouth was sealed. I just thanked my boss and kept reading my promotion letter. I even got a 15% hike in my sry. I should be happy. Why was I not happy? I coveted that promotion for long, I worked hard for it, but all looked futile at that time.

    ming all at kismet, I came back home. He was watching a movie on hisptop. I sat next to him and showed him the letter. He read the letter and his face fell.

    ¡°What happened, Vik? Finally, I get some good news after all the tragedies in my life, so why are you feeling bad?¡± I asked.

    ¡°You had to rub it in, right?¡± he shouted at me.

    ¡°I beg your pardon,¡± I was shocked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a job. I am living on your money. I am unemployed. If it would not have been for you, I would be homeless and now you throw that piece of paper in my face. How selfish could you be?¡± he shouted.

    ¡°What the hell are you talking about? I just wanted to share a good thing in my life with you,¡± I protested.

    ¡°Oh, so I am not the good thing in your life. Now, your jobes before me? You know I have been working hard on my book. I achieve nothing and you go and get a promotion,¡± he pouted.¡±

    ¡°Are you mad? What do you mean I went and got a promotion? I have been working hard to get that promotion whereas you have not even tried writing a single word for your book. How is that my fault?¡± I shouted at him. My anger was slowlying to the surface.

    ¡°I can¡¯t even talk to you right now,¡± he said and instantly went to the bedroom. He packed his bags and ran away from there.

    I never even tried to stop him. I just had my dinner and went to bed. I could not sleep at all. The whole night I could hear the cries of a new born baby. It was aplete nightmare. I tossed and turned the whole night.

    The next morning, I didn¡¯t want to get out of my bed. But I was promoted so now I could not take any more leaves. I had to go to work. I never tried to search for him or tried to contact him where he went. I concentrated on my work after that. But I knew I was depressed. My focus was lost. New ideas avoided me like I was a leper. My work became dull. My team started doubting my potential.

    After some five or six days, Ritvik called me out of the blue to apologise again and to tell me that he went back home to talk to his parents about us. But by then, I didn¡¯t care about it anymore. I cared about nothing in the world anymore. Nothing piqued my interest anymore. I was clinically depressed.

    Days went by. I never called him. He would call me. Some days I would pick up his call and some days I won¡¯t. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, but Ritvik didn¡¯t return. To tell you the truth, I didn¡¯t care about it anymore.

    Then one day, the unthinkable happened. He called me and I picked up the phone. Some movie was ying on myptop, and I was having dinner. What did I cook, I have no idea. By then I could not even taste my food. Everything was tasteless. Everything was colourless.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± I picked up the phone.

    ¡°Ritz! I... I just wanted to tell you that I talked to my parents about us,¡± his voice streamed in.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said stoically. I had no emotions left in me.

    ¡°They said... they said...¡±

 Chapter 63

    63 The shback ¨C The Cheating

    My heart stopped beating with the anticipation of an answer. Maybe my problems were about to vanish. The real happiness in my life was about to knock. But I was still scared to hope, to hope for a better life, to hope for getting old with the man whom I loved.

    ¡°They said... they said...¡± he gulped.

    ¡°What, Ritvik?¡± I was done with nicknames.

    ¡°They said... No.¡±

    Instantly a tear dropped from my eyes. I could hear the shattering of my heart. I was right to be scared to hope. I didn¡¯t deserve any happiness. God was punishing me.

    ¡°What happened Ritvik? What did you say? What did they say? Please tell me the details,¡± I pleaded.

    ¡°Well, my dad was suspicious that I had someone in Delhi. He asked me about you, and I had to tell him that I liked you. He then asked if I wanted to marry you and I said yes. But he said that I cannot marry you. You belong to a different caste, a differentmunity, sorry my parents won¡¯t ept you ever,¡± he replied casually as if he felt nothing for me. I was just a fling with whom he was passing the time.

    I could feel my blood boil. ¡°You asshole!¡± I chided him. ¡°You said you would talk to them but your dad asked you about me. You didn¡¯t even have the courage to start the conversation. And you said you like me, like me? What happened to ¡®loving me¡¯? Was all that a lie? Now I am of a different caste andmunity, where were these caste andmunity when you professed your love for me, when you slept with me, when you got me pregnant? Your parents won¡¯t ept me? Your parents won¡¯t ept me?? Your motherfucker! Absolute bastard! Now you tell me after showing me the dream of marriage and family for years. I stopped talking to my family for years. They have still not called me. They didn¡¯t even want to know if I am alive or dead and you say your parents won¡¯t ept me. My parents won¡¯t ept me, your parents won¡¯t ept me, you won¡¯t ept me, then what I am doing in this world? I should die, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Ritz!¡± he begged.

    .....

    But I was not done. ¡°Don¡¯t you call me by my name,¡± I shrieked. ¡°You are dead to me. I hate you. You took my everything, Ritvik. Now, I am just a shell of a person, nothing more. I lost everything, my friend, my boyfriend, my fianc¨¦, my family, my future kid, I even lost my future, Ritvik. And everything is because of you. Because you are a coward. I have been fighting for our love, but you just gave up on me. I was never your priority, you never fought for me. You stayed with me because I was convenient, our rtionship was convenient, nothing else ever mattered to you.¡±

    ¡°Ritz please, listen to me. I have something to tell you,¡± he interrupted again.

    And I continued without paying him any heed, ¡°I did everything for you. And you gave me tears and remorse. Do you have any idea that since I have been in a rtionship with you, I have always been crying for one or the other thing? Before you, I was happy, I had friends and then you came into my life. I stopped going out with them because I wanted to spend time with you. You were even jealous of my male friends, I stopped talking to them too, for you, all for you. You were jealous of my promotion and ran away. My parents hit me, abused me, because of you, but still, I chose you. And your father just said no and that was it. Just a word and you folded. I must not have mattered to you at all. Well then, nice knowing you. Goodbye, asshole!¡±

    And I disconnected the call and threw my phone at the wall. With a loud thud, the phone smashed into the wall and then dropped to the floor. But the irritating phone kept ringing. Leaving the phone on the floor, I ran to the bedroom. I jumped on the bed and covered my ears with my pillow to drain out the noise.

    I was on the bed for almost an hour in the same position. My hands and feet were numb. My phone stopped ringing. I recalled everything I said to him and realised that it was years since I went clubbing. I sat up on the bed and wiped my tears.

    Taking out my makeup kit, I changed my look. With smokey eyes and dark red lipstick I was looking sultry. I wore my off-shoulder red bodycon dress and booked a cab. I never drank in my life but that day I wanted to drink whole night. I didn¡¯t care about the smell or taste I just wanted to numb my senses.

    I went to Connaught ce where the best of the clubs is situated. I entered the club and directly approached the bar. I asked for a suggestion and the bartender suggested me cocktails. I started with cocktails and moved to Vodka. I danced my heart out after that.

    On the dance floor, a man approached me, and we struck up a conversation. Straight forward he asked me if I was looking for a good time and I said yes. I was looking for a good time. I wanted good times in my life, I wanted all the bad times to leave. I was desperately in need of good times.

    I remember kissing him in his car and then I woke up in his bed, naked. I had a faint recollection of the sex that I hadst night. He had to go to his office in the morning, but I wanted to sleep in, so he let me sleep in his bed and left me alone.

    The whole day, the whole afternoon, and the whole evening I kept sleeping. I didn¡¯t have my phone with me, so I had no idea what time it was. Somehow, I dragged myself from the bed and went to his living room to see the time. It was six in the evening.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I groaned when I saw the time. My head was pounding with pain. It felt as if someone was hammering a nail in my head. My head was ready to burst open with pain. I rubbed my temple, collected my purse and my shoes, and left his house. I don¡¯t even know who he was. I don¡¯t even remember his face. I just know that I slept with him. I had a one-night stand with a stranger, yet I was not numb.

    I was still pissed off at Ritvik.

    ¡°Ritvik! Shit!¡± I suddenly realised that he wanted to talk to me after I disconnected the phone. Did he want to say that he didn¡¯t care about his parents and wanted to live his life with me? My heart sank when I realised that I might have cheated on him.

    I ran to the streets and immediately booked a cab and returned to my home. The moment I opened the door, I ran to pick up the phone that was still on the ground. I looked at the phone, the screen was shattered in pieces. I was impressed that even after that the phone kept working.

    The phone was dead now. The battery drained after receiving repeated calls. I instantly plugged the phone into the charger. The screen lit up saying that the battery was zero percent. I waited for a minute till the phone reached one percent.

    As soon as the phone disyed one percent, I switched it on. It took a minute for the software to start working again. After a minute, the notification started chiming in. There were 40 calls and one message. My heart jumped out of my chest. He called me 40 times.

    I immediately opened the message.

    ¡°I will leave for Delhi at night and reach there in the morning. We have to talk. I have something to tell you. Don¡¯t leave for the office early, wait for me,¡± the message read.

    My mouth fell open. My heart leapt out of my chest. I broke down after reading the message. He called me a cheater and now I was a cheater. I could not stop tears from falling from my eyes. He came to meet me, and I was not here. He came to meet me after he talked with his parents, and I was not here. What did I do in anger? I was dejected. I was crying inconsbly.

    But now I had to act fast. I had to find him. I had to hear from him that he chose me the same way I chose him. I wiped my tears and went to my neighbour. I asked him if he saw Ritvik and he replied that he came looking for him. He waited for about half an hour and then went to his writing room.

    He was waiting for me. I had to go to him. I had to see him. I had to talk to him. But what was waiting for me, I could not even imagine in my wildest dreams.

 Chapter 64

    64 The shback ¨C The Shattered Heart

    After thanking my neighbour, I ran back to my house, took a quick bath, and left for his house. I was scared as well as excited. I was over the moon that he chose me but was scared that I lost him because I cheated on him. Why didn¡¯t I pick up his callst night? Why didn¡¯t I let him speak?

    My heart was jumping up and down in my chest. I could hear my heartbeat. It was getting difficult for me to breathe. I was dying because of anticipation. I had no idea whaty waiting for me in his house. Would he too be waiting for me as eagerly as I was running towards him?

    At that moment I was not thinking about anything other than Ritvik. I didn¡¯t care for my work, I didn¡¯t care for my family, I didn¡¯t care for his family. All I cared about was spending my life together with him. As I said I was a fool.

    The cab stopped in front of his building. Before getting out, I exhaled and inhaled multiple times to calm myself down. I wanted to run but my legs were not working. Slowly, I went to his room, but my face fell when I saw that the door was locked from the outside. No one was there. I tried knocking even though I knew no one was inside.

    Hearing all that knocking, abruptly his neighbour opened his door.

    ¡°You are Nivritti, right?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Right! This is for you,¡± he said and reached for his pocket. He took out a key and handed it to me.

    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked.

    .....

    ¡°The key to Ritvik¡¯s house,¡± he replied casually.

    But I was taken aback. ¡°Why do you have that? Where is Ritvik? Why did he give this to you?¡± I asked urgently.

    ¡°Oh, that. He came with a girl early morning. There were movers with him. Hearing all that noise, I came outside and asked him about it. He said he didn¡¯t need this room anymore and was selling everything. The whole day he was here, and, in the evening, he came knocking at my door. He said that he had to go shopping and then he will return back to Rajasthan. He left something for you inside and left the key with me,¡± exined the neighbour and shut the door in my face.

    He was with a girl? My heart sank again. What did he mean that he had to go shopping? What girl? What shopping? Why shopping? And what did he leave for me inside? He had to go back to Rajasthan? I thought he came back for me, but he was returning the same day. What was happening? The answer was locked inside the room.

    I had no courage to enter inside. I stood outside the room for minutes trying to put the key in the lock. Finally, after minutes, I turned the key in the lock and after exhaling a big puff of breath, I pushed the door open.

    An empty room greeted me. All the furniture, his chair, his table, his mattress, his pillow, his writing equipment, all were gone. A red, shiny card was ced neatly on the floor in the middle of the room. I closed the door behind me and walked up to the card curious to find out what that was.

    I picked up the card and read the cover. My knees gave in, and I fell down to the floor. The card dropped from my hands. The red card was staring at me. I wanted to cry but a loud chuckle escaped from my mouth. The chuckle then turned into a loudugh. I keptughing andughing till my stomach started to ache.

    I was rolling on the floor withughter. I was worried about how I would tell him that I cheated but I was not a cheater. He finished our rtionship way before I cheated on him. I wasughing at my own foolishness. I drank because of him, I slept with a stranger because of him, I stopped enjoying my life¡¯s achievements because of him, I became a killer because of him, I broke all ties with my family because of him and that asshole didn¡¯t have the courtesy to hand me this card on his own. He had to leave it lying on the floor for me to see. And he brought a girl with him for shopping... FOR SHOPPING.

    He said that he wanted to talk to me and now I knew what he wanted to talk about. I was angry that he couldn¡¯t say it to my face. I sat up on my knees and keptughing. Slowly myugh changed into small giggles and those giggles changed into small sobs. Ultimately, my small sobs turned into a wail.

    The room being empty, my own wails wereing back to haunt me. The room was filled with echoes of my crying.

    I looked at the card with tear-filled eyes. Big bold letter saying ¡°Ritvik weds Sushma¡± was staring at me. He was getting married. He brought the girl with whom he was getting married to, for shopping for their marriage. Within one month of me getting pregnant, him leaving me, him talking to his parents, them saying no, he decided to get married and didn¡¯t even have the courage toe and talk to me. He left a piece of paper to do his job.

    Did he ever love me? Was my love even real? Or was that just an illusion? Did I spend my almost two years with him, living with him, loving him, spending all my time with him or it was just an imagination of mine?

    I cried and cried and cried. My tears were soaking up the card. Even the heavens felt my pain and started crying with me. That night I remember it rained cats and dogs. My eyes started burning due to constant crying. My head was already pounding due to the hangover and now it was on fire after hours of crying.

    I finally opened the envelope. A wedding invitation and a few papers were inside it. After finding the papers I wiped my tears to see better. A few sheets were the rent agreement that was in my name. He rented the ce in my name and with my money. Thest sheet of paper was a letter addressed to me. It read:

    ¡°Dear Ritz,

    First of all, I am very sorry that you don¡¯t want to see me or speak to me. I went to your apartment, but you were not there. I called your number 100 times, but you never picked up.

    I can exin to you how sorry I am that my parents didn¡¯t approve of you, didn¡¯t approve of our rtionship. I didn¡¯t know how to tell you that they forced me into this marriage and sent that girl with me for our wedding shopping.

    No matter what I said, they were not ready to listen to me. I am not like you, brave and independent, I cannot go against my family. I have to marry this girl. My dad said that she was the perfect one for me. But I know in my heart that you are my perfect love.

    No matter where I am, no matter how I am, I will never stop loving you. You are my first love, and you will be my first love. No one can rece... you. I love you.

    P.S. this card is just to inform you that I am getting married. Please don¡¯te to my marriage and make a scene.

    Yours

    Ritvik.¡±

    That condescending bastard had the nerve to ask me not toe to his marriage as if I was about to go and make a scene, as if he was so important that I would go to his marriage and bare my heart in front of everyone. He still thought that my life revolved around him.

    I crumpled the paper and tore it into pieces. I was not satisfied even after doing that, so I stepped on every piece of paper and crushed it under my feet.

    I picked up the soaking wet card and ced the rent agreement inside it. I was worried about why I was not numb even after drinking so much. But after reading his letter and seeing his wedding card, I was numb. I had no emotions left in me.

    I stepped in the rain and started walking. I have no idea how long I kept walking or for how many hours I kept walking. The card in my hand was on the verge of falling apart when I somehow reached my house... my old house... my parents¡¯ house.

    I rang the doorbell. My mom opened the door and as soon as she saw me, she wailed loudly, and my father came out. I remember that at that moment I was not crying as I was empty of tears. I just stood at the threshold, dripping wet with a red card in my hands. I looked at my crying mother and father and everything went nk.

 Chapter 65

    65 The shback ¨C The Change

    I really don¡¯t remember the events of that night even after trying for months. All I know is what I was told. Apeksha told me that I rang the bell and stood at the door like a pruned dead body. There was no expression on my face, only my eyes were red and swollen. My mother shook my shoulder asking me what happened and kept demanding an answer. But all I heard was the thundering of the clouds.

    She called my father and he too kept asking me questions, but it was as if no sound could prate my ears. I just stood there not even looking at them, staring nkly at oblivion. Before Apeksha ran toe to me, I threw my head backwards and started falling down but my father caught me.

    The next thing I remember is waking up two days after in a hospital bed. You see I fainted after I reached my house. Walking for long in the cold rain gave me hypothermia and pruned my hands and my feet. There were cuts all over my feet due to my walking for hours at a stretch. My feet were covered in bandages all over when I woke up, but I was not feeling any pain. Not because of medicine or anything like that, I just stopped feeling. I was an empty shell of a human at that point.

    The moment I opened my eyes I saw my mother, and everything came back flooding to my mind. All the insults I hurled at her, all the insults and abuse she hurled at me and for what, a bastard, who didn¡¯t have the courage to fight for me. I ruined my family because of a person who didn¡¯t even care for me.

    Guilty and ashamed, I stopped talking to everyone. I even started avoiding looking at them. I wouldn¡¯t even reply to the doctors. My mom would sit with me the whole day in the hospital. My sister would tease me and pick up fights with me to try to make me talk. My dad would scold me, chide me, beg me, plead to me to talk but I never talked.

    My physical wounds were healed but my emotional ones were still fresh. I was discharged from the hospital and my parents brought me home. For the whole day, I would just sleep. I had no interest in eating or drinking or even living. No matter what they did, I never spoke.

    After almost 10 days of not speaking or eating, my parents were frightened. They took me back to the hospital. There I was diagnosed by doctors that I had depression. They made my parents realise that I went through something extremely traumatic topletely stop talking. They suggested that they should check me in a facility. Sad and worried, they admitted me to one.

    I went away from home for months. I never said a word for almost two months. It took months of therapy to bring me back from the ck hole that I went to. It took months to get back the emotions that I buried deep into my heart. My doctors told me to ept all my anger, my sadness, my guilt, and work on it. Burying emotions would result in more damage, I needed to feel everything I felt that night and then slowly get rid of it.

    Meanwhile, my dad took care of both apartments. He talked to bothndlords and got me out of both agreements. He even got back my deposits. My mom packed all my things and brought them to her house. My sister who is younger than me, took care of me like she was the elder one. They even emailed my job saying that I quit due to some family problems.

    .....

    After three months of therapy and medicines, I was ready to go back to my house, but I still needed help. My progress was slow, so the doctors suggested that we all should talk to a therapist as a family. They too needed to understand what I was going through. They needed to know how to help me when I was going to stay with them.

    The best day was when my therapist made me burn Ritvik¡¯s things that he left with me. My heart felt as if someone lifted a ton of weight from it when I burned that red wedding card.

    It took me six months to get back on my feet, NK, six months of medicine, six months of therapy, individual as well as family therapy to act normal, to forgive him, to forgive myself, to forget him, to move forward, to start living my life again. My therapist helped my parents understand my condition without any judgement. We all said sorry to each other for the things we said, and we forgave each other. We finally became a family, again.

    Life was taking a turn for the better. I was learning to smile. I was eating better. Every weekend my family would take me to different ces to divert my mind. We would go to malls, and movies, have family dinners in posh restaurants, go to theme parks, you name it, we did those activities.

    After I started feeling better, I looked for another job. As I was experienced and well-known in my circle, I quickly got a job and started getting promotions soon. My life was back on track.

    Then after 8 months or so, one day my phone rang. I saw the caller ID. It was a number, an unknown number. Without thinking too much about it, I picked up the phone. The voice that came out of it, pulled the earth from under my feet. It was Ritvik.

    I thought I was done with that chapter of my life. But, no, here it was, open before my eyes.

    ¡°Ritz! It¡¯s me. How are you?¡± his voice pierced my ears. It was getting difficult for me to breathe. All the instructions and suggestions of my therapist went out of the window in a second. I started hyperventting. I immediately disconnected the call and ran to the bathroom.

    After a lot of breathing exercises and a quick phone call to my therapist whom I had not talked to in months, I calmed down. Ritvik became a trigger point for me.

    I blocked his number and again started the therapy. You know it was during therapy that I realised that Ritvik never called the foetus his child, he called it ¡®your child¡¯. So, my therapist suggested that it was better to be angry at him rather being scared of him. That would help me from not panicking or hyperventting. So, I worked on my emotions, and I stopped being scared of him.

    Now, he would call me from different numbers, and I never hyperventted after that. I would just be pissed off. No matter how many of his numbers I blocked, he would call me with a new number. Even after I threatened to go to the police and file a harassment case against him, he never stopped calling. He kept saying that he needed to talk to me and that he still loved me.

    Finally, I changed my number, but somehow, he got my new number. My parents suggested that I should file a case against him, but my mind would go to his innocent wife. Why should I punish an innocent woman whom I had never met when I really wanted to punish her moron husband? How would she feel after knowing that even though he was married, he was calling his ex saying that he still loved her?

    Then one day he came to my office. I asked my office people to lie to him that I was not in the office at the moment. They lied and I ducked him that day. But he starteding back. I could not avoid him forever, so I decided to quit.

    My boss loved me and didn¡¯t want to lose me, so she asked for the real reason I was quitting such a high-paying job. I told her about my stalker ex. She suggested that instead of quitting, I should consider transferring to a new ce. My designation and thepany would be the same. I would just move to a new ce.

    I asked my parents for suggestions, and they too agreed with my boss. Finally, I shifted to Bangalore. A new ce, a new phone number, a new look, a new haircut, new friends, new colleagues, that ce was heaven. I was happy and free now or so I thought.

    I don¡¯t know how, but he again got my number. He again started calling and harassing me. I had no idea how he would always get my number. I instructed all ourmon friends not to tell him anything about me, but somehow one or the other would b.

    Finally, I stopped talking to all my Delhi friends. I changed my number and again shifted to a different house on the outskirts of Bangalore. I wanted to run away from him. I wanted to run away from my life. I wanted change.

    People say the only constant in life is ¡®change¡¯ and I craved it more than anything. I finally realised that changing my look, my number or my house every now and then will get me nowhere. I had to leave my country once and for all. That way he will never be able to find me.

 Chapter 66

    66 The shback ¨C The Arrival

    I started looking for jobs all over the world. I had two jobs lined up, one in Australia and the other in South Korea. The job in Australia wanted me to wait for months before they could confirm anything but here, I was asked to join urgently. They even had an apartment for me on the ready. What more could I have asked for?

    I was living in hell and wanted out and K&Q gave me that opportunity. I immediately said yes and started packing my bags.

    I was surrounded by cardboard boxes, packing stic, cello tape, scissors, and other packing materials. Almost all of my bags were packed and ced neatly in a corner. Finally, I was working my way through my books. I was immersed in my work when my phone rang.

    I gasped and the book dropped from my hand. I thought he called me back again. I looked at the phone, it was a video call. The disy read ¡°headache¡±. I rxed immediately.

    I pressed the green button and a beautiful young girl appeared on my phone. I didn¡¯t tell you, but my sister looks like a mirror image of mine, just years younger than me and her hair is shorter than mine. Being the younger kid, she is the pampered one and way naughtier than anyone I have ever met. And before you say anything, yes, she is naughtier than JJ.

    ¡°What is all that?¡± she screamed the moment she saw all my things packed in boxes and bags.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked innocently.

    ¡°Why are you packing, again?¡± she asked.

    ¡°You know why,¡± I replied.

    .....

    ¡°You got the job?¡± she shouted excitedly.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I smiled. Apeksha beamed after seeing me smile. I know that she feels sorry for me. She even told me that it broke her heart to see me in that condition for months so now whenever I smile, it lights up her world.

    ¡°So, you are leaving India,¡± she asked, sadly.

    ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± she inquired.

    ¡°Out of India,¡± I replied sarcastically. This time I was dead serious. I was not going to tell anyone where I was.

    ¡°Now will you tell us where?¡± she asked urgently.

    ¡°Apeksha Rathod! Stop asking questions,¡± I shouted at her.

    ¡°Di! I will call mom,¡± threatened Apeksha.

    ¡°No need to threaten me, I will tell you once I get settled in,¡± I replied.

    ¡°So, you are running away, again,¡± Apeksha emphasised on ¡°again¡±.

    ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡± I knew she was right and that was exactly what I was doing. But hearing the obvious things from others makes you mad.

    ¡°You ran from Delhi to Bangalore to get rid of your problems. You are again running away,¡± said Apeksha. Suddenly she realised something. ¡°Oh no! did he...?¡±

    Before Apeksha couldplete her sentence, I shouted, ¡°enough!¡± I didn¡¯t want anyone to talk about him. Talking about him would give him power over me, power over my life and I didn¡¯t want that at any cost.

    ¡°But...¡± Apeksha looked visibly worried.

    ¡°I said, enough...¡± I shouted again.

    ¡°Why are you shouting, Apeksha?¡± I heard my mother¡¯s voice in distance over the phone.

    Apeksha looked away from the phone for a moment and then looked back. ¡°But you need to tell mom and dad that you are leaving India. You just told us you were searching for a new job but never told us where.¡±

    ¡°No, I am not telling you guys anything. In fact, I am not telling anyone anything,¡± I raised my voice.

    ¡°You saw him, didn¡¯t you?¡± Apeksha shouted as if she understood everything.

    ¡°No, as usual, he called me. How did he call me? Who gave him my number? I tell you guys everything and he finds me. So now you guys will know nothing,¡± I emphasised.

    ¡°Di!¡± protested Apeksha.

    ¡°I will call you once I reach my destination,¡± I announced.

    ¡°Wait, mom isi...¡±

    Before Apeksha couldplete her sentence, I disconnected the phone and ced the phone back on the table. I had enough of her grilling. I didn¡¯t want to talk to anyone anymore. I ced my phone on silent and went back to packing. I was fed up with my life. Even though I was constantly changing my living space, I still craved change, no, I was desperate for a change, a major change, away from everything.

    For the past few years, I was living in hell, no matter how far I went my past kept following me. I had to give up my cosy house, I lived with my parents, then I shifted to Bangalore and was ready to uproot myself again. Fearing for my privacy, I didn¡¯t tell anyone about my new job or where I was going.

    I was on the kitchen floor after myst box was packed. I looked at all the luggage and exhaled heavily. I was tired after a whole day of packing. I was more tired of ducking his phone calls. I would always jump when my phone would ring thinking that he called from a new number. All the wait and mystery and suspense were making me thirsty, but I packed all the sses and every other utensil. So, I cupped my hands and drank directly from the tap.

    I waited for the movers and packers toe to my ce to take my things. Some of the boxes were supposed to reach Delhi to my parent¡¯s house and others were about to be shipped to Korea.

    My flight was leaving in the morning, and I was ready, ready to leave everything behind and start a new chapter.

    She exited the Incheon airport and looked above at the sky. It was a clear morning, the sun was shining brightly, the cold breeze weed me. I closed my eyes and exhaled with ease. I was finally free. No one knew where I was, but I made a mistake, and I would realise itter on.

    I hailed a cab and gave him an address. He was a talkative person. He weed me to Korea with open arms.

    ¡°Tourist?¡± asked a cabby in a Korean ent.

    ¡°No, I am here for a job,¡± I replied in Korean.

    ¡°You speak Korean?¡± the cab driver was surprised.

    ¡°Learningnguages is my hobby,¡± I replied with a smile. I could not stop smiling. I was ultimately free.

    ¡°How manynguages do you know?¡±

    ¡°Um... I don¡¯t know about 7 or 8,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Wow!¡± he eximed.

    There was a moment of silence in the car. Then the cab driver asked again, ¡°where are you starting your job?¡±

    ¡°Ohh... ah... Kings and Queens Media Company,¡± I replied. To my surprise, he was perplexed.

    ¡°What is that?¡± the cab driver was confused.

    ¡°You might know it as K&Q Company,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Ohh, that is a very bigpany,¡± the cab driver was impressed.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I shed an even bigger smile at him. I was not only happy to leave my past, regain my independence, my freedom but also proud that I got the job. It was a toughpetition, and I cracked the interview. I think my knowing Korean was a plus point for me.

    ¡°So, you will work with idols?¡± asked the cab driver.

    ¡°Not with them directly, but I will work for them,¡± I replied. How wrong I was. I now not only work for you but also with you.

    ¡°Great. Can you get me an autograph of Kat? My daughter is obsessed with him,¡± he said sheepishly.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Nivritti. ¡°If I ever meet with him, I will get you an autograph, but I doubt I will ever meet them.¡± I was so wrong. On the very first day, I met him, and he scolded me.

    ¡°You will meet them, I assure you,¡± said the cab driver. ¡°Your office is so close to the ce you are going,¡± he observed.

    ¡°Yeah, thepany set up the ce for me, I asked them for a nearby ce,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s around 15 minutes by foot,¡± said the cab driver.

    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±

    While talking,ughing all the way, finally he left me at my new home. I happily paid him, and he wished me all the luck in the world with my new job.

    It was Saturday the day I arrived. My things would arrive the next day. I am so d that the house, this house K&Q gave me was fully furnished. I had all the furniture I needed. I had a TV, a fridge, a washing machine and an old dusty vacuum cleaner that was kept in the utility closet.

    It was time to make the house a habitable one. I tied up my braid in a bun and looked around. This apartment had a closet, but it was dusty. I tried starting the vacuum cleaner, but it refused to work.

    I unlocked my phone and searched for a supermarket. It was around 2 km from this apartment. I grabbed my wallet and went shopping. I brought food, cooking and cleaning supplies. For the whole day, I was busy cleaning the apartment and making it habitable. I cleaned the closet and arranged my dresses, purses, and shoes in it.

    After I was satisfied with the cleaning, I went to take a hot shower. The shower freshened me up. I looked at the food supplies that I brought with me and threw something together in half an hour. Due to all day working, I was famished. I gulped my food as fast as I could.

    I burped loudly and looked around. There was no one I had to be embarrassed around, no one for miles who knew me. Iughed loudly and burped again. I was enjoying my freedom when suddenly, my phone rang, I gasped. My heart started beating faster. Did I celebrate my freedom too soon? Was he calling me again?

 Chapter 67

    67 The shback ¨C The End of the Story

    Scared, I picked up the phone. But thank God, it was a video call disying my sister¡¯s face. I disconnected the call and return with a simple voice call. I didn¡¯t want my sister to know where I was. I didn¡¯t want anyone to know where I was. It was two days since I talked with my family.

    ¡°What?¡± I barked on the phone as I was angry at her for scaring me.

    ¡°Where are you? I have been calling you for days,¡± shouted Apeksha, worried.

    ¡°I was in transit,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Did you go to the end of the world that it took you days?¡± screamed Apeksha, again.

    ¡°Stop investigating!¡± I shouted. ¡°You are not Sherlock Holmes, you will never be able to deduce where I am.¡±

    ¡°I know where you are,¡± scoffed Apeksha.

    ¡°Really!¡±

    ¡°You are in Paris,¡± mocked Apeksha.

    .....

    ¡°How did you...?¡± I gasped sarcastically.

    ¡°I thought you would go to a ce where you could speak the localnguage,¡± replied Apeksha.

    ¡°I know French, so I must be in Paris. What logic!!¡± Iughed.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± but Apeksha was unable to detect the hint of sarcasm in my voice. I was happy, NK. I was smiling. I could not stop smiling from the moment I put my foot on Korea¡¯s soil.

    ¡°So smart! Why are you not the topper of your ss?¡± I teased her.

    ¡°Di! You are teasing me. Tell me where you are?¡± asked Apeksha.

    ¡°Never.¡±

    ¡°When will you be ready to tell us?¡± asked Apeksha.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Just tell me you are okay.¡±

    ¡°What will happen to me? I just arrived here.¡±

    ¡°When will you start work?¡± inquired Apeksha.

    ¡°On Monday.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t even tell whichpany you are working for?¡± pressured Apeksha.

    ¡°That would give away my location, idiot,¡± I replied.

    ¡°So, it¡¯s not a globalpany, got it,¡± Apeksha was d to hear a clue.

    ¡°Oh, as if you can find that out.¡±

    ¡°I will prove to you that I am Sherlock Holmes,¡± sneered Apeksha.

    ¡°You might be John Watson but Sherlock, not even in million years,¡± I mocked.

    ¡°Di!¡± suddenly Apeksha¡¯s tone changed.

    ¡°What?¡± I too became serious.

    ¡°You will take care of yourself, promise?¡± requested Apeksha.

    ¡°Ape! I will be okay,¡± I assured her.

    ¡°Will you find a therapist?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I will if I need one,¡± I replied.

    ¡°You know you can talk to me, anytime, right?¡± asked Apeksha.

    ¡°I know my ¡®headache¡¯,¡± I teased.

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t call me that,¡± protested Apeksha.

    ¡°You were my ¡®headache¡¯, you are my ¡®headache¡¯, and you will always be my ¡®headache¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Love you.¡±

    ¡°I love you too and tell mom and dad I am fine,¡± I said.

    ¡°They are here, tell them yourself,¡± said Apeksha.

    There was a beep on the phone which meant the Apeksha turned on the loudspeaker of the phone. ¡°I love you mom, dad,¡± I shouted over the phone.

    ¡°We love you too. Take care of yourself,¡± my parents shouted back in unison.

    ¡°I will, bye.¡±

    ¡°Bye, dear.¡±

    ¡°Bye, Di,¡± Apeksha chimed in.

    ¡°Bye, Ape.¡±

    After talking to my family, I went to bed. I was tired from all the work and travel I did. I slept till midday, there was no one to trouble me anymore. My slumber was broken by the ringing of the doorbell. I jerked myself from the bed and opened the door. My things had arrived from India.

    The whole day I kept opening boxes and cing the things around my house, dancing all around. There were a few decorative items, a few utensils, a coffee maker, a toaster and my books, a whole library of books. My apartment was now my home, a cosy home filled with sweet-smelling books.

    No call came that day, not even from my parents. For over a year they acted as mam bird but now they realised that I was ready to spread my wings, again. That night I set multiple rms on my phone, grabbed a copy of ¡°Little Women¡±, my favourite book and went to bed. The outfit I was going to wear at the office was hanging at the front of the closet.

    Everything was set for the next morning. I read a few pages of the book and have no idea when I fell asleep.

    I woke up early even before my rm rang. My book was open on my other pillow. I closed the book and got ready for the new job. After having my breakfast and coffee, I left my home, my new cosy home.

    True to the cab driver¡¯s words my house was 15 minutes away from the office. I like walking so I chose to walk there. The morning was cold, and I had a mask on. I grabbed my overcoat closer and walked the distance. The cold air on my face was numbing, the sensation I was now very much aware of.

    I reached the office and for a few moments, I kept looking at the building. The beautiful building was captivating. The morning sun was shining on the sses. The building was bathing in golden light. It was hard to avert eyes from that. I stood there for a minute and took in all the beauty of the building.

    A deep breath after I started moving in. I reached the reception, but it was empty. I realised that in my excitement and nervousness I was way too early. The guard let me in, but I had no way to go up for that I needed an ID.

    After waiting for a few more minutes a cute man entered the building. He went and stood behind the reception. I stood up from my seat and greeted him.

    ¡°Hello! My name is Nivritti.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Ms Nivritti. How may I help you?¡± asked the receptionist.

    ¡°I am starting a job in the Script department,¡± I replied.

    ¡°May I see your appointment letter?¡± requested the receptionist.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± I was confused.

    ¡°I am sorry that I am asking that, but we can¡¯t let anyone enter the premises without proper authorization, crazy fans, and all. I hope you understand.¡± He tried to make me understand that he could not allow me inside without proper authorization.

    ¡°Oh right! I knew the security was tight. Just forgot,¡± I smiled at him. I knew about crazy fans of K-pop idols and the extent to which they were ready to go to meet them.

    I looked in my purse and took out my phone. I opened the mail where I received the soft copy of the appointment letter and showed it to him.

    ¡°Right!¡± he said. He typed in something on hisputer and went to his printer. He handed me anyard. ¡°This is your temporary ID. Go to the 5th floor and report to the HR department, they will give you a permanent ID. After orientation, you can report to your department on the 11th floor. Ask for Choi Chung-Ho. He is the head of the department.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much for your help,¡± I said with gratitude.

    ¡°Good luck and wee to the team,¡± smiled the receptionist.

    ¡°Thanks again.¡± I smiled at him and went to the turnstiles he pointed at. I ced the temporary ID on the sensor screen and the turnstiles opened up. I made my way to the lift and climbed to the 5th floor.

    Sheepishly, I looked around when a man approached me from behind.

    ¡°Are you lost?¡± he asked in Korean.

    ¡°Sorry. My name is Nivritti Rathod. I am supposed to start my job today. I am here for my orientation. The man at the reception told me toe to the 5th floor, the HR department,¡± I said.

    ¡°Okay English, no Korean,¡± eximed the man. Before I could reply he continued, e with me.¡± I silently followed him.

    He made me sit in a conference room and sign paper after paper. He gave me all the rules and regtions of thepany. I was then sent to take my photograph and a new ID was made for me.

    They gave me a hard copy of my appointment letter and other contracts. I ced the envelope neatly in my bag and ced the ID badge around my neck. I again climbed the lift.

    You have no idea how happy I was, how free I was. While climbing up I took my badge in my hand and kept looking at it with awe. I had worked for big names before, but this was a wee change. The K-pop scene was changing the world and I was about to work for the biggest mediapany in Korea.

    The lift chimed and the doors opened. I stepped outside and looked at the floor. I read the signs and the production team, the script team and the art team were on the 11th floor.

    I looked at the sign which read ¡°SCRIPT DEPARTMENT¡±. Again, a deep breath and I charged in. I looked around for help, but everyone was busy with their work. I tapped on the shoulder of a nearby worker and asked him where I could find Choi Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Choi-ssi, this girl is here for you,¡± shouted the man.

    Chung-Ho stood up from his seat and asked, ¡°how may I help you?¡±

    It was my first time meeting CH, I had no idea how close I would get to him. He treats me like his own daughter, and I will be eternally grateful. I answered, ¡°um... my name is Nivritti. I here for the...¡±

    Before I couldplete my sentence, CH understood who I was. ¡°Oh, you are the new girl.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied.

    ¡°You are done with the HR?¡± asked CH. I nodded. ¡°Come with me.¡± He signalled me to follow him.

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    ¡°No need to call me sir. Call me Mr Choi or Choi-ssi,¡± interrupted CH. He showed me my seat and said, ¡°This is your seat, you will work directly under me. Make yourself at home. There is a meeting in half an hour in the conference room. See that room.¡± He pointed at a big room on the floor. It was all windows and doors. Everything inside the conference room waspletely visible. I could see shades that one could pull for privacy.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Meet everyone there. Meanwhile, get settled,¡± said CH.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I smiled, and he smiled back.

    Everything was new and charming. I was happy to see that. I ced all other important documents back inside my purse. For half an hour I kept staring at the system as I had nothing to do. Then, it was time for the meeting, and I was ready.

    Everyone else started getting up from their seat and I followed suit. The chairs were quickly filled so I chose to stand at the back of the room. I had my notepad and my pen in my hand to make notes. I kept exhaling loudly as I was nervous.

    In that meeting, we were told about Rencontre and asked toe up with ideas. It was after the meeting when I met with Yong and then you and your team. You know everything that happened after that. This was my life¡¯s story.

 Chapter 68

    68 The Warm Hug

    Kyung-Soo was not ready for such a heavy story. She kept crying, sobbing, smiling at different parts of the story but Kyung-Soo just kept staring at her and listening to her heart-wrenching story. She was right, he had no idea what heartbreak was. Even though his break-up exerted a toll on him but not like hers exerted a toll on her.

    Kyung-Soo closed the distance between him and Nivritti and ced his hands around her shoulder. Her tears were continuously streaming down her face. The moment he touched her, she melted. She contorted her face and immediately covered her face with her palm. She could not control herself and started sobbing loudly.

    He moved even closer and enclosed her in his arms. She rested her forehead on his chest and kept sobbing. The warm, soft shirt of his wasforting her just like his warm hug. Since the day she arrived in Korea, she has been crying in his arms, on his cashmere shirt.

    For hours, Kyung-Soo held her, letting her cry on his chest. He didn¡¯t say a single word. He didn¡¯t try to provide her with words offort as he had no idea what to say. He had no idea what one would say after hearing all the hardships she had to endure.

    The words that came out of her mouth were like daggers to his heart. He wanted to search for that man and kill him for hurting her. He could not even endure seeing tears in her eyes but was looking at her sobbing her eyes out because of a moron.

    He was angry at him as he kept harassing her even after he was married. What kind of person he was? Why can¡¯t he leave her alone? Didn¡¯t he punish her enough just for loving him? Even if his parents didn¡¯t approve of her, why didn¡¯t he have the audacity toe and talk to her?

    He was disgusted by Ritvik as he was the first who approached her, he was the first who showed interest in her and after she gave everything to him, he just discarded her from his life as if she meant nothing to him. It was a hard concept for Kyung-Soo to grasp how could someone treat her the way he treated her.

    Here, in Korea, everyone fell in love with her, with her brain, with her cuteness, with her intelligence, with her kindness. This kind of person does not deserve the things she saw yet life was a nightmare just a few months ago. What kind of monster was Ritvik?

    Wait! She said that she didn¡¯t change her number aftering to Korea and she would regret it. But he distinctly remembered that she said that she was having a problem with her Indian sim when Korain asked for her number. What was the problem? Or she lied? Did he call her again? Was that the regret?

    .....

    ¡°Ritti?¡± he interrupted. He could no longer see her cry. He had to divert her mind. But Nivritti said nothing, she just kept her head hidden in his chest, leaning on the soft fabric of the shirt.

    ¡°You changed your number because he called you here, right?¡± he asked softly. Nivritti shook her head in yes and slowly raised her head to look at him.

    Her eyes and nose were blood red. Her swollen eyes were hot to the touch. He wiped her tears from her hot cheeks.

    ¡°I am sorry that you had to endure all that. You are very brave, very courageous,¡± praised Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Huh...¡± scoffed Nivritti. ¡°So courageous that I had to seek therapy.¡±

    ¡°Acknowledging that you need help, is the highest from of bravery. Not everyone can do that. You realised that you needed help, and you went to your parents, even though they were not talking to you, that is bravery,¡± exined Kyung-Soo sweetly.

    Nivritti closed her eyes and tears fell from her eyes.

    ¡°Hey! Stop crying. You are free of everything now. This is your new start. A new start that you started with a scold,¡± teased Kyung-Soo. Nivritti chuckled at his tease. Kyung-Soo sighed with relief after hearing her chuckle.

    ¡°Ritti?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Are you safe? Do you need to hire someone to keep you safe?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, worried.

    ¡°What? Like a bodyguard,¡± sniffled Nivritti. She was done crying but her throat and her nose were still runny and choked.

    ¡°Something like that,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go inside. I am feeling cold,¡± Nivritti changed the topic. She stood up and went inside her living room. Kyung-Soo followed her after closing the balcony door. She sat on the long couch and he chose to sit in front of her in one of the chairs.

    ¡°Are you okay now? Do you need a nket or a shawl?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°I am fine, thank you,¡± she smiled sadly at him.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question,¡± he pressured her.

    ¡°NK! I don¡¯t need a bodyguard,¡± she replied.

    ¡°You have been sessful in avoiding him till now, what if he approaches you and you won¡¯t be able to dodge him?¡± he questioned.

    ¡°No one knows where I am, not even my family. I have changed my number and I don¡¯t have any presence on social media. I don¡¯t think this time he will be able to find me,¡± she replied with determination.

    ¡°Do you want my help to find a therapist?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No, I am fine,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± he stared at her with raised eyebrows.

    ¡°I wanted to find one the day TK scolded me. But I had work to do, so I threw myself into work. And after that day I have been busy, and you know what happened today. I just didn¡¯t get the time to search for a therapist,¡± she answered.

    ¡°No, no, no, that is not an eptable excuse. You need to take care of your mental health,¡± he scolded her.

    ¡°Well, I almost searched for a therapist one day,¡± she said remembering the day she dreamed of both Kyung-Soo and Ritvik but was not ready to tell him that she had dreams about him.

    ¡°Why? What happened?¡± he asked, concerned.

    She realised that she dug her own grave. What was she going to tell him? She decided to tell him the half-truth. ¡°One night I dreamed about Ritvik visiting me and I almost had a heart attack.¡±

    ¡°I am sorry that you had no one to talk to about all this but now I am here, whenever you want you can call me. And also, thank you for sharing everything with me,¡± he expressed his gratitude.

    ¡°You forced me to tell you, you idiot! You practically twisted my arm in telling you. You sat there in protest,¡± she mocked him and pointed at the floor where he sat while protesting.

    ¡°I needed to know,¡± said Kyung-Soo. His eyes were full of guilt.

    ¡°Well, now you know,¡± replied Nivritti, casually.

    ¡°So, you think that because he was younger than you, all that happened to you?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Of course, because he was younger, he thought life was all about having fun and living life without any responsibility. If he would have been mature, he would not have sulked about my promotion, he would not treat me as his possession. Jealousy is one thing but trying to control someone¡¯s life is another. Reacting the way, he reacted after the news of the pregnancy was the ultimate sign of chauvinism and immaturity. Well, I too was an idiot for cheating on him...¡± said Nivritti.

    But Kyung-Soo shouted and interrupted her, ¡°okay that¡¯s enough.¡±

    Nivritti was taken aback. She thought he grew bored of her constant crying and sob story but what he said next made her gasp and warmed even the coldest core of her heart.

    ¡°First of all, stop feeling bad for your one-night stand. There is nothing wrong with sex or having multiple sex partners. Second, you didn¡¯t cheat on him. The night you went out he broke up with you. His parents said no to your rtionship, and he called you to end everything. You know what he was going to tell you on the phone, he was going to tell you that he was getting married.

    ¡°For the whole month that you waited for him, he was going on blind dates with girls that his parents were setting for him and finally he said yes to one and called you to tell that. He abandoned you after your abortion, the saddest day of your life and your promotion, the happiest day of life, to go and find a wife for him.

    ¡°But that idiot was not even satisfied after marriage, he still wanted to make your life miserable. He could not ever see you happy. He wants to own you again, just like you said, for him, you were just a possession whom he tried to woe on the very first day of his college. Finally, he got you and then he took you for granted. When he lost you, he wanted to possess you again.

    ¡°That asshole is not thinking about his wife, his family, her family, you, or your life, he is just thinking about things that he could have but doesn¡¯t have, and he wants it on any condition. You are the one that got away and he hates that.

    ¡°I am with your parents on this one. You should file aint against him. If he is not thinking about his wife, then why should you? You are too kind, you need to get a little cunning.

    ¡°Ohh, now I am getting mad at you. When it was about saving another girl, you were ready to take those men down. You used your sharp wit and brought down so many people today, you even fought with your whole department, but when ites to you all you know is how to cry and run away. What are you, an idiot?¡± slowly Kyung-Soo was getting angry at her.

 Chapter 69

    69 The Good Night

    Nivritti avoided looking at him when he was scolding her. He was right, about everything. She was ready to fight tooth and nail when it was about someone else but when it would be her case, she would just run away. A simple problem would arise, her solution would be to run away. As already established, she was an expert in running away.

    ¡°My mom says the same thing. I am good at running. Because when a problem came at me because of Ritvik, I chose to stay and fight back and lost the battle spectacrly. Now, it¡¯s like my second nature, to run away,¡± Nivritti said while keeping her eyes lowered.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why you always run away. Now I know the reason. If you find a situation hard to handle, you run away. When you can fight for others, why not for yourself?¡± questioned Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. My fight or flight response kicks in and I run,¡± she replied.

    ¡°That I understand. But why does your fight or flight response work differently in different situations?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I have no idea,¡± replied Nivritti sadly.

    ¡°Girl! Get a therapist now,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. ¡°And stop treating all men the same. If one broke your heart does not mean every man will be the same. It pisses me off that you think that I am or anyone is anything like that asshole.¡±

    ¡°Once bitten, twice shy,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I understand that. I know how you feel, well to some extent,¡± replied Kyung-Soo. He went near her and knelt down. He took her hands in his and said, ¡°Ritti! I am sorry that your life was tragic, and that you are still dealing with the repercussions, but you need to open your heart and fight for yourself as you fight for others. Everyone is here for you. Choi-ssi, Jae, my boys, even Hu-ssi, all love you. Don¡¯t let a moron spoil everything. Now that no one knows where you are, discard him from your life. He never deserved you. Stop seeing the world from the tragic spectacles that he gave you. Remove your cynicism and you will find a world where you can again trust people. If you can protect people like Jae and JJ, then you can trust them too. I really hope that one day you again start trusting people.¡±

    .....

    Nivritti was smiling but tears were streaming down her face. She removed her hand softly from his hands and wiped her tears. ¡°Thank you for being so supportive. It¡¯s veryte, you should leave. Your boys would be waiting for you.¡±

    He looked at his wristwatch. It was 3 in the morning. He had no idea where the time went while she was narrating her story. She was an amazing storyteller. He felt every emotion that she experienced. ¡°Those idiots! They must be snoring by now. They don¡¯t even know that I left.¡± He pulled his ears and apologised to her, ¡°sorry for barging in and forcing you to tell your story.¡±

    ¡°You must be sorry,¡± she teased. ¡°But to tell you the truth, I feel better after sharing everything with you, thank you for listening and not judging,¡± she smiled at him.

    ¡°Yes, when you share your load, it feels better. And I did judge you, I am still judging you. Fighting for everyone else, not for yourself, you are an idiot!¡± he teased.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Now, leave,¡± she said.

    ¡°I will remember you, girl. You will be the only one who threw me out of her house at 3 am,¡± he teased her. His tease made her smile, and he was over the moon.

    ¡°Shut up, NK! Go home,¡± she stood up and pulled him up making him stand.

    ¡°You know you can call me anytime, right?¡±

    ¡°Okay, I will give you a call, if I feel like talking to someone,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Thank God! Tomorrow is no office,¡± he said while walking towards the door.

    ¡°What? Why?¡±

    ¡°Everyone would have been scared to see your swollen scary face,¡± he teased her again.

    ¡°I will kill you,¡± she shouted but a sweet smile was ying on her face.

    ¡°Good night, Ritti!¡±

    ¡°Good night, NK.¡±

    Kyung-Soo opened the door and walked out leaving Nivritti alone. The first thing she did was touch her eyes with her cold fingers and tried to soothe her burning eyes. But the coldness from her fingers was not enough. She went to her bathroom and washed her face with cold water. The cold water on her burning face was like an elixir.

    She dried her face and checked every door and window again and retired to bed. But her sleep was elusive. Her whole life story was ying on a loop in her mind. She was surprised that she told everything to Kyung-Soo. Why did she tell him everything? Why didn¡¯t she reserve a part for herself? Why was she so truthful and open to him?

    Lying on the bed, staring at the roof, she kept waiting for sleep to arrive. As Kyung-Soo said that it was a good thing that the next day was a weekend, and she had no worries about waking up early in the morning. She could sleep till noon and then meet with Jae-Hwa as promised.

    Meanwhile, Kyung-Soo kept thinking about Nivritti all the way to his home. Her sad, red, swollen face kept shing before his eyes. Now he understood everything about her. Now he knew why she was against a rtionship. A burnt child dreads the fire, it was true in the case of Nivritti.

    He vowed to himself that from this moment forward he will not pester her anymore. He would wait for her to open her heart again. All he can do is treat her with respect and show her some love and patience and give her time, a lot of time.

    The road was almost empty, and it took him minutes to drive from her house to his. Quietly, he parked the car and switched off the engine. He punched in the code for the house and the lock beeped. He closed his eyes and prayed that no one heard it.

    On his tiptoes, he entered the house and softly took off his shoes. Stealthily he moved towards his room when suddenly Thae appeared out of the kitchen in his pyjamas, rubbing his eyes with one hand and carrying a water bottle in the other hand, still trying to stay sleepy.

    Kyung-Soo jumped behind the kitchen wall instantly and vanished before Thae¡¯s eyes. Thae looked around with drowsy eyes and found no one so he moved to his room scratching his ass.

    Kyung-Soo exhaled with relief. He started walking behind Thae and after Thae moved into his room, Kyung-Soo ran to his room. The moment he reached his room, he almost had a heart attack as his room was echoing with snoring sounds.

    He moved towards his bed and under his phone¡¯s light, he saw who was sleeping in his bed.

    ¡°Aishhh... this boy!¡± he eximed after he saw Jung-Hwa sleeping in his bed under his nket. ¡°What is he doing here? When I left, he was sleeping in his room,¡± thought Kyung-Soo. ¡°Now what should I do? If I wake him up, he will ask hundreds of questions and if I sleep in his room, all the idiots will ask me hundreds of questions. I cannot tell them that I went to see Nivritti. Oh... what should I do?¡±

    Kyung-Soo kept pondering on his new problem. He was standing at the foot of his bed staring at Jung-Hwa thing about what to do when his phone chimed with a notification.

    ¡°Who is sending me messages at this time?¡± he thought. He unlocked his phone and there it was, sitting on the screen, a message from Nivritti. He beamed with happiness.

    ¡°Did you reach home safely?¡± said the message. He was happy that she was concerned but was also disappointed that she was straight to the point. Not even a ¡°hey¡± or ¡°hi¡±.

    ¡°Yeah, reached a few minutes ago,¡± he replied.

    Is everyone sleeping? No one saw you, right?

    Everyone is sleeping and no one saw me, don¡¯t worry.

    Good

    Why are you still awake? Go to sleep.

    Was about to sleep. Just wanted to check on you. I kept you herete, sorry.

    You didn¡¯t keep mete. I barged in your night.

    That is true. Should I tell people that an Idol ckmailed me tonight?

    Ha-ha, sure go ahead and tell everyone.

    Fine, I have a lot of interviews lined up tomorrow. See me on TV.

    Ha-ha, okay I will. And I think it will be easy for you as you know Korean. By the way, why didn¡¯t you tell us that you knew Korean? We have been talking in English with you. How manynguages do you know?

    Maybe 7 or 8. I know Hindi, English, French, Korean, Tamil, Telugu and Mym and a bit of Bengali.

    Wow!

    I don¡¯t like to advertise these things. Don¡¯t tell anyone, only CH knows.

    Why? You want to catch people saying bad things about you?

    Ha-ha, that is one benefit.

    Cunning girl! Now go to sleep.

    I will. You too, go to sleep. Good night.

    Good night.

    His phone kept chiming with every message he received, and his keyboard kept making noises as he would type his messages.

    ¡°Stop it, Hyung! Chat with your girlfriendter on. Let me sleep,¡± groaned Jung-Hwa. Kyung-Soo immediately ced his phone in his pocket and looked at Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°And why are you sleeping in my room?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°There was a ghost in my room,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Excuse me! Whose ghost?¡±

    ¡°Did I ask with whom you are chatting? No, right. I don¡¯t ask you questions, you don¡¯t ask me questions. Now sleep and let me sleep,¡± moaned Jung-Hwa and went back to sleep.

    ¡°Ghost?¡± murmured Kyung-Soo. He then shook his head in disbelief, went to the bathroom, changed his clothes, and jumped in bed with Jung-Hwa. Before sleeping, he again nced at his phone and reread his messages with Nivritti. With a smile on his face, he fell asleep.

 Chapter 70

    70 The Meeting with the San Family

    Ring! Ring! Nivritti could faintly hear a ring somewhere. She moved her hands around on her bed to feel for her phone but could not find it. Groaning she opened her eyes and still squinting looked for her phone. It was on the nightstand.

    She stretched her hand and reached for her phone. She picked up the phone. With her eyes closed and not even trying to find who was calling her, she ced the phone near her ear.

    ¡°Yes!¡± she asked in a sleepy tone.

    ¡°What? You are still sleeping,¡± screamed Jae-Hwa from the other end of the phone. Her scream jolted Nivritti out of her bed. She sat up on her bed with a jerk and looked at the clock, it was one in the afternoon. She slept the whole day.

    ¡°Sorry! Sleptte. I will get ready in a minute and meet you soon. Just tell me where I shoulde?¡± Nivritti kept taming her hair that kept falling on her face.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother. Text me your address,¡± she ordered.

    ¡°You want toe to my house?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°What? I can¡¯te to your house?¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that. Of course, you cane. Just give me five minutes,¡± pleaded Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°Why? Your house is dirty?¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? No, I just work up. I need to freshen up, idiot!¡± scolded Nivritti. ¡°I always keep my house clean,¡± she sulked.

    ¡°Good, because my parents are with me,¡± blurted out Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What, now?¡± asked Nivritti stoically when in reality, her sleeppletely vanished away after hearing that Jae-Hwa¡¯s parents were with her and were on the way to her home.

    ¡°And my oppa too,¡± informed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Anyone else?¡± taunted Nivritti.

    ¡°You are teasing, you are teasing, right? So, you don¡¯t want me to bring them?¡± whispered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Shut up! What are you talking about? Of course, you can bring your family. I will text you the address,¡± facepalmed Nivritti. The call disconnected. She opened the messaging app and sent her address to Jae-Hwa.

    She immediately jumped from her bed and ran to the bathroom. Quickly she was done with toilet and a shower. All she had to do was dry her hair, but she had no time for that, so she let her hair sit in her towel. Her eyes were still swollen so she ran to the fridge and applied ice on it to soothe the swelling a bit.

    She also had to think about what she was going to feed them. She had no Korean snacks with her. If she ordered it online maybe they could deliver it. Then there was the issue of what snacks they liked. She kept thinking about what she should do. Should she ask Jae-Hwa? Should she message her?

    She went grocery shopping just yesterday, so she had a few packets of biscuits and chips that she liked. Maybe she could offer them that and she had tea and cold drinks, that could work too. She immediately went to the balcony and removed the towel from her head. Now her hair was damp and manageable, but she still could not tie them. She would have to let them be free.

    She kept listening through her door for them to arrive, but no one came. She kept pacing up and down her living room. She had no idea why she was anxious. After a very long time, someone was visiting her house if she didn¡¯t count Kyung-Soo. He was the only one who barged into her house twice. Otherwise, she never had a house guest even in India. She stopped inviting people to her house. Because thest time when she invited someone, she ended up getting hurt.

    She was standing near her door, biting her nails when her doorbell rang. A yelp escaped her mouth. She ced her hand over her heart and inhaled deeply. Without looking through her peephole, she opened her door.

    ¡°Ann...¡± she opened her mouth to greet Jae-Hwa¡¯s family but instantly shut her mouth when she saw a stranger standing at her door. ¡°Um... ah... uh...¡± she had no idea what to say. She kept opening her mouth and then closing it instantly.

    An angel with ck, slicked-back hair was standing before her. The tall man was casually dressed in an oversized,fortable, butter-yellow shirt and brown trousers. The square-shaped spectacles were enhancing his small brown eyes. His jawline was so sharp that one look and he could easily destroy hearts. Even though he was a stranger, she felt that she knew him somehow. If only he had red hair, she would have recognised him instantly.

    She looked at his hands which were full of jute bags. She thought he was some salesman.

    ¡°Yes,¡± finally Nivritti spoke. But the man was too stunned to speak. He was staring at Nivritti¡¯s cute face and damp, tangled long hair. He could see her swollen eyes and instantly felt bad for her. Was it an allergy? Or was she crying?

    ¡°Oppa!¡± screamed Jae-Hwa, trying to push an elderly man on the stairs and with another hand carrying another jute bag.

    ¡°Oppa?¡± asked Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa climbed the stairs hyperventting, hugged Nivritti for a second and walked into her apartment leaving everyone at the door. ¡°Yes, he is my Oppa, she is my mother, he is my father. Now I want water.¡± She ran to the kitchen.

    Nivritti stood for a second listening to what she said and then instantly bowed down to her parents and greeted them, ¡°annyeonghaseyo!¡±

    ¡°She is the girl you were talking about? You didn¡¯t tell me she was beautiful?¡±ined Jae-Hwa¡¯s mother to her husband in Korean. Nivritti had no idea how to react. She understood every wording out of the woman¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo! Sorry toe here. We just thank you,¡± Jae-Hwa¡¯s mother said in slightly broken English.

    ¡°We are sorry to barge in. We just wanted to properly thank you,¡± said Jae-Hwa¡¯s father.

    ¡°Mr San. You didn¡¯t have to thank me again. You already thanked me. In fact, you didn¡¯t have to thank me at all,¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°Call them Ajumma and Ajhussi,¡± Jae-Hwa who was done with drinking water, suddenly appeared in the living room and spoke. Now her hand was empty. Nivritti saw the jute bag lying on her kitchen b.

    ¡°Huh!¡± Nivritti was perplexed.

    ¡°You saved our daughter not only from those men but also from bing the butt of all gossip in our office. You are now family. So, call us uncle and aunt,¡± exined Mr San.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. Mr Hu sent a firm message to everyone,¡± replied Nivritti politely.

    ¡°Why are your eyes swollen? Were you crying?¡± abruptly Jae-Hwa asked her. Nivritti was shocked to her core. She had no answer to her question.

    ¡°Jae-Hwa!¡± suddenly the young man spoke. Nivritti looked at him with gratitude and then immediately lowered her eyes.

    ¡°What, I was just asking. Are you okay?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I am fine. You know, yesterday¡¯s drama. I ended up crying while talking to my family,¡± lied Nivritti.

    Right away, Mrs San pulled Nivritti into her arms and gave her a tight hug. Nivritti froze. She didn¡¯t move an inch. A stranger was hugging her, and she had no idea how to react.

    ¡°You good girl. No cry, I am here,¡± said Mrs San.

    ¡°Uhmma! Let her go,¡± said Jae-Hwa and pulled her mother away. ¡°Sorry about my family,¡± she apologised.

    ¡°No worries. Everything is okay. Everything is fine. Please be seated, all of you. I will get something for you. Jae-Hwa, follow me,¡± said Nivritti and started pulling Jae-Hwa to the kitchen,

    But Jae-Hwa stooped her and said, ¡°no need. They are leaving. They just wanted to thank you and Uhmma cooked all this food for us both.¡± She pointed at the bags that were still in her brother¡¯s hands.

    ¡°She... she did what?¡± shouted Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Oh, stop being so dramatic, it¡¯s just food. Oppa! Are you going to just stand there or are you going to give her the bags?¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Right, sorry. Thank you for saving her,¡± Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother bowed down to Nivritti and offered her the bags. Nivritti politely took the bags from him. She didn¡¯t realise how heavy the bags were. The moment he let go of the bag, Nivritti¡¯s hands immediately lowered with the weight. Without giving it a thought, he instantly grabbed her wrists and supported her arms.

    An electric current ran through his body. His brain was telling him to jerk his hand away, but his heart was screaming never to let her go.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Nivritti expressed her gratitude.

    ¡°Ritti, meet my brother, San Jae-Geun. Oppa, she is Nivritti. Don¡¯t call her Ritti. Only her friends can call her that, understood?¡± introduced Jae-Hwa.

    Her introduction brought Jae-Geun from his dreand.

    ¡°Hello!¡± he said.

    ¡°Hi!¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Oppa! The bags are heavy, help her,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, please follow me,¡± said Nivritti. She handed him the bags back and took him to the kitchen. He walked behind her admiring her long, ck hair and ced the bags on her b. Seeing all the bags in her kitchen, Nivirtti¡¯s eyes widened with shock.

    ¡°All this is food?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yes, sorry. My mother went overboard,¡± he apologised with a sweet smile.

    ¡°No, no, please don¡¯t apologise. All mothers are the same, caring and sweet,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    Jae-Geun felt as if he was struck by lightning. His sister always kept talking about the new girl that came to K&Q but never said that she was so beautiful and that her smile was so pretty. He felt as if his heart was ready to jump out of his chest.

 Chapter 71

    71 The Awkwardness

    Everyone except Mrs San was feeling awkward and embarrassed. It was clear that she dragged everyone to Nivritti¡¯s house to thank her for everything she did for her daughter.

    ¡°Uhmma, Ahppa, leave. Your friends must be waiting for you. Also, this is so embarrassing,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No, no, have something first,¡± screamed Nivritti from the kitchen. She turned to look in the living room and found that Jae-Hwa was pulling them up from the couch.

    ¡°They are leaving,¡± emphasised Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No guests whoe to my house leave without eating or drinking. I have never even offered them a ss of water. They are staying. Please stay!¡± protested Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa¡¯s parents looked at her for permission.

    ¡°Fine! Give them water,¡± sulked Jae-Hwa and sat on the couch rolling her eyes.

    ¡°What happened to you? Yesterday you were a puddle of tears and today you are acting all feisty and bossy,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey!¡± pouted Jae-Hwa which made her familyugh at her.

    .....

    ¡°She is pretty and funny. And look how cute she is looking next to Jae-Geun. They will make a good pair, she can be my daughter-inw,¡±mented Mrs San in Korean.

    ¡°Uhmma!¡± both Jae-Hwa and Jae-Geun shouted at once. Nivritti froze for a second and thanked God that no one knew that she was fluent in Korean, otherwise this interaction would have been awkward. More awkward than this situation already was.

    She turned to get something for the San family to eat but her path was blocked by Jae-Geun. He stood directly behind her and when she turned, she narrowly escaped bumping into him. She instantly took a step behind.

    ¡°Oh, sorry!¡± he eximed and moved out of her way. She looked at him, smiled and moved away. He too moved away to the living room and sat next to his sister. He shot a look at his mother, angrily but his mother was in no mood to listen to anyone.

    Nivritti took out tes and sses and filled them up with food. She was still in shock by what Mrs San said. What was she thinking? How can she say something like that? Maybe all mothers are the same. They just want their kids to get married. Thank God her mother was not pestering her about the same as everyone in her family underwent therapy.

    She made a mental point to call her previous therapist and thank him. Shaking her head in disbelief, she brought cookies and chips and cold drinks for everyone. She ced the tes on the table and stood next to Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t have any Korean snacks,¡± she apologised.

    ¡°So considerate! Jaegeuna! Do you like her?¡± Mrs San asked her son.

    ¡°Uhmma!¡± snapped Jae-Geun and nced at Nivritti. She was visibly ufortable. She too nced at him but averted her eyes immediately.

    ¡°What? No girl is perfect for you. You will die a bachelor,¡± sulked his mother. Jae-Geun rolled his eyes hard at her mother.

    Nivritti was trying very hard not to react to Mrs San¡¯s words. She kept pondering whether she should tell everyone that she could speak and understand Korean.

    ¡°Please ignore my mother. She has no filter,¡± apologised Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry Oppa, she does not know Korean,¡± informed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Really? I could swear... maybe I am wrong,¡± said Jae-Geun. He has this feeling that Nivritti understood every wording out of his mother¡¯s mouth.

    Finally, Nivritti thought of revealing her secret. ¡°Jae, I...¡±

    But before she couldplete her sentence, Mrs San interrupted, ¡°you married?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti was surprised. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Boyfriend?¡± asked Mrs San.

    ¡°No!¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Great! She is talking in English,¡± Jae-Hwa hit her forehead hard with her palm.

    ¡°You like him. He is a doctor,¡± smiled Mrs San after talking about his son.

    ¡°Huh!¡± Nivritti¡¯s eyes widened and she froze. Her jaw dropped to the floor, and she kept staring at Mrs San.

    ¡°Uhmma!¡± shouted Jae-Geun. He immediately started bowing down to Nivritti. ¡°I am very sorry, I am extremely sorry for her behaviour.¡± But Nivritti had no idea how to react.

    ¡°I am so sorry,¡± screamed Mr San. He then ced his arm around his wife¡¯s shoulder and calmed her down, ¡°yeobo, stop!¡±

    ¡°Fine. No talk. I don¡¯t talk. I eat and shut up,¡± sulked Mrs San.

    ¡°Thank God!¡± eximed Jae-Hwa.

    After that, no one talked. All sat in silence eating cookies and chips. The awkwardness grew tenfold. The whole San family had no idea how to talk to Nivritti and Nivritti was still juggling with the dilemma of telling everyone that she was fluent in Korean.

    Finally, Mr San spoke, ¡°we should leave. Our friends have held a get-together. They must be waiting for us.¡±

    ¡°Ask her if she likes Jaegeuna. I don¡¯t want to die before seeing my grandchild,¡± pleaded Mrs San. Nivritti who was slowly sipping her coke suddenly choked violently on it. Coke came out of her nose and mouth. The whole table was covered with brown, sugary water.

    Jae-Geun immediately stood up and started patting her back. Jae-Hwa ran to the kitchen to bring a kitchen towel for Nivritti. After continuously coughing for a few seconds, Nivritti dispelled all the liquid from her windpipe. Jae-Hwa wiped her mouth and handed her the paper towel to clean her nose.

    Nivritti¡¯s head was already on fire after crying for the whole night, on top of that she sleptte and woke upte, which also made her head heavy and now the coke burned her throat and gave her another headache.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± asked Jae-Geun with concern. Unconsciously, his hand was still on her back.

    ¡°I am fine,¡± Nivritti said and jerked his hand away from her back.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± he removed his hand, but Abruptly Nivritti cried with pain. Jae-Geun¡¯s pearl ring got entangled with her hair and the moment he removed his hand, he pulled her hair along with it. ¡°Sorry, sorry!¡± he cried and ced his hand back on her back.

    ¡°Oppa!¡± scolded Jae-Hwa and came for their help. She disentangled Nivritti¡¯s hair from her brother¡¯s ring.

    ¡°I am very sorry. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?¡± Jae-Geun¡¯s face was screaming with guilt.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti with a smile but her eyes had a hint of tears in them. Whether it was because of choking or because of the pain, it was unclear.

    ¡°Every one of you, leave, now,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± asked Mr San.

    ¡°I am okay, Mr San. Thank you for asking,¡± she replied politely.

    ¡°Ahjussi!¡± cried Jae-Hwa. ¡°I asked you to call him ahjussi.¡±

    ¡°Right, sorry. I will keep that in mind,¡± apologised Niviritti.

    ¡°Okay, we will leave. Thank you for having us,¡± said Mr San.

    ¡°You are wee, Ahjussi, Ajumma,¡± Nivritti again bowed down to them. Jae-Geun was highly impressed with her politeness.

    But Mrs San was not yet done. She again approached Nivritti and gave her a tight hug. ¡°Next time, youe to my house. I will cook food.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I will. You enjoy with your friends,¡± Nivritti wished them goodbye.

    ¡°Okay, okay, leave,¡± Jae-Hwa shouted and started pushing her parents out of the house. Nivritti followed her. They both said goodbye to the elders and shut the door.

    Both the girls exhaled loudly and turned around. Jae-Hwa yelped and jumped in surprise. Her brother was standing before her.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing here? Why didn¡¯t you leave?¡± she shouted.

    ¡°I am your driver, idiot. Do you want me to leave you here alone? How will you get home? Do you want to take public transport?¡± Jae-Geun chided her.

    ¡°I knew it woulde back to bite me in the ass when I listened to ahppa about taking your car,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa. ¡°Can you not roam around with friends? We were supposed to meet alone and every one of you barged into my n.¡±

    ¡°Fine! I will leave. Call me when you are done. I wille to pick you up,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Wait! This is too much food for us. Eat lunch and then go,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    Jae-Geun smiled at her suggestion. ¡°So, if the food would have been less, you would not have asked me to eat,¡± he teased.

    ¡°What? No! I didn¡¯t mean that. I meant...¡± Nivritti was flustered.

    Jae-Geun didn¡¯t let her finish her thought and replied, ¡°rx, I was teasing.¡±

    ¡°Since when you started teasing?¡± taunted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Since the moment you don¡¯t know when to shut up,¡± mocked Jae-Geun, right away. ¡°Thank you for your offer, but all that food is for you. And I think two containers are just Kimchi for your future use. I have a friend who lives nearby. I will go be with him, you two enjoy your time. I think she has some secret to share with you.¡±

    ¡°Oppa!¡± sulked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Sorry was not supposed to reveal it,¡± smirked Jae-Geun. Nivritti smiled at him and this time her smile reached her eyes. Her red slightly swollen eyes twinkled with happiness. Jae-Geun gasped. His heart raced fast.

    ¡°Now leave,¡± Jae-Hwa pushed his brother and signalled him to leave.

    ¡°Okay! Chill,¡± he said and moved towards the door. Due to her politeness, Nivritti too moved to the door to say goodbye.

    ¡°Yeah, show him the way, I will get the food out. I am hungry,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and ran to the kitchen leaving Nivritti and Jae-Geun alone by the door.

    ¡°Really, thank you for all you did for that idiot,¡± he pointed at his sister.

    ¡°That was nothing. I did what any human being should have done,¡± replied Nivritti politely.

    ¡°Since the day you arrived, she has not shut up about you,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? Really!¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, she came screaming that she made a new friend who is beautiful,¡± suddenly his voice tone changed. He started with his sister¡¯s feelings but suddenly blurted out his own. The moment he realised he made a blunder he exined, ¡°her words, not mine.¡±

    Nivritti just nodded. ¡°Well, I should go.¡± Then he spoke in Korean, ¡°mannaseo bangabseubnida.¡±

    Nivritti too politely replied, ¡°Nice to meet you too¡± without realising that he spoke Korean.

    Jae-Geun halted in his path and shouted, ¡°I knew it. You understand Korean.¡±

    ¡°Shit!¡± Nivritti closed her eyes and covered her face with embarrassment.

    .....

 Chapter 72

    72 The Embarrassment

    Nivritti had her face hidden in her hands, shaking it in embarrassment. Her open hair was all over her shoulder and back. Jae-Geun could not stop smiling at her reaction. He caught her lie, cleverly.

    ¡°So, she understood every word that came out of uhmma¡¯s mouth. She tried hard to hide but truth came out finally. Ha-ha, she is looking so cute. What? What am I thinking? Why did I call her cute? Jaegeuna! Get it together,¡± he thought to himself.

    He climbed back the stairs and stood before her. ¡°So, does Jaehwa knows about your deception,¡± he teased.

    She immediately looked at him and said, ¡°no.¡±

    ¡°Should I tell her?¡± he smirked and teased her. He had no idea how she would react. Maybe she would give him an exnation. But what she did next was beyond his imagination.

    Instantly she closed her door so that Jae-Hwa could not hear their conversation and jumped at him. She covered his mouth with her palm and pushed him away from the door. His backnded on the railing, and she was over him staring into his eyes.

    Her face was too close to his. Her hair was now covering his shoulders as well. He carefully mapped her face. Her eyes were slightly red and still a little swollen. Her cute cheeks wereplimenting her jawline. Her nose was almost near his nose. Hervender smell hit his nose and he closed his eyes with pleasure. She was looking cute but her long, ck hair all over her was making her a little scary.

    ¡°Shush! Oh, this is so embarrassing,¡± she whispered. ¡°Promise me you won¡¯t tell anyone, promise me,¡± she threatened him. But he spoke no word. How could he, she kept his mouth covered. ¡°Say something,¡± she scolded.

    He pointed at her hand that covered his mouth. ¡°Oh, sorry!¡± she screamed and moved away from him, ashamed. She was now actively avoiding him. She kept looking everywhere but at his face.

    .....

    ¡°Does anyone know that you know Korean?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yes, a few people in the office know that I am fluent in Korean,¡± replied Nivritti, mortified.

    ¡°Fluent in Korean!! So, you not only understand Korean but can write and read as well?¡± asked Jae-Geun, shocked.

    ¡°Yes!¡± she replied sheepishly.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say anything before? My uhmma kept embarrassing every one of us. Oh! The things she said,¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I wanted to, but the things started spiralling fast and after a certain number of minutes, I thought it would be rude to tell everyone that I understood everything, so I kept my mouth shut,¡± replied Nivritti, self-consciously.

    ¡°Yeah, you are right. And sorry about my mother,¡± he said.

    ¡°No, no, don¡¯t say that. It¡¯s fine. Mothers! What can you do? They will do whatever they feel like,¡± smiled Nivritti. ¡°And don¡¯t worry, I will tell Jae-Hwa everything right now.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to if you don¡¯t want. I can keep your secret safe,¡± smiled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No, CH knows, and we work with him. One day I am sure he will blurt it out,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°CH?¡± Jae-Geun was confused.

    ¡°Oh right! I call Mr Choi, CH,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°What? You gave your boss a nickname? Are you not afraid?¡± asked Jae-Geun, surprised.

    ¡°I call him by that name in front of him. And why should I be afraid?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s just you are new and already you are informal with him,¡± exined Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, that! I think he feels guilty for not protecting me on my first day. So, he allowed me to be informal with him and treat him like a friend,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, the famous Kat incident!¡± recalled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°She told you that?¡± Nivritti was surprised.

    ¡°As I told you, since the day you arrived, she has not shut up about you,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°She is just too sweet,¡± smiled Nivritti. ¡°She talked to me when no one talked to me. She showed me around, everyone was treating me like a leper just because TK scolded me.¡±

    ¡°And then you saved her. What she did was a small thing but what you did was something else. And you gave a nickname to Kat as well,¡± noted Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti scoffed, ¡°Yeah, he felt bad for reprimanding me. Every member of ASD felt bad so they asked me to be their friend.¡±

    ¡°Wow! You are lucky,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Well, everyone in the world wants to be their friend but cannot do that. You became their friend,¡± exined Jae-Geun. ¡°And I hope they treat you like a friend.¡±

    ¡°Oh, they do. They are too sweet,¡± replied Nivritti.

    They exhausted every topic they had with them. Now they both awkwardly smiled at each other and kept looking in every direction thinking about a new topic to talk about.

    ¡°May I see it?¡± asked Jae-Geun, suddenly.

    ¡°See what? The footage, oh no! I hope Jae told you that we deleted it, sorry,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°No, not the footage, your hand,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I am sorry!¡± eximed Nivritti with shock.

    ¡°Jaehwa told me that you were injured,¡± exined Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh no! that¡¯s just mild bruising,¡± she instantly covered her arm with her hand.

    ¡°Please! As my mother said I am a doctor and I like to think that I am a good one,¡± he pressured.

    ¡°Right!¡± hesitantly, she uncovered her arm and showed it to him.

    Softly, he grabbed her arm and inspected the bruising. Four prominent ck lines stared into his face. With his other hand, carefully he ran his finger over her bruises, and she flinched in pain. He immediately let go of her arm.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°What are you two doing out here?¡± suddenly the door flung open, and Jae-Hwa appeared.

    But her brother ignored her. ¡°So, it pains when touched?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°Yes,¡± nodded Nivritti.

    ¡°What pains?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, concerned.

    ¡°Her bruises. Remember you asked me to check on them,¡± recalled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°You did what?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Everyone knew you won¡¯t go to see a doctor, so I brought a doctor for you, but you know my uhmma, she hijacked the conversation,¡± Jae-Hwa rolled her eyes. With the mention of Mrs San, both Nivritti and Jae-Geun exchanged a look.

    ¡°What?¡± immediately Jae-Hwa noticed that look.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti and Jae-Geun simultaneously.

    ¡°What was that look?¡± questioned Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Um... I have to tell you something, Jae,¡± said Nivritti, guilt-ridden.

    ¡°Whattt?¡± asked Jae-Hwa sceptically.

    ¡°I... I am... Iamfluentinkorean,¡± blurted out, Nivritti.

    But her words were not understandable. ¡°Heh!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ahh... she is saying that she is fluent in Korean,¡± said Jae-Geun, trying to help her out.

    ¡°What? Why didn¡¯t you tell anyone before? Why does Choi-ssi hold every meeting in English? Why didn¡¯t you tell him?¡± screamed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, he knows,¡± replied Jae-Geun, casually. Nivritti facepalmed at his answer.

    ¡°What? What did I say?¡± he was confused at Nivritti¡¯s reaction.

    ¡°How does he know everything when I don¡¯t know anything? Are you my friend or his?¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°This!¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°This is why I facepalmed.¡±

    ¡°Ohh!¡± Jae-Geun now understood everything. Nivritti was trying not to hurt his sister¡¯s feelings, but he just blurted everything out making her feel bad.

    ¡°I am your friend, and I was going to tell you but then your mother, Ajumma, interrupted me. And yes, CH knows. Why he holds meetings in English, I have no idea. My fluency in Korean is mentioned in my resume, so I think all the seniors know about me,¡± exined Nivritti.

    But Jae-Hwa was not listening to her. She let out a loud gasp and covered her mouth with shock.

    ¡°What? What?¡± Nivritti was worried at her sudden reaction.

    ¡°So, you understood every word that uhmma said,¡± her eyes widened with horror. ¡°Oh, the embarrassment!¡± she screamed and covered her face.

    ¡°Why do you think she choked on her drink?¡± observed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°So that is what clued you in?¡± asked Nivritti, impressed.

    ¡°I noticed your expressions. You were trying too hard to keep your face straight and then you choked. It just solidified my suspicions,¡± exined Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Hmm... impressive!¡± eximed Nivritti. Jae-Geun smiled with pride after hearing his praise.

    ¡°Yeah, he is the genius of our house. Yuck!¡± sulked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ha-ha,e on! You are my genius. Let us say goodbye to him and eat our food, I will tell you everything and you can tell me everything,¡± she winked at her.

    Jae-Hwa was taken aback. ¡°Does she know what I am about to talk to her?¡± she thought. Little did know that she not only knew about what happened to her but also, she was the orchestrator.

    ¡°What say, Jae?¡± asked Nivritti again when Jae-Hwa paused for a moment.

    ¡°Yeah, right. Kick him out,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I am already out,¡± pouted Jae-Geun.

    .....

    ¡°Yeah, leave,¡± said Jae-Hwa. Both the girls smiled at each other and started walking inside.

    But Jae-Geun interrupted, ¡°Nivritti!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Apply some heat pack on the bruising, that will clear up the trapped blood and will help with the pain,¡± suggested Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti bowed down to him and said, ¡°thank you.¡±

    ¡°You are wee. And you, give me a call when you are done. I wille to pick you up,¡± he talked to both the girls.

    ¡°Okay, Oppa! Now leave. Go,¡± said Jae-Hwa, annoyed. Nivritti keptughing at Jae-Hwa and her antics.

    But Jae-Geun only had eyes on Nivritti¡¯s face. The fine lines that appeared on her face whileughing enhanced her beauty. Her hair was ying on her face. He wanted to run to her and tuck her hair behind her ear. He again wanted to touch the soft, silky hair.

    He shook his head with disbelief and discarded all the thoughts that were floating in his mind. ¡°What the hell is happening to me?¡± he thought and started climbing down the stairs leaving the girls alone to enjoy.

 Chapter 73

    73 The Enormous Amount of Food

    Nivritti and Jae-Hwa went inside after saying goodbye to Jae-Geun. Jae-Hwa had already ted food for both of them. Nivritti was shocked to see the sheer amount of food before her. There was rice, different types of vegetables, chicken, other meats and most importantly kimchi.

    ¡°Woah! What is all this?¡± Nivritti¡¯s eyes were ready to fall out of her head. She already had big eyes and now they were at their biggest.

    ¡°Food?¡± replied Jae-Hwa, confused.

    ¡°Yes, I can see that but what is this?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh,e on! This is nothing. We eat this every day,¡± Jae-Hwa dismissed Nivritti¡¯s concern and went and sat on the couch. But Nivritti was too shocked to see the amount of food before her eyes. ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, annoyed.

    ¡°You eat this every day?¡±

    ¡°What? So Indians don¡¯t eat some kind of curry or stew every day with rice and bread?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°We eat dry veggies too,¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°Do you add spices to them?¡± questioned Jae-Hwa.

    .....

    ¡°Right!¡± Nivritti came close to her and sat down on the couch. ¡°So, tell me what all this is?¡±

    ¡°So that is sticky rice, that big, boiled chicken is Samgyetang, you know that bowl is Bibimbap, that is Gimbap, that is pork Galbi, and that is Cabbage Kimchi and that is Radish Kimchi,¡± quickly Jae-Hwa recited the menu. She then added, ¡°and those two green bottles are Soju. I know you don¡¯t drink so I brought a coke for you from the fridge.¡±

    Nivritti was still in shock. Her eyes refused to go back to normal size. ¡°What, now?¡±ined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You think, we two, we both, you mean us, we can finish all thhhiiisss?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Yes!¡± replied Jae-Hwa as it was the obvious answer.

    ¡°But you named only a few of these dishes. What are those?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, that is just Banchan,¡± replied Jae-Hwa casually.

    ¡°Banchan! Banchan! These, one, two, three... seven, seven side dishes,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°How do you know the meaning of Banchan? Who told you it means side dishes?¡± asked Jae-Hwa surprised.

    Nivritti slouched her shoulder and rolled her eyes at Jae-Hwa. Jae-Hwa facepalmed andughed, ¡°right! I forgot that you know Korean. So, that is a green sd, that is gamja jorim, those are made out of potatoes, that is radish sd, that is sigeumchi namul, it is made of Spinach, that is shiitake mushroom, that is broli and that is soybean sprouts.¡±

    ¡°And you eat this, everything that I see here, every day?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I mean, no. Okay, fine, I acknowledge that uhmma went a little overboard for you. She has been cooking since early morning after she heard about what you did for me,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Since early morning!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Chix! We all helped. Ahppa too wanted to do something for you and Oppa too,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti hid her face in her hands with embarrassment. ¡°Oh my God! You guys did all this for me? You woke up early to cook all this for me?¡± Nivritti kept shouting due to shock.

    ¡°You think we cooked just this? I only emptied half of one bag, sweetie,¡± smirked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Half of one bag? You guys brought three bags? Jae!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey! This is nothing. It¡¯s just food. We had no idea how to thank you, so we thought this was the best thing we could do for you,¡± replied Jae-Hwa seriously.

    ¡°Jae! I love it. What I don¡¯t like is you guys had to work so hard for me,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, uhmma wanted to cook lobster and prawns for you. And ahppa wanted to buy a year¡¯s worth of cake. So, I think is far less than what they wanted to do,¡± Jae-Hwa rolled her eyes.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Nivritti out loud. After the whole night of crying, she felt relieved afterughing. ¡°Well, in that case, this is better. So, what should I start with?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s finish Bibimbap first,¡± said Jae-Hwa, excited.

    Jae-Hwa picked up chopsticks and Nivritti picked up a fork and a spoon. They started with bibimbap and topped every spoonful with kimchi.

    ¡°Pick any side dish and eat in between,¡± suggested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You know what, I am going round the table,¡± said Nivritti and started stiffing her mouth with the delicious, sweet-smelling, mouth-watering food.

    ¡°How is everything?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yum!¡± replied Nivritti. Jae-Hwa grinned like a Cheshire cat. ¡°So, what do you want to talk to me about?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Right!¡± Jae-Hwa poured the soju into the smallest cup she could find in Nivritti¡¯s apartment. After a big sip, she looked at Nivritti. ¡°You will not guess what happened to me yesterday.¡±

    But Nivritti already knew what happened to her yesterday. ¡°Then tell me,¡± she requested.

    ¡°Okay, what happened was,¡± Jae-Hwa gulped another cup of soju again. ¡°Oh, I cannot tell you, you will make fun of me,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, blurt it out,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°One came to see me in the parking lot,¡± Jae-Hwa blurted out, scared after Nivritti¡¯s scolding.

    Nivritti smirked mischievously. ¡°And then, what did you say? What did he say? Tell me everything,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, so what happened was... wait! Why aren¡¯t you surprised? Why are you excited? This is not the reaction I expected,¡± said Jae-Hwa sceptically.

    ¡°Did you tell anyone else about this?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Then how do you know how I was going to react?¡± questioned Nivritti but she could not hide her smile. Her smile told everything to Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± she stood up from the couch and shouted. ¡°That¡¯s why you were acting weird yesterday, just like the way you are acting right now. You sent him. You told him about my parking space else how would he have known where to find me.¡±

    ¡°Guilty!¡± said Nivritti sheepishly and pulled Jae-Hwa back to the couch.

    ¡°You idiot!¡± Jae-Hwa fell on the couch with a bounce. ¡°Why did you send him to a public area? What if anyone would have seen us? Everyone was already talking about June and me. I am so angry at you,¡± she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

    ¡°He was concerned about you. He asked me about you, and I told him about your parking space. I didn¡¯t tell him to go, I just gave him the address, he decided to go on his own,¡± Nivritti outsmarted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh really!¡± she was ready to scold Nivritti when she picked up a piece of gimbap and stuffed it in Jae-Hwa¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Just tell me you didn¡¯t enjoy meeting with him,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°That is not the point,¡± said Jae-Hwa with her stuffed mouth.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you like that your Bias was concerned about you?¡± Nivritti asked again.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± sulked Jae-Hwa and guzzled another cup of soju.

    ¡°You like him, he likes you, so what is the problem?¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey! Stop it! He is a world-ss artist. Why would he like amon girl like me?¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, fine. Tell me what you guys talked about,¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Talked! You think we talked? I just kept screaming from the moment I saw him,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. Nivritti facepalmed. ¡°What? I was surprised, no, I was shocked. He had to cover my mouth to shut me up.¡± Nivritti smiled at her. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare smile. Do you have any idea that I could have died? You could have given me a heart attack,¡±ined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Is he that dreamy that you would have died with shock?¡± mocked Nivritti.

    ¡°Ha-ha, ha-ha, shut up!¡± Jae-Hwaughed sarcastically and scolded Nivritti. Nivritti just sniggered. Jae-Hwa drank another cup of soju in anger.

    ¡°What happened after you stopped screaming?¡± Nivritti stuffed her face with rice and mushroom and kimchi.

    ¡°Someone came into the parking lot,¡± informed Jae-Hwa and cut off one chicken leg and stuffed her face with it.

    ¡°Oh shit!¡± Somehow Nivritti spoke as her mouth was full of food.

    ¡°Yeah, oh shit! We had to hide behind the car,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ohh... in confined spaces,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Shut up! You think it was romantic. Everything was scary. The only thought in my mind was that no one should see us. You saved me from one scandal and then send One to create another. What kind of friend are you?¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°The best kind,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± said Jae-Hwa and took out a big chunk of meat from the chicken leg.

    Both the girls kept eating and drinking and eating the delicious food. Nivritti kept teasing Jae-Hwa and she in turn kept pouting andining to Nivritti. Hours went by. Slowly it was getting difficult to talk and sit after eating so much food. Still, a bit of food was lying on the tes, unfinished.

    ¡°What did you feel when June mistakenly locked you up with King? Huh? Huh?¡± Jae-Hwa demanded an answer.

    ¡°Right, you are right. I wanted to hit him on his head,¡± Nivritti thought back to the moment when she thought the very same thing after sending PJ to Jae.

    ¡°See, that¡¯s how I feel,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, then hit me on my head,¡± Nivritti gave her permission and closed her eyes to receive the punishment.

 Chapter 74

    74 The Care of Jae-Hwa

    Nivritti clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the blow tond.

    But Jae-Hwa snaked her hands around Nivritti¡¯s shoulder and grabbed her by her neck and brought her closer to her. ¡°No, I cannot hit you,¡± she kissed Nivritti on her head. The free-flowing hair of Nivritti went inside her mouth, and she started spitting instantly and let go of her. Nivritti fell to the side of the couchughing.

    And Jae-Hwa continued, ¡°you are my best friend. I never had such a friend before who took such great care of mine,¡± hupped Jae-Hwa. Nivritti understood that slowly the alcohol was getting inside her system and working its charm. She was under the influence of alcohol.

    ¡°You helped me first,¡± praised Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Just by talking to you?¡± scoffed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, when no one talked to me, you did. You took me in on my first day,¡± said Nivritti with gratitude.

    ¡°I was just being nice, and you looked like a sad puppy,¡± mumbled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Great! Thank you for calling me a dog,¡± taunted Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh sorry, no dog, you are afraid of dogs,¡± hupped Jae-Hwa, again. ¡°Why are you afraid of dogs? They are so cute, so loyal, so bugffh...¡± her words started slurring.

    .....

    ¡°Okay, you are officially cut off.¡± Nivritti tried to grab the soju bottle.

    ¡°No,¡± but Jae-Hwa grabbed it first and ran away from the couch with the bottle.

    Nivritti too stood up from the couch and ran behind her. ¡°Jae! Give that to me,¡± she shouted.

    ¡°No! This is mine,¡± said Jae-Hwa and she downed all the liquid within a minute.

    ¡°Woah! Woah! Woah! Slow down,¡± screamed Nivritti and grabbed the bottle.

    ¡°Ha-ha, I finished it. There is nothing left for you,¡± Jae-Hwa let go of the bottle and started jumping with happiness.

    ¡°Okay, Okay, Jae! Come on,e with me,¡± Nivritti pulled and pushed Jae-Hwa to the couch and made her lie down. But Jae-Hwa would pop up like a mole and sit up. Nivritti would push her down and she would again sit up, grinning like an idiot. Nivritti was ying a real-life Whac-a-mole.

    ¡°Lie down, Jae. You will hurt yourself,¡± scolded Nivritti. Finally, Jae-Hwa listened to her andy t on the couch.

    Nivritti dampened a paper towel and wiped Jae-Hwa¡¯s mouth and hands and covered her with a nket. The golden light outside was changing into a greyish purple. Jae-Hwa had already started snoring.

    Leaving her on the couch, Nivritti cleaned up the table and ced all the food in containers and boxes to eatter. Jae-Hwa took out too much food so, it was impossible for anyone to finish it. She also emptied all the containers that the San family brought.

    She washed every utensil and packed the bags to return them. She nced at sleeping Jae-Hwa with a smile. Finally, she looked around her house. There was nothing to do and Jae-Hwa was sleeping. She too wanted to go and rest as her eyes were still burning. She needed more sleep.

    But she could not leave Jae-Hwa alone in unfamiliar surroundings. What if she wakes up and doesn¡¯t know the way to the bathroom, or she gets sick after drinking so much? She had to stay awake for her sake. So, she decided to work on the scripts.

    She brought herptop to the living room. cing her feet on the table she satfortably in the single chair of the couch set. She fired up herptop and inserted her credentials. The front page of the Rencontre opened for her. She pressed on her server and the unread scripts came highlighted before her eyes.

    She opened the oldest of the unread script and started reading it. The script was meant for Kyung-Soo. Her mind raced back to thest night. ¡°Oh, what he would be thinking about me? Why did you have to tell him everything, you fool?¡± she scolded herself.

    ¡°Okay, enough. Stop thinking about him, concentrate on your work,¡± she said to herself and started reading the script. It started with a kiss scene, fuming with anger, she immediately rejected it.

    ¡°What the hell? We clearly said that there must not be any kind of intimate scene. That will be the ground for rejection, still, some idiots write exactly that. Why can¡¯t people follow simple instructions?¡± she gritted her teeth. She was furious. She told herself that it was because people ignored her instructions, but she knew that the reason was something else.

    The moment she read about someone else kissing Kyung-Soo, that made her mad. But she was not ready to acknowledge that.

    Hearing herint, Jae-Hwa groaned in Korean, ¡°uhmma, shh... I am sleeping.¡±

    ¡°Do I sound like her mother?¡± pondered Nivritti. ¡°Sorry!¡± she apologised to Jae-Hwa who went back to her sleep.

    She opened the next script which was meant for Korain. She smiled at the script. Korain was the water god and slowly he was building the world. Everywhere he dropped a waterdrop, life started. He created all kinds of mythical creatures. Thest creature was a special being. It had the upper body of a human but had two eighth notes for legs. His whole body was covered with musical symbols and when he spoke music came out. The whole world was filled with sweet music after that. There was peace and harmony in that world.

    She loved this concept. Immediately she moved it to Kyung-Soo¡¯s folder.

    One by one she kept reading the scripts, many of which she rejected. There were a few that had bad grammar but had good concepts, so she moved them to a different folder. Her tired eyes and heavy stomach were making her drowsy.

    Yawning, she kept reading the scripts. Her eyes would fill with tears after every yawning, but she would wipe them and start reading again.

    Finally, she thought of resting her eyes for a minute. She ced theptop on the table and let her head fall on the headrest of the couch. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. ¡°Just for a minute,¡± she told herself.

    But her tiredness took over and she fell into a deep sleep. First Jae-Hwa came to visit her in her dream. They had coffee together. Then the scene shifted to the practice room, and she met with all the seven boys. Immediately the scene shifted, and she was in a boat with Korain. He was the water god and he kept creating creatures.

    ¡°Wow, SK, that is so good,¡± eximed Nivritti.

    Korain opened his mouth but instead of words, a sound came out of it. ¡°Ding, Dong!¡± Nivritti looked at him, funny. He again opened his mouth, and the same sound came out. ¡°Ding, Dong!¡±

    ¡°What is happening?¡± she asked Korain. The sound repeated, ¡°Ding, Dong!¡± and with a sharp exhale she woke up.

    ¡°Shit!¡± she shouted and ran to the door. It was her doorbell that kept ringing. She wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth and rubbed her eyes. With a loud exhale, she opened the door. Jae-Geun stood before her.

    He looked at her drowsy eyes and understood that she was sleeping. ¡°Oh, I am sorry that I woke you up,¡± he apologised.

    ¡°No, no, no worries. I thought I was just shutting my eyes for a minute, but I fell asleep,¡± she replied smiling.

    ¡°Sorry, foring here like this. But that idiot said that she would call me, and she didn¡¯t. And when I called, none of you answered,¡± exined Jae-Geun.

    ¡°You called?¡± asked Nivritti, confused.

    ¡°Yes, on her phone,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°But I heard nothing. Wait! Why are we talking at the threshold, pleasee in,¡± she invited him in.

    Jae-Geun smiled, took off his shoes and went in. He facepalmed the moment he saw his sister snoring loudly on the couch. ¡°Aishhh... this girl. How much soju did she drink?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°Um... two whole bottles!¡± replied Nivritti sheepishly. ¡°I tried to stop her, but it was toote.¡±

    ¡°What? She drank all soju on her own. She didn¡¯t give you any? She needs good scolding from Uhmma,¡± Jae-Geun gritted his teeth.

    ¡°She didn¡¯t give me any because she knows that I don¡¯t drink,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Excuse me! You don¡¯t drink?¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti sceptically.

    ¡°She said that she wanted soju for you because you wanted to taste it. You were bored of drinking scotch and wine,¡± said Jae-Geun. He looked at Jae-Hwa and ced his arms on his waist.

    Nivritti threw her head behind and startedughing out loud. Jae-Geun let out a gasp and his hands fell to his side. He loved the way she looked whileughing. Her closed eyes, her pointed nose, the fine lines on her cheeks and her beautiful, long neck were tugging at his heartstrings. Her hair was still open and flowing at her back.

    Jae-Geun could not keep his eyes away from her. Unwittingly, he walked near her and asked, ¡°what?¡±

    Nivritti stoppedughing and wiped the corner of her eyes that were tearing up because ofughing hard. ¡°Nothing, nothing. You said that she wouldn¡¯t shut up about me, yet she withheld information. And then made a fool out of you all, saying that she wanted to make me drink. Do you guys stop her from drinking?¡±

    ¡°With good reason. See what happens after she drinks too much,¡± Jae-Geun pointed at Jae-Hwa. Nivritti againughed. Jae-Geun was loving the sound of herugh. He smiled at her with all his heart.

 Chapter 75

    75 The Prejudice

    Jae-Geun was looking at Nivritti, admiring her beauty. Even with her dishevelled hair and droopy eyes, she was looking beautiful. The whole day he kept thinking about her. Even his friends teased him about daydreaming, but he could not concentrate on a thing.

    The only thing he eagerly waited for the whole day was for his phone to ring. He waited for Jae-Hwa to call him so that he could again go and meet with Nivritti, but his sister never gave him a call. Finally, he had to barge in.

    ¡°So, how was the food?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°It was awesome and thank you for waking up early and helping your mother in preparing food for me,¡± she expressed her gratitude.

    Jae-Geun scratched the back of his head, sheepishly and smiled, ¡°she told you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she did. Thank you,¡± Nivritti bowed down to him.

    ¡°Please! What we did is nothingpared to what you did,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°It¡¯s not apetition, you know.¡±

    ¡°Okay, noted,¡± smiled Jae-Geun. He realised that he had no more reasons to stay at her house and he must leave. ¡°I think I should leave now. I will take her and get out of your way,¡± said Jae-Geun. He moved towards the couch and started removing the nket from over his sister, but Nivritti held his hand and stopped him.

    .....

    Jae-Geun froze when her hands touched his wrist.

    ¡°Leave her be. She can stay here tonight. You can take her away tomorrow. It¡¯s Sunday after all,¡± requested Nivritti.

    She let go of his hand, but he could still feel her soft touch. He touched his wrist with his other hand to make sure that Nivritti really touched his hand. He exhaled loudly and calmed himself.

    ¡°But...¡± he protested.

    ¡°If you want to help just, help me carry her to the bed. I cannot let her sleep on the couch for the whole night,¡± she suggested.

    He smiled at her thought. ¡°She was right, you are a good friend,¡± praised Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Again, it¡¯s nothing. It would be problematic to carry her on the stairs. What if you both get hurt? How will I carry both of you to the hospital? In short, I am thinking about myself,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, right!¡± heughed. ¡°Okay, I will take her to bed. Our house will be calm and serene for the first time since she was born,¡±mented Jae-Geun and they both startedughing.

    ¡°Is she that naughty?¡± asked Nivirtti.

    ¡°Oh, you have no idea,¡± scoffed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°But in the office, she is silent and more of an introvert,¡± noted Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, she shows her real face in front of us only,¡± Jae-Geun shook his head in frustration.

    ¡°She is the younger kid, of course, she is pampered,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Right. That¡¯s why when I saw her crying yesterday, and after she told me everything, I wanted to kill every one of those men,¡± he suddenly became sad and furious.

    ¡°Why do men resort to violence,¡± murmured Nivritti as she recalled what Kyung-Soo said after hearing that she was hurt.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    Nivirtti realised that her mind suddenly went to Kyung-Soo. She shook her head and said, ¡°nothing, I said that I can understand. I too have a younger sister and she is annoying as hell.¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Jae-Geun.

    Jae-Geun then removed the nket and lifted his sister in his arms. Nivritti pointed towards her bedroom and followed Jae-Geun with the nket. Softly, Jae-Geun ced Jae-Hwa on the bed and Nivritti tucked her in. After making sure that Jae-Hwa wasfortable, they came back to the living room.

    Jae-Geun looked around for Jae-Hwa¡¯s purse and fished for her phone in it. It was on silent. ¡°This idiot! She kept her phone on silent,¡± he shook his head in disbelief. ¡°What if she was with someone else, how would I have reached her? It¡¯s a good thing she was in your house. Sometimes I feel like hitting her on her head,¡± Jae-Geun gritted his teeth.

    ¡°Woah! Calm down.¡± She hesitated for a minute and then said, ¡°well, if you want, you can take my number. You can call me if she is not picking up the phone. She always spends all her time with me anyway.¡±

    ¡°Your number?!¡± Jae-Geun¡¯s heart started beating fast. He gulped and shook his head in yes. With trembling hands, he took his phone from his pocket and gave her his phone. She avoided touching his hands and received the phone. Instantly, she inserted her number into it.

    ¡°And don¡¯t worry about her. I will take good care of her,¡± assured Nivritti.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say that. I know you will take good care of her,¡± smiled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°And thank your parents,¡± she smiled and spoke. The moment she mentioned his parents, she remembered that she had to return the bags. ¡°Oh wait! The bags. I have emptied the bags, you can take them back,¡± Nivritti ran to the kitchen and brought all the containers and the bags. ¡°I will not have to cook food for a century now,¡± teased Nivritti. Jae-Geunughed at her.

    ¡°Yeah, uhmma went a little overboard. She didn¡¯t know how to thank you,¡± said Jae-Geun, awkwardly.

    ¡°Mr San... I mean Ahjussi, already thanked me. And stop with all these thanks, thank you. I did nothing,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Your arms tell a different story,¡± he pointed at her arm.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. But I will say this if you think you guys are in my debt for saving Jae, then your debt is officially paid by this century¡¯s worth of food,¡± she teased again.

    ¡°Ha-ha, okay I will inform my parents,¡± scoffed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Thank you for letting her stay,¡± said Jae-Geun, seriously. ¡°Thank you for being her friend. She told me what you said to her when she informed you about her nepotistic position.¡±

    ¡°I just told her the truth. One of the ideas that CH liked was hers. She has talent and no one can deny that. I know that¡¯s why she received so much hate yesterday from her own team members. They think that ites easy for her, and they are wrong. She is hardworking and I have seen it. She is learning the craft extremely well. She even found quite a few good scripts all on her own. She will soon rise in the department; I know that for sure,¡± she praised Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Thank you for saying that. It means a lot to her that she is working under you. She told us about your idea, and she was excited, happy, impressed and a little in love with you,¡± mocked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, stop it!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°No, really and the way you talk to the members of ASD, she cannot shut up about that. You are not influenced by them, you are not afraid of them, you are not mesmerized by them, she is in awe of that. You know she is a fan of ASD, right?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yeah, I know. And One is her bias,¡± notified Nivritti.

    Jae-Geun rolled his eyes after hearing the name ¡®One¡¯. Nivritti noted that.

    ¡°You have anything against One?¡±

    ¡°Not One, I think I have this problem with the K-pop culture,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti was taken aback. ¡°What? Why?¡±

    ¡°Young girls and boys concentrate more on them than their studies. They spend so much money on their merchandise and for what. You should see her room, full of their posters, and their albums and their things. Everything she owns has ASD on it. These fandoms act like crazy when they see them. Do you have any idea how many times injured peoples havee to the hospital because they got injured while waiting for the idols in a crowd? And then they spent thousands and thousands of Won for their fan meets, they gift them expensive things. Now, Jaehwa has started earning money, before that she used to spend all the Ahppa¡¯s money. And because she is the favourite one, she always got her way,¡± chided Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Ohh, now I understood. You are jealous,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°What? No!¡± screamed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I am teasing, rx!¡± said Nivritti. ¡°You know that not only young girls and boys are in idol fandom, right? All the idol groups have diverse fans. They belong to different countries, different cultures, different races, different demographics. A big chunk of Korea¡¯s GDPes from idol culture. It¡¯s not like the idols woke up one day and rose to fame, they worked hard. They had to practise dancing, singing, rapping, acting, and whatnot every single day. And then the stupid beauty standards. Do you have any idea what they have to go through every day? They are in front of the public 24¡Á7. Even if they sneeze, it bes news. They have to leave their homes at a tender age to train. They sacrifice their childhood. Yes, people spent their money on them, but everyone does that on the things they like. I ask you when you were studying to be a doctor, didn¡¯t you want the best books, didn¡¯t you follow the best doctors in your field, didn¡¯t you read up on all the researchers in your field? Don¡¯t you want a shiny new stethoscope orfortable scrubs, or high-end machines?¡± lectured Nivritti.

    ¡°I...¡±

    But she didn¡¯t wait for his answer. She continued, ¡°then how is their passion different to yours? Just like treating people, curing illness, and ying with fancy machines is your jam, listening to their music, and watching their videos, is their jam. By spending money on them they feel like being close to them. Their music has deep meaning, and catchy beats which make them happy. You are a doctor, I am sure you know the benefits of listening to music. They trigger your pleasure centres thus reducing anxiety, blood pressure, stress, it enhances mood, improve mental alertness, and boost memory. Tell me I am wrong.¡±

    ¡°You are right,¡± said Jae-Geun, guilt-ridden.

    ¡°So, what is wrong with rewarding those who provide happiness in our life? Think of it this way, in ancient times, kings and queens used to reward with money, jewellery and many more things to court jesters, musicians, dancers, and performers with. That is what is happening in today¡¯s world too. But now those performers had be king and queen andmon people reward them instead,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Sorry! Maybe I was prejudiced. I never thought like that. Thank you for exining,¡± Jae-Geun¡¯s face had guilt written all over it.

    ¡°You are wee.¡±

 Chapter 76

    76 The Eye Drop

    Nivritti was a little annoyed with Jae-Geun. He was criticizing the field she was working in. But she didn¡¯t lose her cool. She gave him a piece of her mind. She was shocked to hear his opinions even though his own father and sister were working in that industry.

    Jae-Geun too was feeling bad after she made him change his opinion. The way she exined to him, he realised that he should respect everyone¡¯s passion. It was true that he wanted the best equipment for himself so why can¡¯t other people get the things they wanted the most?

    They both were awkwardly standing in the living room without talking to each other. They were looking in every direction except at each other.

    Jae-Geun cleared his throat and spoke, ¡°ahem... I... I think I should leave.¡±

    ¡°Right! It¡¯ste,¡± said Nivritti.

    Jae-Geun picked up the bags and started moving towards the door. Suddenly he halted in his path and turned around. ¡°Wait! I brought this for you.¡± He ced his hands in his pocket and took out an eye drop.

    Nivritti looked at him with surprise.

    ¡°Your eyes were swollen. They are a little swollen right now. This will ease the burning sensation and soothe your eyes,¡± educated Jae-Geun. Nivritti hesitated for a minute.

    ¡°Okay, so, you are angry,¡± noted Jae-Geun.

    .....

    ¡°What? Why would I be angry?¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Because of what I said. I am sorry,¡± Jae-Geun lowered his head with shame.

    Nivritti exhaled loudly and said, ¡°Jae-Geun, what you said was your opinion. Everyone is entitled to have one. You don¡¯t have to be sorry.¡±

    ¡°But you are angry,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Because you talked about my job,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What? No, I never said anything about your job,¡± shouted Jae-Geun, shocked.

    ¡°I work in the same industry that you condemned a few minutes ago. You don¡¯t like Idol culture and I work with idols, I work for them,¡± educated Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I am not against Idol culture. I am against the fanatic fans, spending money that you don¡¯t have, not caring about your health for someone, for something,¡± rified Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Have you not spent nights and days without eating, just concentrating on your studies?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°But that is different. I was cramming for exams, for my future,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Exactly. The end result. All that effort gave you happiness atst. That¡¯s what everyone is searching for, happiness. Some invest money, some invest time, they give whatever they have. If idols give them happiness, who are you to judge them? You know I am appalled to know that you condemn Idols when your father and sister work in that industry,¡± Nivritti shook her head in disbelief.

    ¡°You are right. I have no right to judge anyone. I am sorry, really sorry. Now, will you ept this? My arm is killing me,¡± apologised Jae-Geun and waved his arm that was extended towards her with the eye drop sitting on his palm.

    Nivritti smiled at his cuteness and shook her head. She extended her hand and picked up the eye drop.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I am really sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I can never hurt you,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Do you talk like this to her too?¡± asked Nivritti and pointed towards her bedroom.

    ¡°Am I standing before you alive?¡± questioned Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Nivritti, confused.

    ¡°Then you know the answer. If I talk about her idols before her, she will kill me,¡± Jae-Geun rolled his eyes. Nivritti pressed her lips tightly trying not tough at him but with a chuckle, she startedughing loudly.

    ¡°Hey!¡± pouted Jae-Geun. But finally, he was relieved that Nivritti wasughing and was not angry at him. He loved herugh. He could spend all his life listening to herugh.

    ¡°Um... Nivritti!¡± he interrupted.

    ¡°What?¡± she smiled at him.

    ¡°Let me help you put the drops in your eyes,¡± he offered.

    ¡°Oh no! I don¡¯t want to trouble you. I can do it myself,¡± smiled Nivritti awkwardly.

    ¡°Really! You can put drops in your eyes by yourself?¡± questioned Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yeah, why not?¡± her voice climbed a pitch higher.

    Jae-Geun dropped the bags and moved towards her. Before she could understand what was happening, he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the couch. Grabbing her shoulder, he pushed her onto the couch, and she sat on it with a muffled thud and gulped with shock.

    ¡°Give it to me,¡± he demanded.

    ¡°Jae-Geun!¡± she tried protesting but Jae-Geun was having none of it.

    He ced his arms on his waist and tilted his head. ¡°She never told me that you are stubborn. It¡¯s absolutely admirable that you are independent, and you want to do all your work on your own. But sometimes it is okay to ask for help. You are a killer writer, a great fighter, but here, in this room, I am the doctor. So, let me do my job,¡± scolded Jae-Geun. Nivritti bit the inside of her lips. Jae-Geun waited for her answer but she said nothing. ¡°But if you are still angry then it¡¯s okay,¡± he pouted.

    Nivritti smiled at him. ¡°Oh emotional ckmail, really?¡± she teased.

    ¡°It works all the time,¡± said Jae-Geun and smiled like a child.

    ¡°Ha-ha, fine,¡± said Nivritti, defeated. She gave him the eyedrop and said, ¡°here, you can help me.¡±

    ¡°Of course, do you see anyone else here to help you?¡± she looked all around to tease her.

    ¡°No sir,¡± Saluted Nivritti, teasingly.

    Jae-Geun took the small bottle of eye drops from her. He opened the seal and discarded the first drop on his arm and wiped it on his shirt.

    ¡°Rest your head,¡±manded Jae-Geun. Nivrittiy her head on the headrest and slid a little on the couch to befortable.

    Jae-Geun gulped the moment her smooth neck became visible. A light mole on her neck attracted his attention. ¡°Shit! I didn¡¯t think this through,¡± he thought. He took a deep breath, gulped again, and lowered his upper body to get close to Nivritti.

    ¡°Ready?¡¯ he inquired.

    ¡°Uh... huh,¡± she replied.

    He came close to her face. His breathnded on Nivritti¡¯s face moving her hair away from her cheeks. His heart started racing fast. His mouth was getting drier and drier with every passing second. He was about to put the drops in her eyes when he noticed her long, curled eyshes. Her big eyes became more beautiful.

    He gulped again and raised the bottle of the eye drop near her eyes but Nivritti started blinking her eyes fast. He tried dropping the liquid but it was getting hard for her to keep her eyes open.

    ¡°Stop!¡± he stifled hisughter.

    ¡°What?¡± she raised her head.

    ¡°You can¡¯t keep your eyes open, can you?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Tell me one person who can when something is this close to your eyes,¡± she brought her palm near her eyes to demonstrate and pouted.

    He smiled at her cute gesture and pouty lips. ¡°Okay, when I bring the drop close to your eyes, try looking up,¡± he suggested.

    ¡°Up?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Not towards the ceiling, towards your forehead,¡± exined Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Ready?¡± asked Jae-Geun, again.

    ¡°I think so,¡± replied Nivritti.

    She again let her head rest on the headrest and mentally prepared herself. Jae-Geun again lowered himself and for a second closed his eyes to prepare himself. A whiff ofvender scent hit his nose. The smell was doing something to his heart he just didn¡¯t know what.

    This time Nivritti looked up and Jae-Geun easily put the drops in her eyes. He closed the bottle and ced it on the table.

    ¡°Now, close your eyes for a minute and rest. Repeat the same in the morning after you wake up,¡± ordered Jae-Geun. She immediately followed his order.

    Jae-Geun stood before her, looking at her, admiring her beauty. Tears were falling from her eyes due to the drops. She moved her fingers and wiped her tears andy still on the couch with her eyes closed.

    Jae-Geun exhaled loudly and kept looking at her magnificence. Her average-length forehead, her long hair, her pointed nose, her cute cheeks, her jawline, and her full lips. His eyes stopped at her lips. His hands involuntarily moved towards her face and hovered over her lips.

    He wanted to touch them, he wanted to feel them. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists pondering if he should touch them. His heart was ready to jump out of his chest. He was breathing heavily. He was on the verge of hyperventting when Nivritti interjected his thoughts, ¡°may I open my eyes?¡±

    He immediately stepped a few steps back, cursing himself for such thoughts. ¡°Yes, yes you can,¡± he stammered.

    She opened her eyes and saw him. But he was feeling ashamed about his thoughts. He just met her how could he think about touching her lips? Mentally he hit himself on the back of his head. Was he bing a pervert? He realised that he didn¡¯t trust himself with her.

    ¡°I... I should leave. Good night,¡± he babbled and ran away from her apartment without waiting for her reply.

    ¡°What the hell happened?¡± said Nivritti, confused. ¡°Were my words too harsh? Was I too rude to him? He said sorry for his behaviour, I should also have said sorry. Okay, I will say that to him tomorrow.¡±

    Nivritti picked up the eyedrop, checked every door and window of her house, and went to her bedroom. Jae-Hwa was snoring faintly under the nket. Nivritti ced the eyedrop in her first aid box and went to the bathroom. After washing her feet and face, she came out. She applied her night cream,bed her hair, braided her hair, and retired for the night.

    After a long, long time she was sharing her bed with someone. She had no idea whether to feelfortable or ufortable.

 Chapter 77

    77 The Hangover

    The morning sun streamed into the room sieving through the curtains. Nivritti groaned and covered her head with her nket. She shifted a little and her legs touched something warm. She threw her nket and sat up in her bed.

    She sighed with relief after seeing that the warm person lying next to her was Jae-Hwa. For a minute she was scared about who was sleeping in her bed with her as she was not ustomed to finding someone in her bed. She grabbed her chest and exhaled for a few minutes.

    But her eyes fell on the sweet face of Jae-Hwa and her heart rxed. It slowly started beating normally. She remembered Apeksha and a sweet smile appeared on her face. Jae-Hwa treated her like family. Even her family did so much for her.

    Who in the right mind would wake up for aplete stranger and cook unlimited food for someone? And they did exactly that. Her brother even brought an eye drop for her. Who thinks about someone else like Jae-Hwa¡¯s family did?

    She touched Jae-Hwa¡¯s head tenderly and covered her neatly with the nket. Jae-Hwa was still snoring faintly. Leaving her lying on the bed, she moved to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and went to the toilet.

    Jae-Hwa was still sleeping when she came out, but she threw her nket away from her and was lying spread-eagled on the bed. A burst ofughter escaped Nivritti¡¯s mouth. She tied her already braided hair in a bun, fished out the eyedrop from her first-aid box, and walked out of the room.

    As per Jae-Geun¡¯s instructions, she put the eyedrops, with difficulty mind you, in her eyes and sat for a minute on the couch. Now the burning sensation in her eyes was gone. After proper rest, even her swelling was gone. She was ready to begin a new day.

    She opened her fridge and stood before it, staring at the jam-packed levels. She had no idea what to do with so much food. With a loud sigh, she took bread and milk out of the fridge and prepared toast and tea.

    She was on her couch enjoying her tea when Jae-Hwa walked into the living room, groaning and moaning. Her hair was dishevelled as if she was in a hurricane a moment ago and was covering her face. She was walking like a zombie from a movie. Even her groans resembled a zombie¡¯s.

    .....

    She tried lifting her head up and looking at Nivritti with her heavy eyes and head, but she immediately covered her face with her red hair and started walking like a zombie.

    ¡°Oh, my head!¡± moaned Jae-Hwa. Nivritti could onlyugh at her cuteness.

    ¡°Do you want another bottle of soju?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± groaned Jae-Hwa after hearing her loudugh and tease. But Nivritti ended upughing harder. She stood up and went near Jae-Hwa. She sweetly moved her hair from her face and looked at her swollen, red face.

    ¡°Come here, I will get you a cup of coffee,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, I feel like I am going to be sick,¡± grumbled Jae-Hwa, rubbing her temple.

    ¡°You need water and some food. Sit,¡± ordered Nivritti and pushed Jae-Hwa onto the couch.

    She went into the kitchen and brought some toast and coffee for her. Another ss was sitting on the tray with somewhat clear water.

    ¡°Drink this first,¡± ordered Nivritti handing her the ss of water.

    ¡°What is it?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Lemon and ginger water for your hangover. Drink it up,¡±manded Nivritti.

    ¡°But...¡±

    ¡°No but just drink it,¡± ordered Nivritti.

    Making a disgusted face, Jae-Hwa drank the whole concoction in one gulp.

    ¡°Now have some toast and rest for a bit. Then take a bath, you will feel better,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    Obeying her orders, Jae-Hwa ate a piece of toast and drank the coffee. Nivritti made her lie down for about an hour and then woke her up to take a bath.

    ¡°How are you feeling now?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Little better. Thank you for letting me stay herest night. My parents would have killed me after learning that I lied to them,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I know,¡± mocked Nivritti.

    ¡°You know!¡± asked Jae-Hwa, shocked.

    ¡°Yeah, your brother told me everything. Why did you lie to them about soju?¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°They don¡¯t let me drink,¡± sulked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Now you know why,¡± rebuked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, sorry,¡± apologised Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Here, drink this ss of water and then go take a bath,¡± ordered Nivritti and shoved a ss of water in her face.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to wear,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa while taking the ss of water from Nivritti¡¯s hands.

    ¡°You can wear mine, anything you want,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I will call Oppa to bring me some cloth. Oh, wait! Was he angry?¡± asked Jae-Hwa suddenly realising that she was supposed to go homest night.

    ¡°He was angrier at the fact that you neither called him nor picked up his call,¡± educated Nivritti.

    ¡°He called?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, shocked.

    ¡°Yeah, but your phone was on silent,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh. Okay, I will give him a call, he will be here in 30 minutes, meantime I can take a bath and vomit a little,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti ruffled her hair with adoration and went to the living room. She came back with Jae-Hwa¡¯s phone in her hand.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Jae-Hwa and dialled her brother¡¯s number. ¡°Oppa! Sorry,¡± she said in Korean. ¡°I am fine.¡± She waited for her brother¡¯s answer and then pouted, ¡°I said I am sorry. Please, Oppa.¡± Nivritti could hear some screaming from the other side but the words were not clearly audible. ¡°Could you get me some clothes to wear?¡± pleaded Jae-Hwa. Suddenly her pleading tone changed into a shout. ¡°Yaa! I know it¡¯s your off day, don¡¯t lie, juste. Ritti has a fridge full of food that we need to finish, you can help today. Oppa! Please. I love you,¡± she again changed her tone into a sweet one. Finally, she smiled which meant that her brother wasing.

    ¡°Okay, I will get everything out of the fridge,¡± said Nivritti and moved to her closet. She reached out for the top shelf and started searching for something. ¡°Um... yeah here it is, a spare brush for you, go brush your teeth and take a bath. Make sure to let the warm water fall on your head, that will ease the headache,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa jumped from the bed and threw herself in Nivritti¡¯s arms. Nivritti was taken aback by her sudden embrace.

    ¡°Jae! Are you alright?¡± asked Nivritti, sweetly.

    ¡°Thank you for taking care of me,¡± replied Jae-Hwa with gratitude.

    ¡°Shut up! I did nothing,¡± softly Nivritti caressed her hair.

    ¡°Okay, you did nothing. Thank you for doing nothing,¡± Jae-Hwa answered.

    With a smile on her face, Nivritti replied, ¡°well then, you are wee.¡±

    Jae-Hwa broke the embrace and looked at Nivritti, smiling. ¡°I will go to the bathroom. Inform me as soon as he arrives,¡± requested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay,¡± replied Nivritti. Jae-Hwa started moving to the bathroom when Nivritti called after her. ¡°Jae!¡±

    Jae-Hwa turned around. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Brush,¡± Nivritti raised her eyebrow at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Right!¡± Nivritti threw the brush at her. It looked as if Jae-Hwa would catch it easily but the brush dropped to the floor. Jae-Hwa sheepishly smiled at Nivritti and picked up the brush. Nivritti shook her head in disbelief.

    She scoffed and moved to the kitchen. She took out a few containers of the food and left them on the b to bring down their temperature or rather raise their temperature. She would only need to throw them in the microwave when they would be ready to eat.

    While waiting for the sister to get out of the bathroom and the brother to reach her house, she switched on the TV and scrolled around the channels for looking for something to watch.

    It was around 30 minutes but neither sister came out of the bathroom, nor the brother came to her house. She was getting worried about Jae-Hwa. She went near the bathroom door and asked, ¡°Jae! Are you alright? Did you vomit?¡±

    ¡°No, but my bowel movements took too much time,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ew! I didn¡¯t need to know that,¡± groaned Nivritti. And finally, Jae-Hwaughed through the bathroom door. Nivritti shook her head at her naughtiness. It meant that her hangover was getting better.

    ¡°So, you feeling better?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Much better. Did he arrive?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Not till...¡± before she could finish her sentence, her doorbell rang. ¡°I think he is here,¡± she said.

    Nivritti ran to open the door. Without looking through the peephole, she opened the door and Jae-Geun stood before her smiling.

    ¡°Good morning!¡± greeted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Good morning!¡± replied Nivritti. And the topic between them finished. They had no idea how to continue the conversation. They both looked at each other awkwardly, smiling faintly.

    Suddenly he remembered that he was carrying a bag in his hand. ¡°Here, I brought her clothes as instructed.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, pleasee in. I will give her this,¡± replied Nivritti. She took the bag from him and went to the bathroom.

    ¡°Jae! Your brother is here. He brought you a bag,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa opened the door and extended her arm and tilted her head out of the door. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Nivritti came back to the living room. Jae-Geun was already sitting on the couch.

    ¡°Would you like some tea or coffee?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, no, I am fine,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti smiled awkwardly at him and sat on the couch in front of him.

 Chapter 78

    78 The Laughter

    Nivritti was still a little angry with him for belittling her job. And Jae-Geun was slightly scared of her. As Jae-Hwa told him that she never took any crap from anyone andst night she proved that right. If only he knew, that when ites to her, she would ept any insults or injuries but if it was about others she would fight till the end of the earth.

    ¡°You look better. I am d that the eye drop worked,¡± Jae-Geun tried to break the ice.

    ¡°Oh yeah, my eyes are feeling better. Thank you very much,¡± smiled Nivritti awkwardly.

    ¡°You put some in the morning, right?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Proof is in front of you,¡± she said condescendingly and pointed at the eyedrop sitting on the table.

    ¡°Good!¡± he just smiled but avoided looking at her.

    They didn¡¯t know that at the time, but Jae-Hwa who came out of the bathroom after wearing a white t-shirt and red pyjamas that her brother brought was standing at the door looking at them, hearing their conversation. The awkwardness between them was felt so far in the room.

    Drying her hair with the towel, she shouted from the threshold, ¡°what happened between you two?¡±

    Both Nivritti and Jae-Geun jumped slightly at the sudden sound of her voice. Both turned towards her and simultaneously shouted, ¡°excuse me!¡±

    .....

    With the wave of her palm Jae-Hwa notified, ¡°there is some weird energy between you two. What did you guys dost night when I was sleeping?¡± she raised her eyebrows sceptically.

    ¡°What? Nothing. We did nothing,¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Why are you acting as if I caught you while kissing or something?¡± taunted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Shut up, Jae!¡± scolded Nivritti. She didn¡¯t like that notion at all on the other hand, Jae-Geun¡¯s cheeks shed a faint shade of red.

    ¡°Noo... Something happened,¡± pondered Jae-Hwa while caressing her chin. ¡°Tell me what.¡±

    Jae-Geun exhaled, ¡°fine, I said something about your idols, and she scolded me. I think she is still angry at me.¡± He lowered his eyes with shame.

    ¡°Then what she did was absolutely right. You deserve it and what do you mean by my idols?¡± rebuked Jae-Hwa.

    He immediately stood up and exined, ¡°no, no, I meant the idols you work with. Oh, I am repeatedly putting my foot in my mouth. I am saying sorry to both of you again.¡± He knelt down and rubbed his palm asking for their forgiveness.

    ¡°Oh, get up, Oppa,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Please get up. And that¡¯s not the thing. I am not angry with you. I think I was too harsh with you. I am sorry about that,¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to be sorry. He is very condescending when ites to idols. I am sure whatever you said to him, he deserved it,¡± Jae-Hwa stuck her tongue out at her brother.

    ¡°I still think I was too harsh. I am sorry,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Enough sorrys. I am hungry. Let¡¯s eat,¡± announced Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You go dry your hair. The hair dryer is on my dresser. In the meantime, I will heat the food,¡± ordered Nivritti.

    ¡°I can help,¡± offered Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti and Jae-Geun moved to the kitchen while Jae-Hwa went inside the bedroom. Jae-Geun helped with the tes and sses while Nivritti started heating the food. Everything was ced on the table when Jae-Hwa came out of the bedroom.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start,¡± said Jae-Hwa and jumped at the food. Both brother and sister sat next to each other, and Nivritti sat in front of them. Like kids, they kept fighting over the food and Nivritti kept smiling and rolling her eyes at them.

    ¡°So, what did she say to you?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Hey!¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°Can we talk about other topics?¡±

    ¡°I want to know, please,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Fine,¡± said Jae-Geun. ¡°She gave me a lecture on passion. She made me realise that every passion if it is not hurting anyone else is good. Everyone does things that bring them happiness and it is not bad.¡±

    ¡°Ohh... so you changed your point of view?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Maybe slightly,¡± replied Jae-Geun. ¡°But I still think a few people overdo that.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I was thinking about the same, that¡¯s why I said sorry. The thing you are talking about is an obsession and it is never good,¡±mented Nivritti.

    ¡°Right! The Saesangs!¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Saesangs?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, the over-obsessive fans. They stalk idols, send letters written from their blood, give threats to them that if they marry or date someone else, they will kill them,¡± described Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Yes, we have had some cases where girls and boys have slit their veins for their idols. Some people have been arrested for stalking the idols,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Okay, I acknowledge that behaviour is wrong. But I ask you, how idols are at fault in this? If a boy stalks a girl and is obsessive about her or vice versa, is it their fault?¡± questioned Nivritti.

    ¡°You are right. It is not the idols¡¯ fault,¡± acknowledged Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Finally, someone came who changed his view,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and sighed with relief.

    ¡°So dramatic,¡± Jae-Geun shook his head with disappointment which made Nivrittiugh out loud. After looking at herughing, Jae-Hwa too startedughing. Jae-Geun looked at both the girls for a second and joined in theughter.

    They finished the food and Jae-Hwa burped loudly.

    ¡°Hey! Manners!¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? Girls can¡¯t burp?¡± protested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I never said that. I said it¡¯s not good manners to burp around someone. Did I burp?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°You can burp. No one will judge you,¡± said Nivritti and burped with an open mouth.

    Both brother and sister startedughing at her and after burping Nivritti joined in. Jae-Geun too opened his mouth and burped at his loudest. Soon there was apetition on who could burp louder. All three were rolling withughter on the couch.

    Laughing loudly, Jae-Hwa fell from the couch which made theughter even louder. Tears of happiness came out of everyone¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Okay, okay, stop. Oh, my stomach. I can¡¯tugh anymore,¡± scoffed and Nivritti tried to stifle herughter but again startedughing. It was long since she rememberedughing like this. She was happy and content and free. She was enjoying her time with her friends without any fear or sadness. She was grateful to Jae-Hwa foring into her life.

    After exhaling and inhaling a lot of times, they all calmed themselves down and stoppedughing but still, smiles were ying on their faces. Nivritti started picking up the tes from the table to clean them when again Jae-Geun burped loudly.

    She fell to her kneesughing out loud and again the circle ofughter started.

    ¡°Oh, my stomach, Oppa, stop!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa wiping the corners of her eyes.

    Finally, they were out ofughter and smiles. All kept holding their jaws and stomachs to ease the pain afterughing so much. All picked up their tes and containers and went into the kitchen. Nivritti washed the dishes, Jae-Geun dried them with a cloth and Jae-Hwa kept them in their proper ce.

    They all sat on the couch with a thud after eating andughing so much. No one spoke for a while, they just kept staring at the roof and exhaling loudly.

    Their slumber was broken when Nivritti¡¯s phone chimed loudly. Groaning, she picked up her phone and looked at it. It was a message notification. She checked it and saw that the message was from her bank. She opened the message and her eyes widened with shock. She froze.

    ¡°What? What happened?¡± asked Jae-Geun, concerned. But Nivritti never answered.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Huh... what?¡± Nivritti came back to thend of the living.

    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± asked Jae-Hwa. Jae-Geun was looking at her worried.

    ¡°Did I tell you that Mr Hu promised me a bonus?¡± gulped Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, I remember, and you gave the whole department coffee treats,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Not that, another bonus for protecting JJ,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Another bonus, wow!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, I just received it,¡± Nivritti turned her phone and showed the amount to Jae-Hwa. It said that about Rs. 35000 was transferred to her ount. Jae-Hwa showed no reaction as she didn¡¯t understand the INR.

    ¡°What am I looking at here?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh yeah right, this is my Indian ount. So, um... the exchange rate... multiply with...¡± she kept calcting in her mind. ¡°The rough figure of my bonus would be around 5.5 hundred thousand Korean Won.¡±

    ¡°What??!!¡± both brother and sister shouted, shocked.

    ¡°Yeah!!¡± shouted Nivritti too.

    ¡°Oh my god! Oh my god!! Oh my god!!!¡± Jae-Hwa¡¯s voice tone kept climbing a notch with every ¡®oh my god¡¯ and she kept jumping in the air.

    ¡°Calm down, Jaehwa!¡± her brother held her shoulder tightly as if he was stopping her from floating in the air.

    ¡°Yeah, calm down, Jae!¡± Nivritti said.

    ¡°I am calm! I am calm! I am always calm,¡± Jae-Hwa startedughing like a maniac.

    ¡°Okay, I think I have broken your sister,¡± said Nivritti, shaking her head.

    ¡°Oh, nonsense, she was always broken,¡± said Jae-Geun and looked at Nivritti. Both pressed their lips to avoidughing but one look at each other and they startedughing like idiots.

    ¡°Yaa!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and both Jae-Geun and Nivritti stoppedughing. Yet a chuckle or two would escape their mouth.

    ¡°Now are you okay?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°What are you going to do with that money?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, excited.

    ¡°Jaehwa!¡± scolded Jae-Geun. ¡°That is not a question to ask. That is her money, she earned it.¡±

    ¡°Right, sorry,¡± apologised Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Nonsense! I received this money because of her and JJ. I think they have equal rights on this money,¡± said Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°You really are out of your mind,¡± Jae-Hwa rolled her eyes.

    ¡°I beg your pardon,¡± said Nivritti, feeling insulted.

    ¡°That is your money. You did everything. How could you even think that we have any right to money? You really are out of your mind,¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, she is right,¡± nodded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Okay, this is my money. But you know I was thinking about what we should do to pass the time today. What say if we all go shopping?¡± suggested Nivritti, smiling. ¡°I could buy you anything you want,¡± she looked at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh my god! Oh my god!!¡± she shouted and jumped at Nivritti and hugged her tightly with excitement.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Nivritti.

 Chapter 79

    79 The Shopping

    Jae-Hwa was holding Nivritti and was jumping with excitement. Nivritti keptughing at her sweet gesture.

    ¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    Both girls stoppedughing and jumping. ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Jaehwa! You are asking her to buy things for you?¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Jae-Geun! She is not asking me, I am offering,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°But she doesn¡¯t need anything,¡± protested Jae-Geun. ¡°And if she wants anything, I can buy it for her. Heck! She earns now, she can buy herself.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a present, my treat,¡± counterpointed Nivritti.

    ¡°But...¡± interjected Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oppa!¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    .....

    ¡°Fine, I will buy you something too,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey, I never...¡± he tried exining.

    But Nivritti interrupted, ¡°rx, I am teasing. I told you I have a younger sister, I buy things for her all the time. Let me do that for Jae too.¡±

    ¡°Fine!¡± said Jae-Geun, defeated.

    ¡°Okay, let me take a bath, you too change your clothes and then we will leave for shopping,¡± announced Nivritti.

    ¡°You girls enjoy, I will take your leave. Call me in the evening, I wille to pick you up,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? You can¡¯t go,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. ¡°Who will drive us everywhere and who will carry our bags?¡±

    Nivritti scoffed and startedughing.

    ¡°Yaaa! Is that why you want me there? To drive you and carry your bags?¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I am teasing, Oppa. Come with us. We will have fun,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, join us. I don¡¯t have friends here except Jae. I will get another one,¡± smiled Nivritti. Jae-Geun beamed with happiness after he heard that she wanted to be his friend.

    ¡°Liar!¡± taunted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°The whole team of ASD is your friend. You guys even have nicknames for each other,¡± sulked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Well, she is not wrong. They are my friends,¡± nodded Nivritti. ¡°And CH too,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Show-off!¡± taunted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°So, what say Jae-Geun? Can we be friends?¡± Nivritti extended her arm towards him.

    His heart was ready to jump out of his chest. With a sweet smile he took her hand and epted her friendship, ¡°it will be my honour.¡±

    ¡°So, you both wait, I will be ready in five minutes,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°No wait!¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What now?¡± said Jae-Hwa, annoyed.

    ¡°We all just ate, and she is going to take a bath. She needs to wait at least 40 to 45 minutes,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Right, doctor!¡± said Jae-Hwa, proudly and wrapped her arm around her brother¡¯s neck.

    ¡°We spent a good amount of time washing dishes and thenying t on the couch. I think it is more than 30 minutes,¡± calcted Nivritti.

    ¡°Just wait 15 more minutes,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Fifteen will be gone in a jiffy while she takes out her clothes, Oppa!¡± notified Jae-Hwa. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Ritti.¡±

    ¡°That is remote, you can watch TV till then,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°Fine,¡± said Jae-Geun and sat on the couch, defeated. Both the girls moved into the bedroom to get ready. Jae-Hwa took out a violet bodycon dress from her bag that her brother brought for her, and Nivritti chose a white floral dress with big blue and pink flowers on it.

    ¡°Oh, this needs ironing,¡± said Nivritti while staring at her dress.

    ¡°You go, take a bath and I will take care of that,¡± offered Jae-Hwa. Nivritti took out the press from her closet and handed it to Jae-Hwa. While Nivritti took a bath, Jae-Hwa pressed the two dresses.

    Jae-Hwa changed her clothes, did her make-up and was ready. She went outside the room and sat with her brother waiting for Nivritti. Nivritti came out of the bathroom, wore her clothes, did her make-up and blow-dried her hair. She parted her hair on the side, folded the hair on therger side and pinned them behind her ear.

    After she was satisfied with her look, she switched every appliance and light in the room and came outside.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡±manded Nivritti.

    Jae-Geun who was watching TV turned towards Nivritti to look at her. His jaw dropped on the floor the moment he saw the beautiful garden fairy walking towards him. She let her hair down with just one pin behind her ear. The folds in the hair looked like waves of the ocean. Her full pink lips were looking like rose petals. The rose sheen colour was enhancing the beauty of her lips.

    ¡°What? Did I have something on my face?¡± asked Nivritti confused.

    ¡°Oppa!¡± Jae-Hwa dug her elbow into his stomach.

    That brought him back from his dreand. ¡°No, I was thinking about your eyes. Yesterday they were all swollen and now you applied kohl,¡± somehow, he managed the situation.

    But Jae-Hwa became suspicious. She never noticed her brother act like this. He was always busy with studies and then being a doctor. Even though he was being a doctor right now, but something was off about him.

    ¡°Oh no! is that bad?¡± Nivritti was concerned.

    ¡°No, not that bad. Just make sure to put the drop again at night and when you wake up in the morning,¡± suggested Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yes, doctor,¡± saluted Nivritti.

    Both brother and sister stood up from the couch and moved towards the door. Nivritti made sure that every window and door was closed, and every switch was off. She put on white belle shoes, grabbed her phone and purse and was ready to go.

    They moved down the stairs and went to the parking lot. Both the girls chose to sit in the back leaving Jae-Geun alone in the front.

    ¡°Am I your driver?¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I said when I asked you toe, you are here to drive and carry our bags,¡± teased Jae-Hwa. Nivritti could justugh.

    ¡°Shut up both of you,¡± sulked Jae-Geun. Nivritti tried to stopughing but failed spectacrly.

    Jae-Geun shook his head in disbelief and inserted the key in the ignition. The engine roared and he pumped the gas. The car moved and the journey of shopping started. The car stopped when they parked inside a mall in Dongdaemun. The huge area had around 26 malls.

    They roamed and roamed around eating street food and window shopping. Finally, Jae-Hwa¡¯s eyended on a ruffle pink overcoat, and she froze.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    But Jae-Hwa just went near the disy and stood there with her mouth open.

    ¡°Is she alright?¡± asked Nivritti to Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I think she lost her mind to that pick coat,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti walked to her, ced her hand over her shoulder and asked, ¡°do you like it?¡± Jae-Hwa just nodded. ¡°Then let¡¯s go in and buy it,¡± suggested Nivritti, excited.

    ¡°What? No, no, this is a very expensive store. Only rich people shop here,¡± Jae-Hwa immediately backed away from the window leaving Nivritti standing alone.

    ¡°That is a stupid thing to say,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°No, she is right. Everything in this store is very expensive,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°But she likes that,¡± said Nivritti pointing at the coat.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± said Jae-Hwa and started dragging Nivritti away from that store.

    ¡°Jae!¡±

    ¡°Come with me, I will show you my favourite store,¡± Jae-Hwa started running and kept pulling Nivritti with her. Jae-Geun just kept following them.

    After walking for 10 minutes, Nivritti stopped before a six-story ss building. She smiled while looking at the building and said, ¡°now this a ce to shop. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°If you say so,¡± said Nivritti and followed her. Jae-Geun just rolled his eyes.

    After entering, Nivritti realised that she entered a one-stop-shop. It had everything. It was even bigger than a hyper store. One could find a to z of things in that building. The bottom few stories were for fruits, vegetables, groceries, and home appliances. They kept climbing the floors and finally reached the floor that had both male and female clothing.

    Girls happily kept roaming around checking every piece of clothing.

    ¡°Chose anything that you want and one for your brother too,¡± whispered Nivritti.

    ¡°Why are we whispering?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°He won¡¯t let me buy things for him if he knew,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Right, you are right,¡± nodded Jae-Hwa.

    Both girls went in different directions looking for the things they liked.

    Nivritti kept looking for something for herself when her eyes fell on scarves in the male section. It had cute pastel colours. She bit the inside of her lips pondering upon if she should act on her idea. She wanted to get something for the boys. But what if they didn¡¯t like her choice? What if the scarves were on a bit cheap side?

    She thought of taking a chance and picked seven scarves. She was about to leave the men¡¯s section when her eyes fell on a dapper white hoodie. The face of JJ shed before her. She always saw him in a hoodie and immediately decided to buy one for him. She picked up that white hoodie too.

    She made her way to the women¡¯s section when Jae-Geun approached her. ¡°Where is she? I brought baskets for you guys.¡± He had two baskets in his hands.

    .....

    ¡°She was here somewhere,¡± said Nivritti stretching her neck and looking in every direction for her.

    ¡°Give me the clothes and look for her,¡± suggested Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh right!¡± said Nivritti and dumped the clothes she chose in one of the baskets.

    ¡°These are men¡¯s clothes,¡± pointed out Jae-Geun.

 Chapter 80

    80 The Changing Room

    She looked at the clothes in the basket and smiled. ¡°Yeah, I thought of getting ASD something for standing up for me,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°They did what?¡± asked Jae-Geun, impressed.

    ¡°Oh, I was called to the CEO¡¯s cabin after everything happened with Jae. Oh shit! I have to get something for CH too,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I will find something for him. Meanwhile, tell me what they did for you,¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Right! So, I went to the CEO¡¯s cabin with CH. I know that there was a long meeting, but I don¡¯t know who said what. All I know is I thought I was getting fired but instead I got a bonus. And the way our CEO talked to me, I just know that they stood up for me and took my side. They were grateful that I helped JJ and were concerned for Jae,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°They truly are your friends and good people,¡± noted Jae-Geun, surprised.

    ¡°I know. They are very sweet. I wanted to return the favour,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°But they are rich, do they really need all this?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°How are you a doctor?¡± mocked Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°I beg your pardon!¡± eximed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I meant that to be a doctor you need a brain, but you talk like an idiot sometimes,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey!¡± protested Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti smirked and spoke, ¡°you said they are rich, you mean to say that rich people don¡¯t deserve a gift just because they can buy everything on their own.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that,¡± pouted Jae-Geun. ¡°And you don¡¯t have to be a smartass all the time.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t help it,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Can¡¯t help it,¡± repeated Jae-Geun in a childish voice. ¡°Let¡¯s find my idiot sister.¡±

    They both moved inside the aisles of the women¡¯s section and started looking for Jae-Hwa. Even with her red hair, it was difficult to find her. Nivritti was walking in front of Jae-Geun with her hair dangling to her hip. Her knee-length dress was showing her toned calves. He wanted to stop looking at her, but he was unable to do that.

    Suddenly Jae-Hwa appeared out of nowhere and screamed from behind. ¡°Ritti!¡± both Jae-Geun and Nivritti turned around and saw Jae-Hwa practically sprinting towards them with her hands full of colourful clothes.

    ¡°Here,¡± said Jae-Hwa and handed all the dresses to Nivritti. Nivritti dipped a little with the pressure.

    ¡°What is all this?¡± asked Nivritti, looking at the clothes in her hands, shocked.

    ¡°I selected these for you,¡± replied Jae-Hwa, happily.

    Nivritti lowered her gaze, tilted her head, and exhaled loudly. ¡°Jae! I asked you to select something for you, not for me,¡± she protested.

    ¡°Just try them,¡± scolded Jae-Hwa. ¡°I have seen a few more dresses that I liked. I will get that too, you go and try them.¡±

    ¡°Jae!¡±

    ¡°Go!¡± Jae-Hwa widened her eyes andmanded her.

    ¡°Fine, where is the changing room?¡± asked Nivritti, defeated.

    ¡°There,¡± Jae-Hwa pointed at a corner. ¡°And don¡¯t be rmed if you see men in that area.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Nivritti was confused.

    ¡°This is a unisex store and that is the only changing area. It has around 10 rooms, but it could be upied by either men or women,¡± exined Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Ohh, okay,¡± said Nivritti and moved towards the changing room while holding the bundle of clothes.

    ¡°See you Oppa,¡± said Jae-Hwa and vanished.

    Jae-Geun looked in every direction and then looked at the basket in his hand. ¡°These girls really brought me to drive and carry their things. Great!¡± He found a corner where chairs were ced for the people to rest. He looked at other men, waiting for their better halves to finish their shopping, nodded at them, and awkwardly sat next to them. ¡°I have plenty of time. I will find something for Choi-ssi soon. Till then I can rest,¡± he thought and slid into his chair and folded his arms over his chest.

    Nivritti reached the changing area where a lot of doors were lined side by side. She looked around for an attendant for help but there was no one. She looked around for a minute and then tried the very first door.

    A man shouted from inside, ¡°wait a minute, darling,¡± in Korean. She immediately backed up. One by one she tried the door, but everyone was locked. Finally, almost at the end of the corridor, she found an open door.

    She juggled the clothes in her hands and looked inside. There was no one there but a few clothes were lying on the bench and a coat was hanging on the wall. She wanted to move in but was sceptical about the clothes inside.

    ¡°Did someone forget their clothes or left them here deliberately?¡± she pondered. She stood outside thinking about what to do. She bit her lower lip and then shouted in Korean, ¡°Excuse me! Whose clothes are these?¡± She again waited for a minute but there was no answer.

    She shrugged her shoulders and went in. She dumped all the clothes on the bench and closed the door. A ck hoodie and a blue casual shirt were hanging by the hook on the door. It was clear that a man was trying clothes and he left all the clothes he didn¡¯t like inside the changing room. How rude! Why didn¡¯t he return them to their respective shelves?

    She took a deep breath and looked at the bundle of clothes. She first had to sort them out. She started separating the clothes andying them on the bench next to each other. She separated the men¡¯s clothing and hung them behind the door. She picked up a yellow dress and checked it out. It was cute and had a plunging neckline.

    She unzipped her dress and took it off. She knew if she would wear the yellow dress her nude bra would be visible under the dress. She still slipped that dress on and lifted her hair out of the dress. She turned to her sides to see the fitting of the dress. She was looking hot.

    ¡°Nice!¡± said Nivritti and smiled. ¡°Hmm... but the neckline, it¡¯s too revealing. But I look hot,¡± she winked at herself.

    Suddenly there was an urgent knock at the door. ¡°Please open the door. Sorry for troubling you but I left my clothes inside,¡± said a man in Korean. There was something about the voice that Nivritti could not put a finger on.

    Her hands immediatelynded on her visible skin. But that was not enough, she looked around for something to use to cover herself. The only thing she could use was the coat. But the man was standing outside for his coat, she had to use something else.

    While she searched for a piece of clothing, the man knocked again, ¡°please open up. I will be out of your hair in a minute. Sorry for your troubles.¡± And he started knocking like a maniac. It seemed as if he had to run to the airport to catch a flight, either he was plenty nervous or was in an extreme hurry.

    ¡°Okay, okay, just a second,¡± shouted Nivritti and picked the white dress that she came wearing. She threw her dress over her shoulder covering her front and ran to the door. The man kept knocking at the door nonstop.

    ¡°Wait, jeez,¡± eximed Nivritti and opened the door. A tall, masked man dressed in an oversized ck shirt and blue jeans appeared before her. Her jaw dropped to the floor when she saw him. Even the eyes of the man widened with shock.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± shouted the man with shock.

    ¡°NK?¡± screamed Nivritti and froze at her spot.

    They both just kept staring at each other in shock. No one expected to meet with the other like that. They had no idea what to say. They even forgot to move.

    Their slumber broke when Jae-Hwa started shouting Nivritti¡¯s name. ¡°Ritti! Where are you? Ritti! Ritti!¡±

    Nivritti unfroze the very next moment and before Jae-Hwa could spot them, she grabbed a handful of Kyung-Soo¡¯s shirt¡¯s fabric and pulled him inside the changing room with a jerk. Before he could understand what happened, he was already inside with Nivritti standing in front of him.

    She immediately closed the door and locked thetch. Her white dress that was covering her naked skin fell to the floor and she threw Kyung-Soo against the wall. Her one handnded on his chest and with her other hand, she covered his mouth.

    ¡°Shh, shh, shh, shhh...¡± the shushs filled the air.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± Jae-Hwa shouted again.

    ¡°Here!¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°The secondst room.¡±

    ¡°Open the door,¡± demanded Jae-Hwa.

    Both Nivritti and Kyung-Soo gulped. Kyung-Soo shook his head in no. ¡°Um... I can¡¯t,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Why not?¡± asked Jae-Hwa. ¡°I brought more clothes for you to try.¡±

    ¡°Uh... because... um... I am not... wearing anything. I am in the middle of changing dresses,¡± Nivritti lowered her head with shame.

    ¡°Okay, fine, here,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and threw a bundle of clothes inside thatnded on Kyung-Soo¡¯s head covering his facepletely.

    With an annoyed face and one raised eyebrow, he removed all the clothes from his head and looked at Nivritti. She immediately covered her mouth with her palm and stifled herughter. Kyung-Soo kept looking at her annoyed. Due to the removal of clothes his hair was now hanging over his forehead making him cuter to look at.

    Nivritti somehow controlled herughter and shouted, ¡°thank you, Jae.¡±

 Chapter 81

    81 The Neckline

    Nivritti was trying hard not tough. Kyung-Soo was standing before her staring at her with squinted eyes and a bundle of clothes in his hands. He let go of the clothes and ran his fingers through his hair and his forehead was now visible.

    It was not visible because of his mask but he was smiling and looking at Nivritti. Just a day before he saw her crying all night, pouring her heart out. It was good to see her happy and smiling. He was thankful to Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Try the dresses and show me,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa from outside the door.

    ¡°Okay!¡± said Nivritti. And again, one look at Kyung-Soo and she had to control herughter.

    ¡°Oh, you find this funny,¡± Kyung-Soo lowered his mask and spoke. Nivritti widened her eyes and again shut his mouth with her hand. His back againnded on the wall.

    ¡°Shh... she is outside,¡± she scolded and ced one finger on her lips to signal him to keep quiet.

    ¡°What did you say?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti angrily looked at Kyung-Soo and whispered, ¡°she heard you.¡± She then cleared her throat and shouted, ¡°nothing. I was just saying that go find something for yourself and try those dresses. We are here for you, not for me, go, Jae, go.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I am going,¡± said Jae-Hwa and her footsteps faded away.

    .....

    The moment Jae-Hwa left, Nivritti let all her inhibitions go andughed out loud. His heart leapt out of his chest after looking at her beautiful,ughing face. He contorted his lips to avoidughing with her, but he was unable to hide his smile. And then heughed with her, loudly.

    Adoringly looking at her, he keptughing with her. The fine lines around her eyes, the raised cheeks, the lifted lips, and her pearly whites were enchanting. She threw her head back and keptughing loudly. It was then Kyung-Soo noticed her smooth neck and the plunging neckline of the dress. He gasped after realising that she was wearing a revealing dress and it was the second time he was looking at her bra.

    Up until now, he was concentrating on her sweet face but now his eyes stared at her smooth, wheatish skin. He could not understand how she could look good in every colour, and in that dress, she was looking smoking hot. The air-conditioning of the mall failed. He started sweating. He gulped and immediately averted his eyes. cing a finger inside the cor of his shirt, he shook the fabric to let the air pass as he suddenly started feeling hot.

    But Nivritti was oblivious to what was happening with Kyung-Soo, she was too busyughing at him. She would sometimes throw her head back andugh at him and other times she would hold her stomach and keepughing. Unconsciously, she again threw her head backwards andughed. But this time her legs too stepped back, and her shoesnded on her white dress.

    The slippery white dress had no friction and hence, her foot slipped. She tried to bnce herself, but she failed. It was almost certain that she was going to fall. But Kyung-Soo grabbed her palm firmly and pulled her strongly towards him. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist and held her safely.

    Her handsnded on his chest and herugh immediately vanished. Her open hair finally rested over his arm. Nivritti¡¯s eyesnded on his eyes. Those mesmerizing eyes were staring into her soul. No matter how hard she tried to stay away from him, no matter how hard she tried to push him away, someway or the other she alwaysnded in his arms.

    Her brain always told her to stay away from him, but her heart felt safe with him. Now he was the only person outside her family who knew everything about her, her good memories, her bad memories, her achievements, her failures, her proud moment, her guilt, everything. She was way closer to him now.

    She realised that somehow, she always felt close to him. She felt that way when she met him for the first time. Why she hugged him, cried on his chest, and kissed him during the very first meet, she had no exnation.

    Even now she could feel his rapid heart rate. She had no idea how much time had passed since shended in his arms. She was breathing heavily while staring into his beautiful eyes. Unconsciously, she did what she always used to do when she was nervous, she licked her lips and gulped.

    ¡°Shit!¡± Kyung-Soo immediately shouted and let her go. He closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°As if you don¡¯t know,¡± Kyung-Soo raised one eyebrow.

    ¡°I licked... my lips,¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Kyung-Soo replied. He kept answering her but would nce at her for a second and would avert his eyes instantly. He didn¡¯t want to look at her cleavage, but his eyes were not obeying him.

    Nivritti observed his awkward expression and found it bizarre. She could not understand why he was behaving like that. Why was he avoiding looking at her? First, she looked behind her to see if something was there, but just a wall stared at her. She then looked in the mirror to see if she had something on her face, but it was clear too.

    And then her eyesnded on the yellow dress that she was wearing. Her cleavage was staring into her face. She instantaneously ced her palms over her skin trying to hide it and turned away from Kyung-Soo, embarrassed.

    ¡°Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! How can I forget about my neckline?¡± she murmured. She wanted to hide her face with her hands but that would mean that she would have to expose her neckline.

    Kyung-Soo understood that she was feeling ashamed.

    ¡°I will leave you alone,¡± said Kyung-Soo but she never looked at him. He started collecting his clothes and unlocked the door. The moment he was about to step out, he came back in with a jolt, locked the door, and stood in front of it with his back sticking to it. It was clear that he was trying to block the door with hisrge body.

    ¡°Shit! Shit! Shit!¡± he shouted.

    Nivritti was concerned with his sudden behaviour. She just turned her head towards him and asked, ¡°what happened?¡± his face had fear written all over it.

    ¡°Jal saeng-gin namja! Jal saeng-gin namja!¡± a woman¡¯s voice reached inside.

 Chapter 82

    82 The Jealousy

    Nivritti looked at him weirdly. The whole situation was weird for her. It appeared as if Kyung-Soo was running away from someone and that someone was not only following him but she finally found him. She asked, ¡°Did she just say ¡®handsome man¡¯? Is she looking for you?¡±

    Kyung-Soo let out a yelp and jumped away from the door. He ran towards Nivritti, grabbed her shoulder from behind, and hid behind her back. The whole scene was iprehensible. A man ofrge stature was trying to hide behind a small girl.

    ¡°Um... what are you doing?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Shhhh...¡± rebuked Kyung-Soo. ¡°Don¡¯t let her find out that I am here.¡±

    ¡°Okay, and who is she?¡± Suddenly Nivritti felt a wave of jealousy.

    ¡°Some employee who has been roaming around me. When I was trying on my clothes, she was peeping in. So I had to lie about finding more dresses and I ran away from her,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti, angrily.

    ¡°Shhh...¡± shushed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What, shhh...¡± reprimanded Nivritti. ¡°You have toin about her,¡± she ordered.

    .....

    ¡°And tell everyone that I was here. It¡¯s a weekend. Do you have any idea about the frenzy that would cause?¡± educated Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti realised that he was right. But she was not ready to let the woman go punishment free. She gritted her teeth and spoke, ¡°I will show her. No one should go unpunished after invading someone¡¯s privacy.¡± She removed Kyung-Soo¡¯s arms from her shoulder and started walking towards the door.

    But Kyung-Soo pulled her back and pleaded, ¡°hey! Where are you going?¡±

    ¡°Oh,e with me,¡± she chided.

    He was not ready to let her go. ¡°No, no, what if she sees me?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Hide behind the door,¡± she answered casually.

    ¡°Mirror!¡± said Kyung-Soo in a sing-songy tone.

    ¡°Oh right! She can see your reflection in the mirror. Sorry, was not thinking about it. Oh my God! You were hiding and running from her, that¡¯s why you kept knocking at the door like a maniac.

    ¡°Yes and then you pulled me in,¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I... I panicked. I heard Jae¡¯s voice and I panicked,¡± Nivritti scratched her head with guilt. Both of them for the time being forgot about her revealing dress. They had more pressing matters to attend to. They had to get rid of the woman standing at the door.

    ¡°You know that I would have just collected my clothes and walked right past Jae and she would not recognise me,¡± said Kyung-Soo with his arms over his waist.

    She too ced her arms over her waist and replied, ¡°you don¡¯t know that.¡±

    ¡°And even if she would have recognised me, she would not have announced it to the world,¡± screamed Kyung-Soo in whispers and went in Nivritti¡¯s face.

    Nivirtti too took a step forward and faced Kyung-Soo. Their noses were almost touching. ¡°What if she would have found out about us?¡±

    ¡°About us?¡± Kyung-Soo raised his eyebrows.

    ¡°I mean that you were at my house,¡± rebuked Nivritti.

    ¡°How? How can someone figure that out?¡± asked Kyung-Soo frustrated. ¡°I was almost out of her grips and now she is standing outside and I have nowhere to go,¡± he pointed at the door. They both kept whispering to each other but still kept screaming angrily at each other.

    ¡°Right! I said I am sorry. I was not thinking. I panicked,¡± snapped Nivritti. ¡°And you should hold Jae responsible, if she would not havee, I would not have pulled you inside.¡±

    ¡°Really? It¡¯s Jae¡¯s fault?¡± asked Kyung-Soo with a tilted head.

    ¡°Yes?¡± replied Nivritti, confused.

    ¡°Leave that,¡± Kyung-Soo raised his palm. ¡°Now, how will we get rid of her?¡± he chided.

    ¡°Hello, Sir!¡± said the woman from outside.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivirtti.

    Kyung-Soo immediately moved his hands towards her face and closed her mouth. Nivritti swatted his hands away from her mouth.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Replying to her,¡± said Nivritti, casually.

    ¡°What if she finds out I am here?¡± questioned Kyung-Soo almost on the verge of crying.

    ¡°How? Genius?! The door is closed. She can¡¯t see in. And if she gets to know that a woman is inside she will go, she will leave,¡± she exined. ¡°Huh... holding me responsible for his troubles,¡± she murmured.

    He suddenly stood upright realising that she was right. ¡°Oh, you are so right. Sorry, carry on.¡± He pushed her towards the door.

    She looked around the room for a while and then ordered, ¡°hide behind the bench and cover yourself with all these clothes.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, confused.

    ¡°Just do what I say,¡± snapped Nivritti.

    ¡°Fine, chill!¡± Kyung-Soo crouched behind the bench and Nivritti picked every piece of clothing lying on the floor and dumped it over Kyung-Soo to hide him. After making sure that not even a hair of Kyung-Soo was visible under the clothes, she moved towards the door.

    Authoritatively, she opened the door and stared at the beautiful, slim woman who was of average height with squinted eyes. She hated that she was harassing Kyung-Soo. The gasoline to the fire was that she was a beautiful woman. The wave of jealousy that she felt intensified. She was wearing a tight shirt, a brown pencil skirt, and a mustard scarf around her cor. Her eyesnded on her chest where her namete was pinned. It read ¡°Park Da-Hee¡±.

    ¡°What the hell is your problem? Why are you disturbing me, Da-Hee?¡± Nivritti looked at her name badge closely and shouted at her.

    The woman was taken aback. ¡°You... you can read Korean?¡±

    But Nivritti was too angry to reply. ¡°Who are you? Why are you disturbing me?¡± rebuked Nivritti.

    ¡°Sorry, my name is Park Da-Hee, as you can read and I am an attendant in this mall. I help customers to find suitable clothes. I just wanted to ask if are you alone, ma¡¯am?¡± asked Da-Hee.

    ¡°What are you insinuating?¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°Of course, I am alone. I am not having a party in the changing room. What the hell do you want?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, ma¡¯am,¡± Da-Hee bowed down to her. Then lowered her eyes due to shyness. He bit her thumbnail and cutely said, ¡°I am looking for a cute, dreamy, handsome man. I was helping him but he vanished.¡± And in between sentences, she kept trying to stare inside the changing room.

    Hearing all the adjectives for Kyung-Soo from her mouth Nivritti saw red. Smoke starteding out of her ears.

    ¡°And you think I am hiding him inside this room?¡± Nivritti shouted at the top of her lungs. The whole changing room thundered and shook with her voice.

 Chapter 83

    83 The Proof

    Nivritti was staring at Da-Hee with fury in her eyes. With a clenched jaw and a red nose, Nivritti was giving off a chilly vibe. She absolutely hated how Da-Hee was acting and still was trying to find Kyung-Soo to harass him.

    ¡°No one can harass him if I am here. ASD members are my friends, and no one can prey on them,¡± she thought. ¡°I will make you regret creating problems for my NK. Wait, what? Not my NK, my friend NK, my friend Nam Kyung-Soo. Remember Ritti, he is world famous artist, and he is younger than you. Remember what happenedst time, you just cried your eyes out just a day ago that too in front of NK. Stop thinking about stupid things, concentrate on this girl. No one should walk free after harassing anyone. She deserves punishment.¡± She mentally hit on the back of the head for calling Kyung-Soo ¡®my NK¡¯.

    Due to all the shouting, the people in rooms next door peered through their doors. A few men and women came running towards the changing room. After looking at so many people, Nivritti suddenly remembered her dress. She again hid her cleavage with her hands and looked around.

    She knew she could not take any dress from the pile on the bench as Kyung-Soo was hidden under it. Suddenly her eyes fell on the clothes that Kyung-Soo left before. She grabbed the shirt that was hanging by the door and immediately wore and buttoned it, hiding her naked skin.

    ¡°I asked you a question,¡± reminded Nivritti.

    ¡°I... I...¡± Da-Hee stammered.

    ¡°What is the problem, ma¡¯am?¡± a man wearing a white shirt, brown jacket, and brown pants came running and asked her. Nivritti realised that the man too worked in the mall as his uniform¡¯s colour matched with Da-Hee¡¯s dress. She looked at his namete. His name was ¡°Kim Man-Shik¡±.

    ¡°And who are you, Man-Shik? Are you her boss or her subordinate?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°What? How did you know my name?¡± asked Man-Shik, shocked. She just pointed at his name badge. He was more shocked after her gesture. ¡°You can read Korean?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Is that more important to you?¡± queried Nivritti.

    ¡°No, ma¡¯am,¡± replied Man-Shik.

    ¡°Then answer me, are you her boss or her subordinate?¡± Nivritti asked again.

    ¡°I am her supervisor, ma¡¯am,¡± replied Man-Shik bowing down to her.

    But she was in no mood for exchanging pleasantries. ¡°So, tell me this, is her job helping customers or harassing them?¡± asked Nivritti with authority.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± both Man-Shik and Da-Hee shouted at once.

    Nivritti cracked her knuckles and started pointing out, ¡°she kept disturbing me to find a man. She says she was following him, and she called him cute, handsome, and... oh yeah, dreamy. And then she insinuated that the man was hiding in my room and kept peeping inside to find him. Is this how everyone works here? Is this how you treat your customers? Is this a new way to cater to your patrons? First, you ogle at and harass a man and then you cause trouble for a woman to look for that said man. So, if someone is handsome you will stalk him? What will I have to do to get some privacy here? I think it would be better if I go and shop in some other store. At least I won¡¯t be falsely used of hiding someone in my room. And mind you that man is not wrong. He is hiding in your store to get away from her.¡±

    After hearing all themotion, Jae-Hwa who was trying dresses a few rooms away from Nivritti opened her door and came out. She was shocked to see so many people gathered near her room. She was worried as to what happened. She ran towards her, pushed, and pulled the crowd, and reached near Nivritti. ¡°Are you alright? What happened, Ritti?¡± she asked urgently.

    Nivritti tilted her head and condescendingly said, ¡°ask them. They kept knocking at my door. I couldn¡¯t even try a single dress.¡± She lowered her face and pouted. If she would have been good at acting, she might have shed a tear or two. ¡°Some man is more important than other customers. And she thinks I am having a party inside, hiding men and whatnot. In short, she is calling me a promiscuous woman,¡± she sulked.

    There was a collective gasp from the crowd, and everyone looked at Da-Hee in anger and disappointment.

    ¡°What? I never said that,¡± screamed Da-Hee.

    Nivritti ced her arms on her waist and demanded an answer, ¡°did you not peep inside my room?¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Da-Hee lowered her head with shame.

    ¡°Did you not ask me if someone else was inside?¡± Nivritti inquired again.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± answered Da-Hee.

    ¡°Were you not looking for a man?¡±

    ¡°Um... I...¡± Da-Hee could not answer that.

    ¡°There you go,¡± Nivritti raised her eyebrow at Man-Shik and spoke. ¡°If she peeped inside my room, how are you sure she did not peep inside when that man was changing clothes.¡± A faint hup was heard from Nivritti¡¯s changing room. She cursed Kyung-Soo for making a noise. Luckily no one heard it.

    Because Da-Hee shouted, ¡°what? No, no, I would never.¡±

    ¡°Does this area have CCTV?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°No, ma¡¯am,¡¯ replied Man-Shik.

    ¡°Then how can anyone tell that she is not lying,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°What is the proof you are not lying?¡± Da-Hee tried to be over-smart.

    ¡°Oh, the audacity,¡± Nivritti raised her eyebrow at her. She looked at the crowd and questioned, ¡°Excuse me, was anyone of you inside the changing room next to mine?¡± But no one said anything. She realised that not everyone could understand English, so she repeated her question in Korean. Suddenly, two hands appeared in the air.

    ¡°Would you please tell them if you heard something,¡± she requested in Korean.

    ¡°Yes, she was looking for a handsome man. She even knocked at my door,¡± replied a man in Korean.

    ¡°Mine too,¡± a girl interjected.

    ¡°There you go, proof!¡± said Nivritti. She extended her arm and dropped an imaginary microphone and shouted, ¡°Mic drop!¡±

 Chapter 84

    84 The Reprimand

    Man-Shik was ashamed after hearing about the impossible and absurd activities of Da-Hee. She was supposed to help the customers not fixate on one and stalk him. And she didn¡¯t stop after that, she went to almost every changing room trying to find him, disturbing others in the process. If this news ever got out in the world, the famous store would gain a bad reputation.

    ¡°Da-Hee-ssi,¡± shouted Man-Shik. ¡°What do you have to say about yourself?¡±

    ¡°Guys! Can we have some privacy? Please scatter and thank you for your help,¡± requested Nivritti in Korean.

    ¡°Yes, please continue shopping and very sorry on her behalf, please, sir, please ma¡¯am. We are very sorry. Extremely sorry, joesonghabnida, joesonghabnida,¡± said Man-Shik and kept bowing to every patron till they moved away. He then turned to Da-Hee and ordered, ¡°now talk.¡±

    She started bowing again and again and shivered with fear. ¡°Sorry, sir, he looked like some actor or idol. I just wanted to look at his face.¡±

    ¡°Waah! You didn¡¯t even look at his face and you became obsessed?¡± observed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°He had a mask on,¡± Da-Hee was on the verge of crying.

    ¡°Shame, girl, shame!¡± taunted Nivritti.

    ¡°Da-Hee-ssi, I have had enough of your stupid antics. You are too obsessed with k-dramas and K-pop. You are suspended for a week. Now get lost, collect your things and leave. Don¡¯t show me your face for a week,¡± reprimanded Man-Shik.

    .....

    ¡°But Sir...¡± pleaded Da-Hee.

    ¡°Just leave,¡± Man-Shik said with definiteness. Da-Hee bowed to Nivritti and Man-Shik, lowered her head and left. Man-Shik then turned towards Nivritti and offered, ¡°I am sorry ma¡¯am, very sorry on her behalf. Please try your dresses ande see me. We will give you a 40 percent discount on every item.¡±

    Nivritti immediately looked at Jae-Hwa who also looked at her. Both exchanged a look, then controlled their smile and stood stoically. Nivritti looked at Man-Shik angrily and said, ¡°you think you will give me a bribe and I will forget the humiliation I had to feel. I am half-dressed right now. When everyone starteding, I had to grab this shirt to maintain my modesty. Oh, the trauma I had to face!¡± She ced her arm over her forehead dramatically.

    ¡°Please, ma¡¯am, please, I am very sorry for the troubles you had to face. And the discount we are offering is not a bribe. We just want to do something for you aspensation for the troubles you had to face. Please let us say sorry. Let us increase the discount to 60 percent,¡± spoke Man-Shik.

    Nivritti nced at Jae-Hwa and looked at her from the corner of her eyes. ¡°Come on Ritti! They are sorry, forgive them. I was thinking ofmunicating all this drama on Communicator social site but this gentleman is nice,¡± persuaded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Hmm... 75 percent and I will think about it,¡± counteroffered Nivritti.

    Man-Shik jumped at the opportunity. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am, of course, ma¡¯am. Anything for you,¡± he shouted immediately. Everyone was scared of the Communicator app. If anyone went viral on that app, it could make careers or destroy them.

    ¡°Fine, I wille to find you after I am done trying all the clothes,¡± said Nivritti, politely.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am, absolutely ma¡¯am,¡± said Man-Shik and after bowing down to both Nivritti and Jae-Hwa, he left them alone. He started with an urgent walk which then changed into a sprint and at the end of the corridor, he was practically running.

    The moment Nivritti and Jae-Hwa could not see him, they both shrieked with happiness and started jumping in the air.

    Kyung-Soo who was hidden under the clothes was impressed with Nivritti. Well, he was low-key scared of her too. How she created a scene to get the girl punished was beyond his belief. She didn¡¯t care about what others will say about her, she just wanted that girl to be punished. She was firm and loud and she made that girl say from her own mouth what she did wrong. She admitted to all the wrongdoings.

    Nivritti even mentioned the fact that the girl was peeping in. How could she say that? That made him yelp with shock. He told her that to make her aware of the situation and then she used that information against that girl. Maybe it was a smart move. He was d that others too helped her. They stood with her in her fight, well, his fight.

    He knew in his heart that if it would have been about her, she would have definitely run away from the situation, but it was about him, and that¡¯s why she chose to fight. The only time she fought for herself was with Thae. But that situation was still not all about her. Maybe she chose to fight then because she was thinking about Rencontre. This girl needed to learn how to fight for herself.

    He sighed with relief after hearing the punishment. He was happy that she got what she deserved. Sometimes, Kyung-Soo used to curse his handsomeness due to girls like that. Everyone likes the attention but when it turns into stalking and obsession, that bes a real headache. No one wants that.

    He smiled when he heard Nivritti bargaining about the discount. She practically ckmailed the poor man. Why do girls like discounts so much, he could never understand? The girls were shrieking andughing and enjoying outside the door. He wanted toe out of the hiding ce, but it was not the right time.

    ¡°Oh my God, oh my God!¡± screamed Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, you are so lucky, first bonus and now 75 percent discount. You are the right person to make friends with. I will now take 2 dresses,¡± mocked andughed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Take four, ha-ha,¡±ughed Nivritti.

    ¡°By the way, what are you wearing?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, looking weirdly at the loose shirt.

    Nivritti opened her buttons and showed her dress to Jae-Hwa. ¡°Hot damn!¡± eximed Jae-Hwa. ¡°That is an awesome dress. Your figure is looking so good. See my choice,¡± winked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± shouted Nivritti, embarrassingly. She knew Kyung-Soo was hearing everything and here Jae-Hwa was talking about her figure. She really wanted someone to tell her why such things happened before him.

    ¡°You have to buy this dress,¡± ordered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Go, try your dresses. Find some more as now we have a 75 percent discount,¡± she said happily in a sing-songy tone.

    ¡°Yes, boss,¡± saluted Jae-Hwa and walked away smiling.

    Nivritti stood at the door for some time waiting for Jae-Hwa to vanish and to be far away from her earshot. The moment Jae-Hwa entered a changing room, Nivritti instantly jumped inside her changing room andtched the door shut.

 Chapter 85

    85 The idental Kiss

    For a moment she leaned on the door and stood motionless, breathing heavily. She clenched her heart and thanked God for the amazing solution to the problem. She also thanked for the fact that no one saw Kyung-Soo hiding inside.

    With a deep breath, she informed him, ¡°You cane out now.¡±

    Kyung-Soo raised his head out of the pile of clothes and stood up. All the clothes fell to his feet except one. A long, flowy gown¡¯s zip stuck to his hair. The dark purple dress covered himpletely. He tried tugging the dress, but he flinched in pain.

    His porcin skin was more enhanced due to the contrast of the purple dress. Nivritti looked at him and a smile yed on her face as he was looking cute. His hair was all over the ce trying to get rid of the dress. She noticed that he would look gorgeous in a purple shirt.

    For a minute she kept staring at him with adoration. Sometimes his face would get covered. He would remove the dress from his face, and it would fall all over his shoulder covering his whole body. He would then change the direction of the dress and it would again cover his head, making his hair fall all over the ce. She was finding all that cute. She could not stop smiling at him.

    Finally, she decided to help him as could not see his tribtion for long. Grinning. She moved towards him and stood before him. She tried to grab the dress, but Kyung-Soo was swirling and twirling the dress too much.

    ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t move. Let me help,¡± ordered Nivritti.

    ¡°Where are you? I can¡¯t even see you,¡± said Kyung-Soo. Somehow, he was inside the cancan fabric of the dress.

    ¡°Just stop moving,¡± she said and touched his hands. He immediately stopped moving. She lowered his hands and slowly lifted the dress, revealing his face. ¡°Hi!¡± she teased.

    .....

    He was sweating due to the heavy dress and just wanted to get out of the dress. Slowly she lifted the fabric and her face appeared before his eyes. He took a deep breath after looking at her face but instantly the air was knocked out of his lungs as he saw her in his shirt.

    It was the shirt he was wearing when he came to the mall. The first two buttons were unbuttoned showing off her smooth skin. The gorgeous picture before him was tugging at his heartstrings. Seeing her in his shirt, shed a picture before his eyes.

    He dreamed of spending his life with her. She would sometimes take his clothes out of his closet and wear them. She would roam around the house wearing his shirts, his hoodies, and he would mockingly fight with her to return them. But she would tease him and run away from him. He would chase her around his house and the whole house would be filled withughs and giggles. He liked that picture.

    ¡°Oh, you are too tall, bend down,¡±manded Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± her voice broke his dream.

    ¡°Never mind,¡± she said, took off her shoes and stood on the bench. Now she was taller than him. ¡°Come close,¡± she requested.

    Kyung-Soo stepped forward and stood near her. His face was in her breasts. He immediately looked away, but Nivritti grabbed his head and turned it back. ¡°I said don¡¯t move,¡± she scolded.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± he lifted his head to look at her face.

    ¡°Yes, this is better, stay just like this,¡± she screamed with happiness. He smiled after looking at her smile. He always wanted to see her smiling. He never liked it whenever she cried, it broke his heart.

    Nivritti carefully grabbed the dress to ease the pressure on Kyung-Soo¡¯s hair. He sighed with relief. With one hand she kept disentangling his hair from the zip. It took her time to get every strand of hair out of the tiny hole of the zipper.

    Kyung-Soo kept staring at her face while she was working on his hair. She kept pouting her lips when she was in deep concentration. One or twice she bit her lower lip trying to get his hair out of the entanglement. She really had no idea how many unconscious gestures she had and what they did to his heart.

    He just wanted to wrap his arms around her waist which was so close to him and bite the lip that she was biting on. He wanted to run his fingers all over her pout and kiss her till eternity. Why she had such a hold on him, he never understood. All he knew was that he liked when she would be close to him. He loved the warmth he was feeling being close to her. He loved thevender smell that oozed out of her.

    He carefully was watching her work on his head. Her beautiful eyshes, her cute cheeks, her chin, the mole on her neck. Involuntarily his hands started moving towards her mole to touch it. He gulped, hard and his arm kept moving near her neck.

    He was on the brink of touching it when Nivritti looked at him and said, ¡°there, it¡¯s done. Your head is free.¡± She smiled at him. He abruptly lowered his arm and avoided looking at her awkwardly.

    ¡°Did it hurt?¡± she inquired, worried.

    He looked at her and smiled faintly, ¡°a little.¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not your fault. You were just trying to help me,¡± finally Kyung-Soo smiled at her.

    ¡°Okay, now let¡¯s get rid of this dress,¡± she said and started taking off the heavy dress while simultaneously moving forward to step down from the bench.

    But the heavy dress and the slippery satin dress under her feet made her lose her bnce and started falling forward over Kyung-Soo. First, her handsnded over his shoulder, one of her feet slipped all the way to the floor, her other foot bent under the pressure, and she lost her bnce.

    Before Kyung-Soo could understand anything, Nivritti fell over him with all pressure making him move backwards. He immediately wrapped his arms around her trying to lift her, breaking her fall. She tried hard to control herself, but shended on Kyung-Soo and her lipsnded on his.

    A current ran through their bodies. Kyung-Soo was dreaming about kissing her and he got his wish. He was kissing her, well, not really. Their lips just touched yet he was happy that happened. On the other hand, the touch fried Nivritti¡¯s brain. She had no idea what to do next. Should she get away from him or remain in that position?

    Her flight mode kicked in and abruptly she moved away from Kyung-Soo and stepped backwards urgently. She forgot that the bench was lying in her path. Kyung-Soo too could not understand what she was doing or where she was going. She moved backwards and her path was halted by the bench.

    She stumbled again on the bench and sat on the bench with a thud. Her urge to run away was so strong that she immediately crossed over the bench and stood up when she was away from Kyung-Soo. In her urgency to get away from him, she stumbled again and fell on her derriere. Within seconds she stood up and was standing straight before him, but she kept looking in every other direction except at him.

    Bewildered, he kept looking at her running away from him. Before he could react or stop her, she fell on the bench, crossed over, fell again, and stood up as if nothing happened to her. With raised eyebrows and stretched lips that showed his clenched teeth, he kept staring at her, concerned.

    When finally, she stopped, he asked, ¡°are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I am fine,¡± sheughed awkwardly.

    He slightly lowered his head, looked at her and without speaking a word moved towards her. Taking the shortest distance which involved moving over the bench, he closed the distance between himself and Nivritti.

    He moved the lock of the hair dangling over her face and asked, ¡°are you really alright?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah!¡± she replied.

    ¡°If you are worried that it was a kiss...¡± he tried calming her down.

    ¡°Worried! Why would I be worried?¡± her voice tone kept climbing up a notch with every sentence she spoke.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± he insisted.

    ¡°I am sorry. I never meant to do that. It just happened,¡± Nivritti kept fiddling with the fingers.

    ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that,¡± said Kyung-Soo, softly. ¡°And even if you forcefully kiss me, I will be happy,¡± he teased.

    ¡°NK!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°You know I am kidding, right?¡± he smiled at her.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Nivritti lowered her head with shame.

    ¡°I think you have a lot of dresses to try so I should go,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°But...¡± hesitated Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I want my shirt back,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ex... excuse me!¡± she was confused.

    ¡°The shirt you are wearing, that is mine. That is what I was wearing,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh!¡± eximed Nivritti. She had no idea what to do with that information. ¡°So, you must... want... it back,¡± she stammered. She knew if she would take the shirt off, her revealing dress would again be visible.

    Now she kept thinking about what she should do. How was she going to return the shirt, she kept pondering over it.

 Chapter 86

    86 The Impressed, Kyung-Soo

    Kyung-Soo looked at her and understood that she was feeling uneasy about her dress that she hid behind his shirt. He wanted to tell her how good she was looking in that dress but held his tongue.

    ¡°If you want you can keep it,¡± offered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Really!¡± a bright smile appeared on Nivritti¡¯s face. She was d that she wouldn¡¯t have to take the shirt off in front of him.

    ¡°Really,¡± he nodded and smiled at her.

    ¡°But this is your shirt. You came wearing this. Won¡¯t someone find this odd?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I just have to pay for the shirt that I am wearing, and no one will bat an eye,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But you will have to buy new cloth because of me,¡± she said with sad eyes.

    ¡°I was going to buy this shirt that I am wearing. I ran out of the room to get away from her. Also, I like this hoodie,¡± he said and picked up the hoodie that was on the door. A few more clothes were hanging by the hook that Nivritti picked from the bench just after she arrived in the room.

    She scrunched her nose and looked at the hoodie with disapproval.

    .....

    ¡°What? You don¡¯t like it?¡± he immediately noticed her expression.

    She instantly straightened her face and replied, ¡°I never said that.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t, but your face did,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? No, this is good,¡± lied Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± he lowered his face and raised his eyebrows.

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t like it. I like this brown jacket better,¡± she picked up the brown jacket from the hook and handed it over to him.

    ¡°What if I don¡¯t like it?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Simple, then don¡¯t buy it,¡± replied Nivritti, casually.

    ¡°Okay,¡± he smiled at her and collected all the clothes hanging from the hook, and was ready to leave. ¡°See you at work.¡± He unlocked the door.

    But before he could open it, she shouted, ¡°wait! Let me see if the path is clear. I don¡¯t want people to call me a liar. If anyone sees you exiting, they will know that I was indeed hiding a man.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Nivritti opened the door and popped her head out. She turned her head in both directions. The moment she was about to dere the clearance of the path Man-Shik appeared at the end of the corridor.

    He nodded at Nivritti, and she smiled back at him.

    ¡°You cannot leave, sorry. Man-Shik is waiting at the end of the corridor,¡± she entered in and spoke. Suddenly a weird thought appeared in her brain. ¡°It seems like he is keeping an eye on me.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! Why would he keep an eye on you?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Maybe he believes that I am hiding you inside or maybe he saw you. Oh no!¡± screamed Nivritti.

    ¡°Now you are thinking too much. If he is keeping an eye on you, why is he waiting so far from you? Why is he not patrolling outside your door? And if he saw me, why did he reprimand that girl, why didn¡¯t hee in and pulled me out?¡± counterpointed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Good points!¡± praised Nivritti.

    ¡°Thank you! Honestly, I would like to know the working of your brain,¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡±

    ¡°Sometimes your brain works faster than the speed of light and sometimes it just stops working. Why is that?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No idea. I work better under pressure,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I thought so. And also, when it is about someone else, I have seen your brain churning ideas like that,¡± Kyung-Soo clicked his fingers and praised her.

    ¡°That is also true,¡± smiled Nivritti and they both startedughing.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s sit and wait for Man-Shik to leave,¡± suggested Kyung-Soo and sighed loudly.

    ¡°Right!¡±

    They both moved towards the bench. Nivritti pushed all the dresses off the bench and they both sat down. Kyung-Soo sat with all his clothes in hisp. They sat in silence for a minute and then Kyung-Soo broke the ice.

    ¡°You almost gave a heart attack to both the girl and Man-Shik,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? What do you mean?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°You called them by their names. They were shocked to learn that you can read Korean,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Obviously, if someone looks like me, no one expects them to know even basic Korean. True that a few travellers and vacationers learn the basic greetings like Annyeonghasyeo, or Khamsamnida, but no one expects them to be able to read Hangul,¡± educated Nivritti.

    ¡°Again, I am in awe of your brain,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Now what?¡± asked Nivritti, embarrassed. She was slightly loving thepliments but kept trying hard to hide it.

    ¡°Expert in sevennguages, that is awesome,¡± said Kyung-Soo, impressed.

    ¡°Many people can do that,¡± replied Nivritti, casually.

    ¡°True, but I have never met one. You are the first,¡± admired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, then, you are wee,¡± she teased. Kyung-Soo smiled at her naughtiness. He was d that she was feeling better. He was happy to see her make jokes. ¡°Is JJ, okay?¡± she asked.

    ¡°What?¡± Kyung-Soo was taken aback. She had to deal with an ordeal and then she spent a whole night crying her eyes out and still she was concerned about Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°His hand, is that okay?¡± exined Nivritti.

    He adoringly looked at her and replied, ¡°yes, he is okay. His swelling is down.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± sighed Nivritti.

    ¡°He has an army of doctors to treat him. What about you, did you show your bruises to a doctor?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, yes, I did,¡± she replied quickly as she did show her hand to a doctor.

    ¡°Really?¡± but Kyung-Soo was not ready to believe her.

    ¡°Yeah, Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother is a doctor. He looked at my injuries,¡± she exined.

    ¡°Oh, that is nice.¡± He was happy to hear that she went to see a doctor. ¡°Where does he work?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Nivritti, thinking hard. She spent so much time with Jae-Geun but never asked anything about him. She made a mental note to ask him about his hospital and his work. Now she felt guilty as he thought about her eyes, but she never showed any interest in him. He was Jae¡¯s brother, after all, at least she can ask him about his work.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you go to his hospital?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, confused.

    ¡°No,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Then where did he...¡± he asked perplexed.

    ¡°Oh, he saw me at my house,¡± she answered.

    It felt as if lightning struck all over his body. The poison of jealousy ran through his veins. He didn¡¯t like that another man was in her house, visiting her. ¡°Excuse me!¡± he shouted.

 Chapter 87

    87 The Teasing

    Nivritti could not understand his sudden change in expression and his tonal shift. ¡°Her whole family came to visit me to thank me. They brought lots of food. My fridge is overflowing with food. And then Jae slept in my housest night,¡± she borated.

    Now his jealousy turned into his sorrow. ¡°Ohh, did her brother too...¡± he could not finish his sentence.

    ¡°What? No,¡± she shouted at him. How could he even think just a bizarre thing? She was slightly angry at him. But she controlled her anger and replied, ¡°he went back home. Jae drank too much, and she was in condition to go home, so she stayed.¡±

    ¡°Ohh, you guys drank?¡± after hearing that the brother didn¡¯t stay, he was relieved.

    ¡°No, no, not you guys, only Jae. I don¡¯t drink,¡± corrected Nivritti.

    ¡°Really?¡± he looked at her funny.

    ¡°Hey! That was the only time I drank,¡± she knew what he was pointing out. The night she went and drank and ended up in a stranger¡¯s bed.

    ¡°I am d that they were with you,¡± said Kyung-Soo, seriously.

    ¡°Yeah, me too.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    She immediately showed him her arm and light ck marks. ¡°See, it¡¯s better.¡±

    ¡°Not that, Ritti. Are you alright?¡± he took her hand in his hand and pressed it gently.

    Nivritti sighed and lowered her head. She exhaled loudly, nced at him, and then stared at the door. It was easy to look at the door that at him. ¡°I don¡¯t know. After you left, I slept. I didn¡¯t have time to process everything and suddenly in the afternoon, Jae¡¯s family came to visit. I have been trying to forget everything for years and then suddenly everything came back. I didn¡¯t have the time to forget it again.¡±

    ¡°I know. Reliving everything is extremely hard,¡± he sweetly looked at her, but she was still looking at the door.

    She smiled suddenly and looked at him. ¡°But still I am d that I told you everything.¡±

    ¡°I am d too. Now I understand you better,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Really!¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, now I know why you are ageist and why you closed your heart,¡± pointed out Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hey!¡± she was offended. ¡°I didn¡¯t close my heart.¡± She pulled her hand out of his hand.

    ¡°Oh yeah! So, let¡¯s find a man for you. Go on a date with him,¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± rebuked Nivritti.

    ¡°See!¡±

    ¡°Oh, so, I don¡¯t want to go on a date with a stranger that proves that I have closed my heart,¡± shrieked Nivritti.

    ¡°I am not a stranger, date me,¡± taunted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Do shut up!¡± said Nivritti, annoyed.

    ¡°Right! In my case it is the age factor,¡± he mocked mercilessly.

    ¡°NK!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you forget about that asshole?¡± he demanded.

    But that made herugh. She let out a loud chuckle and sniggered, ¡°ha-ha.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You called him an asshole,¡± she could not stopughing.

    ¡°That¡¯s what he is,¡± he too joined in theughter after looking at her sweet, happy face. If calling him names would make her happy, he was more than happy to do so. He could even learn Hindi bad words and then use them on him.

    ¡°You are not wrong,¡± giggled Nivritti.

    He waited for herugh to die down and then asked, ¡°did he...?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Did he call you again?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°It¡¯s just been a day since we didn¡¯t see each other, NK. And remember I changed the number. No one has that number,¡± she reminded him.

    ¡°I have it,¡± he teased.

    ¡°Ohh, stop it,¡± she scolded.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± heughed again at her scolding. ¡°You are very strong, you know that, right?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. But if you say so, I will dly ept it,¡± she smiled sweetly.

    ¡°I know you came here to get a fresh start. And I am happy that you are making new friends. Oh yeah! Congrattions on your bonus,¡± his face beamed with happiness.

    ¡°Well, thank you,¡± she grinned from ear to ear.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you girls came shopping, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. She too was an active participant that day. She too had to face an ordeal. I think she deserves something that makes her happy,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Nice! But by that logic JJ too deserves something, he too was an active participant,¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    She picked up on his tease and teased back. ¡°How do you know that I have not bought something for him?¡±

    ¡°What? No, I was teasing. Don¡¯t get him anything. His smug ass will break all the records for smugness if you get him anything,¡± pouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ha-ha, what?¡± The whole room roared withughter after he saw him pouting.

    ¡°He has been roaming all around the house saying that you like him the best. He and Thae keep fighting with each other. It is a nightmare,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    Her mouth fell open with shock. ¡°You guys... fight... for me?¡± she asked.

    He smiled and exined, ¡°there is not a single human being who is friends with all of us,bined. I am friends with one person, Korain Hyung had some other friends, likewise, every member has their own set of friends. There are only a few who are friends with two or three of us. But you are friends with all seven of us. That is a first and after the Yong incident, we all feel guilty and responsible for your safety. We should have stopped Thae, but we didn¡¯t and Thae too have not acted the way he did.¡± He lowered his head with shame and guilt.

    ¡°NK!¡± she tried tofort him.

    ¡°No, we were not even over the Yong incident and then you go and save JJ,¡± he continued.

    ¡°I think it was the other way around. He saved me,¡± she interjected.

    ¡°And then you saved his reputation, his name, his fame. You saved him from a disastrous scandal. In our life that is our top priority, is to stay away from any scandal. And now every member is indebted to you. You ask them for anything, I am sure they will give you,¡± she said with gratitude.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± she mocked.

    ¡°Yeah, ask anything. Why do you think Jae¡¯s family came to see you, came to thank you? They too feel indebted to you, you saved their daughter. If you would have asked anything from them, they would have happily given it to you,¡± said Kyung-Soo with all seriousness.

 Chapter 88

    88 The End of the Changing Room Drama

    Nivritti knew that he was right. But she wanted nothing from anyone, she was just happy to help.

    ¡°Oh, I am a fool. Then I would have asked them to cook food for me every day. Delicious food for life!¡± she shouted, jokingly.

    ¡°Ha-ha. You stupid kid!¡± he yfully hit her on her forehead.

    ¡°What?¡± she demanded.

    ¡°You could have asked for money, property and you settle for food,¡± mocked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Why do we work NK, for food? If I get free food every day, what else would I need then? Well, if you want, I will ask for money, jewellery, cars and property from ASD,¡± she taunted him.

    ¡°How much do you want?¡± he asked seriously.

    But she was still in a yful mood. ¡°How much do you have?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that,¡± he said.

    .....

    ¡°Then give me all your credit, debit cards with pin,¡± she mocked.

    ¡°Done.¡± He started taking out his wallet when she grabbed his hand and looked at him shockingly.

    ¡°You really need to consult a doctor,¡± she pointed out.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because you are an idiot. Keep your money in your wallet, that¡¯s insulting,¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Getting a bonus is not insulting and if I give you money that is insulting,¡± he contrasted.

    ¡°Yes, because I got bonus from my employer for protecting another employee. Your money will be for protecting the name of my friend. Do you really think I did that for Jae and JJ for money?¡± she inquired.

    ¡°I would never insult you, not even in my dreams,¡± he shouted, shocked. ¡°But really, if you ever want anything, we all will be ready, anywhere, anytime,¡± he emphasised.

    ¡°I will keep that in mind. Now put your wallet back in your pocket,¡± she let go of his hand.

    ¡°My intentions really were never to insult you,¡± he stressed.

    ¡°I know NK. It¡¯s okay,¡± sheforted him.

    ¡°I should leave. I think it¡¯s time.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let me check.¡±

    Nivritti stood up from the bench and reached the door. She opened the door and peeped outside. A woman exited a changing room few doors away from her and left the area. Nivritti stood in that position for a few more seconds making sure no one was keeping an eye on the corridor. Man-Shik too was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°The path is clear,¡± announced Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo stood up and moved towards the door. In his hands, there were all the clothes that he brought inside.

    He was about to exit when Nivritti shouted, ¡°your mask!¡±

    ¡°Oh right!¡± said Kyung-Soo and hid his face with the mask. ¡°Bye.¡±

    ¡°Bye!¡± replied Nivritti.

    He exited the room and looked around. The path was still clear. He turned back at Nivritti and said, ¡°Ritti!¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t buy that crappy purple dress,¡± he said.

    That made Nivrittiugh out loud. ¡°Okay! Done.¡±

    ¡°And Ritti!¡±

    ¡°Now what?¡±

    ¡°Do buy the dress that you are wearing. It is nice,¡± he said and walked away immediately.

    ¡°What?¡± leaving Nivritti shocked and standing at the door with her mouth open. ¡°What did he mean by that?¡± she closed the door and looked at the pile of dresses. She moved closer to the mirror and looked at herself. She softly ran her fingers over the smooth fabric of the blue shirt. It was veryfortable. She smiled at the fact that all his clothes were soft andforting.

    Hiding her face in her palms, she pondered upon the fact that she became a crybaby aftering to Korea and she always cried on Kyung-Soo¡¯s shoulder, well, his chest. And every time she cried, hisfortable clothes were there to soothe her. Today as well, his shirt saved her when she had to hide her revealing dress.

    She tried hard to stay away from him but fate or kismet, whatever you want to call it, kept making them cross each other¡¯s paths.

    Slowly, she started unbuttoning the shirt and the yellow dress revealed itself. Well, he was not wrong. The dress was fire, and she was looking hot. She recalled what Kyung-Soo said. She smiled shyly and looked down.

    ¡°Wait! Why am I blushing? Stop it! Stop it, Ritti!!! Don¡¯t... don¡¯t do that. Don¡¯t walk on the same path. God! Why does he make me feel like this? Why can¡¯t I be emotionless? Why? Why?? Ahhh...¡± she shouted in frustration.

    Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down. She looked at the pile of clothes and removed the shirt and the yellow dress. She had no time to waste. Saving Kyung-Soo took up much of her time. Quickly she started trying out every dress. Some she liked, some were not to her taste. As per Kyung-Soo¡¯s suggestion, she didn¡¯t even try the purple dress.

    She chose a bright pink overcoat, a dark blue bodycon dress and the yellow dress. cing all the other dresses on her other hand she looked at the blue shirt, Kyung-Soo¡¯s shirt. What will others say if they saw her with arge shirt? Even though it had no maic tag, and no one could call her a thief, it would be hard to exin how she stumbled on the shirt and why was she taking it with her.

    She had to think fast. First, she hid the shirt under the pink overcoat and came outside. She looked around sheepishly as if she was stealing something from the store. Avoiding looking at anyone she reached the end of the corridor where Man-Shik appeared before her.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am,¡± he greeted.

    ¡°What? What?¡± Nivritti jumped in shock.

    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to startle you,¡± Man-Shik looked sceptically at her.

    Hearing her voice, Jae-Geun who was patiently waiting for both of them, stood up and approached her. ¡°Finally! Oh, I am nevering with you two. Where is she? Is she not with you?¡± heined.

    ¡°She is not back yet?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked. She knew she took so much as Kyung-Soo was inside her room. She could not understand why Jae-Hwa took so much time.

    ¡°Oh, she came outside, picked another lot of clothes, and ran in. She didn¡¯t even tell me what she was doing. Are you guys going to loot the store? Why does she need so many clothes? And why are you wasting your money?¡± the irritation was evident in his voice.

    Nivritti just kept looking at him with her eyebrows raised. She pursed and let him finish his thoughts. ¡°Are you done?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Feel better?¡± she inquired.

    ¡°A bit,¡± he sulked.

 Chapter 89

    89 The Payment

    Nivritti calmed Jae-Geun down and then shifted her attention to Man-Shik.

    ¡°Mr Kim Man-Shik, may I bother you to return these clothes to their right address?¡± she requested. Jae-Geun looked at her dubiously.

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to buy this?¡± he questioned.

    ¡°No! This is the pile I want to buy,¡± she showed him her other hand.

    ¡°Very well, ma¡¯am,¡± he humbly bowed down and took all the rejected clothes from her. He ran away from her and stopped before another man who was standing in one of the aisles. He handed him all the clothes and started walking towards Nivritti.

    Meanwhile, Jae-Geun looked at her cynically and asked, ¡°Okay, why did you want him to walk away?¡±

    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t want to tell you before him that we have an offer of a 75 percent discount on every piece of clothing,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± he asked, shocked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she went near the basket and dropped all the clothes in it. She saw her hand purse lying in the basket and she knew what she was going to do with the blue shirt. ¡°I did not want him to feel bad, you see.¡± And then she repeated every word of what happened to her. Of course, after hiding the fact that Kyung-Soo was inside her changing room. ¡°An employee came at my door. She was looking for a man, a handsome man. Then she started peeping in my room looking for the said man.¡±

    .....

    ¡°What?¡± eximed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yep! There was amotion after that. Everyone came out of their rooms after hearing our voices.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I saw him running inside but paid no attention to it. I thought there was some problem with someone¡¯s dress or something like that,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°So, Man-Shik came, I told him everything, he scolded the girl and then offered us a 75 percent discount. Jae too was with me there and I told her to get more dresses. That¡¯s why she took another bundle,¡± recalled Nivritti.

    ¡°Wow! You are so lucky. First a bonus and then a discount,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti shook her head and smiled at him.

    ¡°What?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Your sister said the same thing,¡± she giggled. Suddenly her smile faded after she noticed that he was empty-handed. ¡°Hey! You said that you would find something for CH. You just kept sitting there, didn¡¯t you?¡± she scolded him.

    ¡°Oh right! Sorry, I forgot. I will get something for him right away,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I will go look for your sister,¡± offered Nivritti.

    They both nodded and went their separate ways. Nivritti lifted her basket and moved to the changing area. She looked in every direction and when she was alone, she took out Kyung-Soo¡¯s shirt and stuffed it in her purse. She made sure to take out her wallet and her phone. After closing her purse, she dialled Jae-Hwa¡¯s number.

    ¡°Where are you?¡± she asked after Jae-Hwa picked up her call.

    ¡°Trying... a... dress... but... zip... won¡¯t work,¡± she said with difficulty.

    ¡°Which room you are in? Let me help,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Uh... no, this dress is not for me. I made a mistake in choosing the size. I am getting fat, I need to diet,¡± said Jae-Hwa, defeated.

    ¡°Shut up! Juste out or let me in,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Nivritti lifted her head and looked at every door waiting for one to open. A door nearby opened a man appeared out of it. She moved out of his path and again looked around for a door to open. After waiting for several minutes, Jae-Hwa came out of a door with two baskets in her hands. One basket was overflowing with dresses, and another had four dresses in it.

    ¡°Selection done?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, I want these,¡± she gestured towards the four dresses.

    ¡°Good, let¡¯s pay for it. Did you get something for your brother?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, I did,¡± she said smiling. She raised the overflowing basket and immediately her smile faded. ¡°I chose a t-shirt for him. It is somewhere in this pile.¡±

    ¡°Jae!¡± sulked Nivritti. Jae-Hwa ced the basket on the floor and started looking for the t-shirt. After a minute or two, she pulled out a t-shirt that had a diamond pattern in blue, pink and white.

    ¡°Here!¡± said Jae-Hwa and handed the shirt over to Nivritti who loved the colourbination. ¡°Do you like it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful. So beautiful that I might keep it for myself,¡± replied Nivritti while admiring the pastel colours of the shirt.

    ¡°Then keep it. You don¡¯t have to get him anything, you know,¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae!¡±ughed Nivritti. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. Your brother is getting furious with every passing minute.¡±

    Nivritti ced the t-shirt in her basket. They both lifted their baskets and moved out of the changing area and started looking for Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Where is he?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I asked him to find something for CH,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, there he is,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and started running towards him. ¡°Oppa! Oppa!¡±

    He crossed a few aisles and came towards the girls. He was holding an olive green Hanbok shirt.

    ¡°I think your CH will like this,¡± said Jae-Geun and extended his arm towards Nivritti.

    ¡°What say, Jae? You have worked longer with him. You must know him better than me,¡± Nivritti asked for an opinion.

    ¡°This is nice. I think he will like it,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, then it¡¯s official. The choice of both brother and sister is on point,¡± she smiled at both of them. ¡°I think we are done. Should we go and pay?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s,¡± chuckled Jae-Hwa. She handed the overflowing basket to a worker nearby.

    They walked towards the checkout area where they saw Man-Shik. As soon as he saw them approaching, he whispered something to the checkout employee.

    ¡°Please ma¡¯am,e to this aisle,¡± he requested. They all went to the area he asked them to.

    ¡°Mr Kim Man-Shik, I would need the boxes for every clothing item in my basket. You can put the clothes in her basket in a bag,¡± she ordered.

    ¡°So, these are for gifts?¡± inquired Man-Shik.

    ¡°Yes, except these,¡± she took her clothes out of the basket along with her purse.

    ¡°Certainly ma¡¯am. We will do that for you,¡± smiled Man-Shik and called another employee. He ordered the new employee to get the boxes out of storage.

    Everything was packed as per her needs. The clothes she was going to gift everyone were ced in paper boxes and her clothes as well as Jae-Hwa¡¯s clothes were packed in simple paper bags.

 Chapter 90

    90 The Grilling

    That night Kyung-Soo slept with Jung-Hwa. Why he kept talking about a ghost, he had no idea. He was d that Nivritti told him everything. He was more d that she messaged him and asked about his whereabouts. She wanted to know if he reached home safely. Before sleeping he opened the messaging app and reread all the messages, he exchanged with her. With a smile on his face, he fell asleep.

    As he sleptte, it was afternoon when he woke up. He opened his eyes and looked to his side. Jung-Hwa was gone. He groaned when he realised that Jung-Hwa knew about histe-night excursion. He knew Jung-Hwa would bombard him with questions.

    What was he going to tell him? How was he going to escape the curious child?

    He let out a loud groan and got up from the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled them a little with frustration. Walking like a drunkard, he walked to the bathroom. He sat on the toilet and then brushed his teeth.

    His stomach grumbled with hunger. He wanted to run to the kitchen but knew the moment he would go outside, Jung-Hwa would jump at him. He was sure that by now he must have bbed about him to everyone, and everyone was ready with their questions.

    He cracked his knuckles and got ready to go to battle. For a second he hesitated to open the door but slowly turned the knob. He peeped outside, the whole house was silent. The chaotic house was silent. Before he could open the door, his phone chimed loudly.

    He jumped with a yelp. He clutched his heart after realising that it was just his phone. His phone kept chiming loudly. He went and grabbed it. It was slowly a reminder. After switching off the rm, he opened up the note. It said that they had to go on a live saying thank you to all the ASDians who were participating in Rencontre and give them an update about the same. Maybe all were busy preparing for that and would not pay any heed to him, he thought.

    cing the phone in his pocket, he stealthily opened his door and walked on his tiptoe. No one was in the corridor, no one was in the living room. Looking in every direction, he moved towards the kitchen. Before he could enter the kitchen, two heads popped from behind the wall.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and jumped away in shock. Slowly, everyone starteding out of the kitchen, one by one. Kyung-Soo moved back a little with an awkward smile on his face.

    .....

    ¡°Sit down!¡± ordered Korain.

    ¡°Hyung!¡± gulped Kyung-Soo and stepped backwards. But his back bumped into someone. He turned around to see that Young-Chul was standing behind him, cracking his knuckles. Kyung-Soo gulped again and looked at Korain who said nothing, just signalled at a chair.

    Kyung-Soo smiled uneasily and went and sat in the chair. Korain then signalled Him-Chan who ced a big bowl of jajangmyeon and a te of Korean fried chicken before him.

    ¡°Eat,¡± ordered Korain. Kyung-Soo gulped and looked at everyone. All were standing before him and staring down at him.

    ¡°Why are you guys staring at me like that?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, ufortably.

    ¡°Where did you gost night?¡± asked Young-Chul who was still standing behind him, hovering over him, making Kyung-Soo shiver with fear.

    ¡°Just for a walk,¡± lied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°By your car?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°I meant I went for a drive,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo but one look from Korain and his smile vanished.

    ¡°Where did you go?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Nowhere just driving around on the roads of Seoul,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Don¡¯t lie, NK,¡± shouted Korain.

    He was not able to even take a single bite of his food and others started grilling him. He realised that something was wrong. Something had happened, that he had no idea about. Did they know that he went to meet with Nivritti? No, that cannot be. It was impossible to find that out.

    ¡°Okay, what has happened?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know,¡± murmured Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°JJ!? What?¡± Kyung-Soo inquired again.

    ¡°Keep eating. It¡¯s already afternoon and we have to prepare for the live show,¡±manded Korain.

    ¡°But Hyung, what is the problem? Why are you guys grilling me?¡± asked Kyung-Soo and ced a mouthful of noodles in his mouth.

    ¡°Do you have a girlfriend?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    Kyung-Soo coughed hard and the noodles came out of his nose. He ran to the sink and washed his face. He came back to the table with a kitchen napkin and wiped the table. After throwing the paper towel in the dustbin he shouted, ¡°excuse me!¡±

    ¡°I told them, it could not be you,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What could not be me?¡± Kyung-Soo was losing his patience.

    ¡°A famous actress, Soon Myeong was seentest night on Eurwangni beach with a masked man. He was wearing a mask, but people said that he was of your height. They spected that it was you. We knew it could not be you and then JJ told us that you returnedte at night. You didn¡¯t tell anyone and went outside,¡± exined Korain.

    ¡°Eurwangni beach! Soon Myeong! Really! You guys think I have a girlfriend and you guys won¡¯t know about it. And where was it that I met with Myeong first? How did our rtionship start? I have literally never met her. Who starts such stupid rumours?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Calm down! We just wanted to ask where you were,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°I cannot believe that you guys would doubt me,¡± screamed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, we never doubted you. We just wanted to confirm,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Did anyone see the face of the man? How can they say that it was me? That is absolutely absurd. How are we tackling the situation?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Well, thepany has issued a statement that you have never interacted with Myeong and ASD has nothing to with her. No member of ASD was present anywhere near that beachst night,¡± informed Him-Chan.

    ¡°Good!¡± said Kyung-Soo. Now he was in no mood to eat. His mood was spoilt.

    ¡°Yeah, this is what our PR team sent us. You can read from it during our live,¡± informed Korain.

    ¡°Where is the setup?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Near our pool area. The cameras and lighting have arrived. Sound will be arriving shortly,¡± replied Him-Chan.

    ¡°Eat!¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°Hyung!¡±ined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I know such news spoils the appetite, but you need to eat,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Who told you guys that I went out?¡± asked Kyung-Soo and stared at Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, you know the answer to that,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°And did you guys ask him why he was sleeping in my room?¡± pointed out Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh, right! We never asked him,¡± Young-Chul noted.

    ¡°Why were you sleeping in his room, JJ?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°Um...¡± hesitated Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you saw the ghost again,¡± Young-Chul rolled his eyes.

    ¡°What?¡± a few of them shouted at once.

    ¡°What ghost?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°You know about the ghost?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°He has slept a number of days with me because of the ghost,¡± Young-Chul informed.

    ¡°Where did this ghoste from?¡± shouted Korain angrily. ¡°Since when you started believing in such nonsense?¡±

    ¡°He was doing his live show one day and some ASDians yed a prank on him. They kept saying that they see a woman in white standing behind him and his stupid ass believed them. He has this notion that a woman lives in his room,¡± facepalmed Young-Chul.

    ¡°JJ!¡± all shouted at once and shook their head in disbelief.

    ¡°You are a well-educated person. How can you believe in such nonsense?¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Jung-Hwa lowered his head with shame.

    ¡°JJ! It¡¯s all psychological. There are no such things as ghosts,¡± Korain ced his hands over his shoulder softly and assured him.

    ¡°JJ, why didn¡¯t youe and talk to us? We could have helped you or if you need to talk to someone about your fear, we could have arranged that,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I thought you guys would make fun of me,¡± said Jung-Hwa, ashamed.

    ¡°We would never do that. You are so scared that you refuse to sleep in your room. We need to talk about that. And you are our muscle man, you could punch the daylights out of a ghost if you want,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°Just like you punched the man in the restaurant,¡± praised Jeong-Eun. That made Jung-Hwa smile. With the mention of the punch and restaurant, both Jung-Hwa and Kyung-Soo thought about Nivritti.

    ¡°I wonder how she is,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Who?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°Ritti! My swelling has subsided. I keep applying ice packs and hot packs. Is she applying something on her bruises?¡± Jung-Hwa expressed his concern. Kyung-Soo recalled everything that happenedst night. Last night she was concerned about her bruises, she was busy telling her story and crying her eyes out. He thought of calling her but discarded that idea. He knew that she needed to sleep after the events ofst night.

    Suddenly a thought appeared in Jung-Hwa¡¯s mind. ¡°Did Hyung go to see herst night? He went to her house one time before. Did he go again? Is she the reason he acted weird when we asked him aboutst night?¡± he squinted his eyes and looked at Kyung-Soo. Kyung-Soo noticed his expression and immediately looked away. He was afraid that Jung-Hwa might figure out about his activities ofst night.

 Chapter 91

    91 The Questions

    Kyung-Soo was actively avoiding looking at Jung-Hwa whereas Jung-Hwa squinted his eyes and stared at him. He knew that Kyung-Soo was telling the truth about the beach, but he was hiding something.

    ¡°Yeah! We are idiots. We didn¡¯t even ask how she was,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°Or Jae was,¡±mented Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I saw her bruises, it was ck. She should see a doctor,¡± pointed out Young-Chul.

    ¡°But I am d that Hu-ssi gave her a bonus,¡± said Jung-Hwa and kept staring at Kyung-Soo to note his reaction. Everyone was talking about her, but he kept slurping the noodles.

    ¡°And the way he was firm with everyone in his message, I loved it,¡± said Jeong-Eun. ¡°After that, no one was talking about JJ and Jae.¡±

    ¡°Oh, sometimes I hate my life,¡± shouted Thae.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°I could not even go to her house to meet her and thank her and check up on her. Here, we six people are taking care of JJ along with our doctor whereas she has no one,¡±mented Thae. His words made Kyung-Soo sad. He knew Thae was right. Everyone had family around them, JJ, Jae but Nivritti had no one. He tried taking care of her yesterday, but she needed people around her after her ordeal. Dealing with bully takes its toll.

    .....

    ¡°Right!¡± nodded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But we are idiots. We should have called her and asked about her. I will give her a call. Kyungsoona Hyung, you have her number, right?¡± said Thae making Kyung-Soo look at him with surprise.

    Before Kyung-Soo could reply, Korain interjected, ¡°I don¡¯t think we should disturb her. We can talk to her when we see her in the office. Anyway, it is better not to get involved with anyone even though it¡¯s just friends. No talking to the opposite sex till everything settles down. Every eye is on us. She saved us from a scandal, don¡¯t do anything that she would be a part of it.¡±

    Everyone realised that Korain was right. ¡°Yes, Hyung,¡± was the collective answer.

    ¡°You eat, all of you, get ready,¡± Korain ordered everyone around. Kyung-Soo nodded and concentrated on the food. All others ran to their rooms to get ready. The costume department had brought their clothes, they just had to wear them and go sit in the make-up chair.

    Kyung-Soo was peacefully eating the noodles. He picked up a leg piece and took a bite of the chicken. Before he could swallow, he noticed someone standing in the line of his peripheral vision. He gulped and turned around. Jung-Hwa was standing next to him with his hands over his hip. The chicken piece fell on the te with a soft thud.

    ¡°Are you going to tell me, or do I have to waste my time asking you about it?¡± taunted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Don¡¯t act innocent. Tell me where you werest night?¡± Jung-Hwa gritted his teeth.

    ¡°I told you,¡± lied Kyung-Soo.

    Jung-Hwa dragged a chair and sat next to Kyung-Soo. ¡°Tell your lies to those who you can fool.¡±

    ¡°I am not lying,¡±ughed Kyung-Soo and took a sip of water.

    ¡°Then tell me, when you arrived why were you smelling likevender?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa.

    Water spurted out of Kyung-Soo¡¯s mouth, and he started coughing violently. Jung-Hwa just crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows at Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you are choking too much today?¡± mocked Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo controlled his cough and took a deep breath. He turned towards Jung-Hwa, grabbed his cor and pulled him towards his face. ¡°Who have you told?¡± he asked angrily.

    ¡°What? No one. There is nothing to tell,¡± smiled Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo realised that he made a mistake. Jung-Hwa was bluffing and he walked into his trap blindfolded. ¡°You were testing the waters,¡± Kyung-Soo closed his eyes and let Jung-Hwa go.

    ¡°Yeah, I always smelledvender when I was near her. So, I took a chance. I see that you too noticed her smell. So,st night you were with her?¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, so proud of yourself. So happy to y detective,¡± taunted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hyung! Do you need me to call Korain Hyung?¡± threatened Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Do you need me to call Korain Hyung,¡± repeated Kyung-Soo, mockingly. ¡°Fine, yes, I was with her.¡±

    ¡°Really!¡± Jung-Hwa pped like a happy child.

    ¡°Wow! Sudden change in the mood,¡±mented Kyung-Soo and went back to eating.

    ¡°How is she? Is she okay? Why did you return sote? Did she say anything about me? Is she still angry at me?¡± Jung-Hwa bombarded him with questions, the very thing Kyung-Soo was trying to avoid.

    Kyung-Soo kept looking at him and Jung-Hwa kept raining questions. Before he could blurt out the next question, Kyung-Soo grabbed a piece of chicken and stuffed it in Jung-Hwa¡¯s mouth making him shut up.

    ¡°Calm down! And lower your voice. I don¡¯t want anyone to hear about it,¡± whispered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Right, sorry,¡± mumbled Jung-Hwa and kept chewing the chicken.

    ¡°I was concerned about her. She was hurt and she is alone. I wanted to check up on her. I thought she would be curled up in a ball crying her eyes out, but she was cleaning her house,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°No, she is not angry at you. Happy?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°A little,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°But why did you return sote?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa, impatiently.

    ¡°Well, we were talking,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°About?¡±

    ¡°About her family, her life in India, etc, etc,¡± Kyung-Soo tried to make it look like he had boring chat with Nivritti.

    ¡°And it took you so much time?¡± Jung-Hwa raised one of his eyebrows.

    ¡°I told you she was cleaning her house. I had to wait for a long time before she was free,¡± replied Kyung-Soo and glugged the noodles.

    ¡°I was angry that you didn¡¯t eat the food that I saved for you. But did you eat anything?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, she is a great cook. Her curry and rice were delicious,¡± Kyung-Soo ced his palm over his mouth and send a kiss in the air.

    ¡°Hmm... so did you guys kiss again?¡± asked Jung-Hwa excitedly.

    Kyung-Soo immediately pressed his palm over his mouth and shushed him. ¡°What are you doing? Why are you talking in full volume, you idiot?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, forgot in excitement. So did you?¡± he asked again.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°What? Why? Is she still hung up on the age thing?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°She is but more important is her heart. She has locked the door to her heart and threw the key to the darkest, deepest abyss,¡± replied Kyung-Soo with sad eyes.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°That she is not ready for any rtionship, no matter what the age of a man who approaches her,¡± Kyung-Soo smiled sadly.

    ¡°But Hyung you like her,¡± notified Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You know in a rtionship, feeling from both sides matters, right? It should not matter that I like her, the thing that should matter must be we both should like each other,¡± Kyung-Soo ced his hands over Jung-Hwa¡¯s shoulder andforted him.

    ¡°But you cannot ept defeat. She is so nice and kind and smart. She is perfect for you. I have this feeling that you guys are made for each other. You should not give up on you two,¡± requested Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Who said I was giving up?¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yay! Good. If you would not have approached her, I would have,¡± teased Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Ha-ha, she rejected me because I am five years younger than her, do you think you have any chance with her, you kid?¡± Kyung-Sooughed out loud.

    ¡°What the hell are you two doing?¡± shouted Korain from behind. Both Kyung-Soo and Jung-Hwa jumped with fear. Both looked at Korain who was dressed in a dapper grey suit. ¡°I told you to go get ready, what are you still doing here?¡± he scolded Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Sorry, Hyung,¡± said Jung-Hwa and jumped out of his chair. Without speaking a single word, he ran out of the kitchen and within seconds he was inside his room.

    ¡°And you?¡± Korain looked at him with anger.

    ¡°Give me five minutes, and I will be done with my food,¡± said Kyung-Soo and started shoving food in his mouth.

    ¡°I haveid your suit in your room. Wear it and get your make-up done. I will go and take care of others. Oh, I have to see if they have ced the sound system,¡± mumbling to himself Korain left Kyung-Soo alone.

    Kyung-Soo ate as fast as he could and drowned the food with water. After he was done, he dumped the tes in the sink. He had no time to clean them up. He ran to his room and saw a ck tuxedo waiting for him on his bed.

    He took off his clothes and wore the tuxedo. His broad shoulders were extremely enhanced in the suit. His porcin skin against the ck suit was shiny even more.

    ¡°I am so handsome but what is the benefit? The girl my heart likes has no concern about my handsomeness. Even all this, this beautiful face, this chiselled body, my beautiful heart, nothing is enough to persuade her to open her heart. What will I do? I told JJ that I won¡¯t give up, but I have no idea what to do next. She is heartbroken, that asshole crushed her heart. If I have any chance with her, I will first have to heal her heart. I will have to assure her that her heart will be safe with me. Never even in my dreams will I break her heart,¡± he breathed heavily and looked at himself in the mirror. ¡°You idiot! You could havee to earth five years before your birth. I will have to talk to my parents. Why didn¡¯t they meet before? At least the age issue would have sorted itself out,¡± he groaned loudly.

 Chapter 92

    92 The Live

    With an uninterested face, he wore his ck formal Oxford shoes with brown socks and came out of his room. The whole house was in chaos. Korain was pushing and pulling everyone out of their room and throwing them out near the pool area where make-up artists were waiting for them.

    The light team, sound team and camera team were getting their set ready.

    ¡°Oh, finally. Hurry up!¡± shouted Korain at Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes, yes, Hyung,¡± Kyung-Soo spoke and ran to get his make-up done.

    All the boys sat in the chair and let the artists do their work on their faces. After a light make-up, the boys were ready for the live streaming.

    The production team was behind the cameras. The theme chosen for the live streaming was a board meeting. All the boys were dressed in three-piece suits and were looking charming. Fake, cardboardsptop andputers were near them as decorations. Thae was given a pad to read thements from. A round table was set up for them making it seem like they were in a meeting. A Monopoly game was ced in the middle for them to y and talk.

    All over the world, ASDians were waiting for them to go live. They too wanted to hear what Kyung-Soo had to say about the rumours. He didn¡¯t have the time to check but he was going viral on themunicator app and the inte was buzzing about him and the actress.

    Some fans were supporting him saying that even if he was with the actress, it was his life and everyone should leave him alone. Some dived into their detective genes and started specting about how the man was not Kyung-Soo but someone who had his frame and stature. Many found out that the present hair of Kyung-Soo was ck but the man on the beach had bluish-ck hair.

    Even after K&Q gave out a statement, no one was satisfied. They all wanted to hear from Kyung-Soo¡¯s mouth. All were waiting eagerly for Kyung-Soo to clear the air. He already had a scandal before and now again something was up.

    .....

    All sat and looked at the producer. The producer signalled them and the live started.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo! Hello everyone! We are ASD and this is our live,¡± all said at once and bowed down to the camera. Millions joined in to see the live. The producer instructed them about monopoly, and they started ying the game.

    They selected their tokens and the producer made Young-Chul, the banker. He distributed the money equally and the game started. Chips, light snacks and drinks were ced before everyone to munch in between the ys.

    The producer kept asking them questions in between and would break the concentration of the yers. They would forget where their tokens were or what they were supposed to do next. The whole atmosphere was hrious.

    ¡°So, what are your thoughts about the uing Rencontre?¡± asked the producer.

    ¡°Well, we are very thankful to our script team foring up with such a brilliant idea. We are eagerly waiting for our friends, ASDians, toe and meet us,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Yes, we would be so honoured to spend a whole day with them,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°We know they are very talented, and we will see that with our own eyes,¡±mented Young-Chul.

    ¡°We want to thank them with all our heart for taking out time for us and working so hard to meet us,¡± Jeong-Eun bowed down at the camera.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that among all the talented people we will meet with only seven,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°Yeah, I really want to meet them all,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°No worries we will perform for all of them,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh no! where was I?¡± suddenly Him-Chan shouted and everyone startedughing. The producer had to tell them whose was thest turn and who was going to y next.

    A few rounds after Jeong-Eun was in the lead. ¡°Pleasement guys. Who do you think will win?¡± he said.

    ¡°Oh, you are winning everyone can see that. Now you want people to say your name,¡± teased Young-Chul.

    ¡°Please select my script,¡± Thae read one of thements. He looked at the camera and said, ¡°if it would have been in my hands, I would have selected everybody¡¯s script. But that is under our script team. Sorry guys! We cannot do anything. It¡¯s out of our hands. But thank you very much for participating.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please keep writing or ask your friends to write for you. You can submit as many scripts as you want. Submitting more scripts can increase your chance of selection,¡± suggested Him-Chan.

    ¡°But that will cost them more,¡±mented Young-Chul.

    ¡°Oh right, I never thought about that,¡± replied Him-Chan.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry guys, even if you have no money, we will love you. You are our best friends,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Right, right, absolutely right,¡± Jung-Hwa pped with happiness.

    ¡°Coin, please marry me,¡± read Thae out loud, again and everyone startedughing.

    ¡°I would be happy to do that. Let me get permission from my family and I will get back to you,¡± Korain winked at the camera.

    ¡°Will King tell us about where he wasst night?¡± Thae nced at thement but said nothing. His facial expression changed, and everyone knew something was wrong. But Thae said nothing and read the nextment.

    ¡°Can you guys help me get some free slot so that I could too send my script? I am poor,¡± Thae read out loud.

    Kyung-Soo extended his arm and asked for the tablet. Thae handed him the tab. Kyung-Soo nced at all thements and read thement that made Thae feel ufortable. While Jung-Hwa and Him-Chan were ying their moves, Kyung-Soo looked at the camera and replied, ¡°that is a great suggestion. We will propose the same to our team and see what they say about that. Please note that our team is getting thousands and thousands of scripts every day. Even on their off day, they keep reading and selecting your scripts. I know your request would increase their workload but I think we can do something about it. I am not promising anything but will make sure to convey your message to our team.¡±

 Chapter 93

    93 The Live is Done

    His answer created a buzz in the live streaming. The message section started chiming with thank yous and heart emojis. ¡°You all are wee,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo at the camera.

    Thae knew that he too read thement about his scandal but was impressed that he was able to control his expression and not let anyone find that he read thements. He knew that Kyung-Soo was angry but he hid his emotions and in turn made all his fans happy.

    Moreover, Kyung-Soo was an expert in handling scandals. He had his fair share of scandals since he became the leader of ASD. Many people said that he was not apetent leader, his team will go nowhere. He is just handsome, he has no talent but he proved everyone wrong. He was the best leader in the world. He was the best songwriter in the world. In fact, he even had a world record in his name for writing arge number of songs in a month.

    All his hard work brought ASD to the position that they were in. They were the most famous boyband in the world only because of Kyung-Soo and his efforts. He was the most respected and loved leader in the world.

    ¡°Your move,¡± said Young-Chul and signalled Kyung-Soo to move the game forward. Kyung-Soo passed the tablet over to Young-Chul and yed the next move in the game.

    Suddenly the game shifted and now Him-Chan was in the lead whereas Jung-Hwa was on the verge of bankruptcy. He hated losing in any game and was getting fidgety. He kept shouting at random things and kept shoving his face with chips in frustration.

    Looking at him even the production team could not control theirughter. Finally, he bought a property and calmed down slightly.

    ¡°Have you guys made a list of which songs you are going to perform?¡± asked the producer.

    ¡°We will perform for two days and we have separate ylists for both days,¡± replied Korain.

    .....

    ¡°Yes, and we are practising the songs as well as the dance,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°We are getting ready for you guys. We will not disappoint you,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Oh, we are going to give you the time of your life,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°If you see us dancing and singing you will not forget this experience anytime soon. We promise,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Yes, we will have fun shooting videos with ASD and then performing for them will give us joy,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    Another round of moves and the producer asked again, ¡°What do you guys have to say about the seven-year curse?¡±

    ¡°Everyone knows that in our second year we all were disheartened and were thinking of disbanding. We are lucky that we gave up on that thought and now we broke the seven-year curse,¡± replied Kyung-Soo, happily.

    ¡°Yeah, a lot of groups don¡¯t cross this threshold and we did that. We all have been living together, creating together. We have now be a big part of each other¡¯s lives. I don¡¯t know what I would have done if I would not have met with you all,¡± said Korain and looked sweetly at every member.

    ¡°You guys raised me. I was a kid when I joined the group. I am now an adult, but you still treat me as a kid. I will always be indebted to you guys for taking care of me like family,¡± said Jung-Hwa with all the gratitude he could muster.

    ¡°Yeah, when we first met, we used to fight, steal each other¡¯s clothes but now we share everything. Even though we sleep in separate rooms, we know that we live together and will always live together,¡±mented Young-Chul and smiled at his team members.

    ¡°I want to live together even after we all get married and have our kids. We will break all the curses and be a band even after ten or twenty years,¡± mocked Thae and everyone startedughing out loud.

    ¡°Ha-ha, and what if our wives don¡¯t get along with each other?¡± teased Jeong-Eun back andughter increased.

    ¡°Then it will be another scandal,¡± Korain jumped in the teasing.

    Allughed wholeheartedly.

    After theughing subsided, the producer asked again, ¡°speaking of scandal, King, you heard what everyone is saying about you?¡±

    The atmosphere suddenly changed and turned more serious. ¡°Yes, I got the news in the morning after I woke up. It was a shock to me.¡± Korain held his hand under the desk to give him support.

    ¡°Why is that?¡± the producer asked.

    Kyung-Soo took a deep breath and replied, ¡°we get limited days to rest. Our schedule for Rencontre is jampacked. We get so tired after all the practise and work that we don¡¯t even get time to finish our household chores. And people think I went out, met with an actress, started dating her and then went to a beach to meet with her, that toote at night. Tell me when do I get time to do such things?¡±

    ¡°What do you want to tell to ASDians?¡± asked the producer.

    ¡°That I have never met Soon Myeong-ssi in my life. How people could think that the man she was with was me is beyond my belief. As per the official statement of K&Q, I too second that no member of ASD has anything to do with her and none of us were present anywhere near the beachst night. Please don¡¯t believe in rumours and I would request the media outlets to fact check every piece of news that they spread in the world. It is high time that we hold them responsible for the same. I know this is the era of the inte but that does not mean that anyone can put anything out in the world. We need to verify every piece of news before talking about it or spreading it further.¡±

    ¡°Well said, King,¡± Korain smiled at him.

    All the questions were done and the game was in its finality. Kyung-Soo, Jung-Hwa, Thae and Jeong-Eun were bankrupt and Korain and Him-Chan were at thest stage. Finally, Korain won and everyone cheered him up.

 Chapter 94

    94 The Off-Day of Kyung-Soo

    Millions of fans logged in to see their live. The media and the inte started buzzing with Kyung-Soo¡¯s statement. Clips of the live started going viral. Now news shifted to the actress, and all kept trying to find who that man was on the beach.

    Every team that came to help ASD, collected their things and left the ASD mansion. After that all the boys rxed and sat in their living room.

    ¡°These suits were nice,¡± observed Him-Chan.

    ¡°Yeah, we looked good, and they arefortable too,¡± Jeong-Eun felt the fabric and spoke.

    ¡°Let¡¯s change and clean the table,¡± ordered Korain.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you won, stop ordering around,¡± taunted Young-Chul.

    Korain started smiling and spoke, ¡°I always win. Tell me something new.¡±

    ¡°Oh, he is so annoying,¡± Jung-Hwa rolled his eyes at him.

    ¡°Now you will clean the mess that we made outside, go,¡±manded Korain.

    .....

    Jung-Hwa pouted and slouched his shoulder. He slowly walked to his room and changed his cloth. He came out and moved near the pool area when Kyung-Soo shouted, ¡°stop acting! Come sit down, I will clean it.¡±

    ¡°Really Hyung?¡± said Jung-Hwa excitedly.

    ¡°Your hand is injured. You know Korain Hyung was teasing you, right?¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°It¡¯s because I called you annoying?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, you irritating child,¡± mocked Korain.

    ¡°Hey! I am not a child anymore. I am an adult,¡± sulked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s get you married. At least you will be her problem and not ours,¡± teased Him-Chan.

    ¡°Hyung!¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. Everyone could see his red cheeks.

    ¡°Okay, you guys talk I will clean up the table,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I will help you,¡± said Him-Chan.

    They both went to their rooms and got rid of the suits. Other boys too went to their rooms and changed their suits. All came back and switched on the TV while Him-Chan and Kyung-Soo went to the pool area to clean the table.

    After everything was done, they all sat in the living room and watched some news. They wanted to see what the media was saying about Kyung-Soo and the actress. The rumours were slowly dying out. Jung-Hwa took out his phone and opened themunicator app. As always, they were the trending topic.

    They watched a series after the news. The evening approached and a few of them went to the kitchen to start cooking their dinner.

    After all the chores, and all the work, they had their dinner in peace and all retired for the day. They all went to Jung-Hwa¡¯s room and made sure that he wasfortable to sleep in and after making him believe that there was no ghost, all went to their room.

    Kyung-Soo looked at his phone, read all the emails, marked the ones that he wouldter reply and closed his email app. He was about to ce the phone down when abruptly he found himself opening the messaging app. He opened thest chat from Nivritti and his hands itched to send her a message, but he controlled that urge.

    He ced the phone on the side table and went to sleep.

    He was sleeping soundly when a tight p was ced on his cheeks. He woke up with a jolt and looked around. His room was dark. He reached for his phone and switched on the shlight. He sighed when he saw Jung-Hwa again sleeping in his bed.

    He pped Jung-Hwa on his forehead and woke him up.

    ¡°What? What?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa and lifted his head up.

    ¡°You pped me idiot!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Sorry!¡±

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hyung, let me sleep, please,¡± groaned Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Did the ghoste again?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes. Now let me sleep,¡± moaned Jung-Hwa. ¡°Please go visit Ritti, if you want to, I will not tell anyone.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Kyung-Soo again pped Jung-Hwa. ¡°Go back to sleep and stick to your side.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± said Jung-Hwa and turned to his side.

    ¡°Idiot!¡± sighed Kyung-Soo and went back to sleep.

    The morning sun streamed in. Kyung-Soo groaned and covered himself with the nket. Unknowingly, he pulled all the sheets from Jung-Hwa. Jung-Hwa too groaned and started grabbing for the nket blindly. Finally, he found the nket and pulled it towards himself and now Kyung-Soo was uncovered.

    Kyung-Soo opened his eyes and stared at Jung-Hwa with disdain. He grabbed the nket and pulled everything to his side. Before Jung-Hwa could protest, Kyung-Soo kicked his butt and Jung-Hwa fell from the bed.

    ¡°Ahhh... Hyung,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Get lost!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and went back to sleep.

    Jung-Hwa walked out of the room caressing his butt, went to the living room and slept on the couch.

    Korain walked out of his room and walked to the living room. He always woke up first and started cooking breakfast for everyone. But today he froze after he saw Jung-Hwa on the couch.

    ¡°What is he doing here?¡± Korain scratched his head. ¡°Oh, did his ghoste again? He needs help.¡± Korain shook his head and went to the kitchen.

    After hearing the sounds of pots and pans, Jung-Hwa groaned and shouted at Korain, ¡°Hyung! Let me sleep.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so I should stop cooking just because you want to sleep. It¡¯s morning, wake up!¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t sleep, Hyung,¡± pouted Jung-Hwa. ¡°NK Hyung kicked me out of his bed.¡±

    ¡°You again slept in his room. We all came to your room to show you there was no ghost,¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°Hees after you all leave,¡± groaned Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, go sleep in my bed,¡± said Korain.

    Jung-Hwa dragged himself to Korain¡¯s room and fell on the bed with a thud.

    Slowly, everyone started waking up. One by one all arrived in the kitchen and helped Korain. Kyung-Soo slept for about half an hour more and came out of his room. All had their breakfast and left for their room to do some work.

    Being a day off and after getting a clean chit from the media, Kyung-Soo nned to go shopping as he was looking for a new hoodie. No matter how many clothes he would buy, Jung-Hwa would steal his clothes. And now he kept sleeping in his bed.

    His words echoed in his ears. What if he really made a move on Nivritti? No, that was impossible. Jung-Hwa knew that he liked her, he would never do such a thing to him. Moreover, if he ever says anything to her, she will kick his ass, for sure.

    Telling everyone about his n, so that no one would be blindsided, he went shopping. He drove his car to Dongdaemun and entered a mall. All his team members gave him a long list to get.

    He entered the male section and started choosing clothes for himself. He liked a ck hoodie and a jacket. He also took off a few t-shirts from the rack and went to the changing area to see which dress would look good on him. He made sure that his face was hidden behind his mask.

    He was looking for an empty room when a beautiful, slim woman approached him.

    ¡°Hello, Sir! My name is Park Da-Hee. Do you need help, Sir?¡± she asked.

    ¡°No, thank you. I am just looking for an empty changing room,¡± replied Kyung-Soo politely.

    ¡°Aww... your voice is so manly. You are so handsome, Sir. It would be my honour to help you. Let me help you, please,¡± she batted her eyes at him.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± Kyung-Soo was taken aback. His face was not visible, yet she found him to be handsome. What kind of witchcraft was that? And what did she mean by manly voice? ¡°Is this how you talk to your customers?¡±

    ¡°Only with handsome ones,¡± she flirted with him.

    Kyung-Soo adjusted his mask to make sure his face was covered and said, ¡°I don¡¯t need your help. Thank you for the offer.¡± Leaving her standing in the corridor, he moved forward. He found an empty room and ducked inside urgently.

    He took off his coat and blue shirt and hung them up on the hook. His muscr body was visible in the mirror. He chose a light pink t-shirt and wore it. The colour pink with his porcin skin was looking radiant. At first sight, he knew he had to buy that t-shirt.

    He then removed the t-shirt and grabbed an oversized ck shirt. He was buttoning the shirt when he heard a faint giggle. Even with the loud music in the store, the giggle was clear. His heart jumped out of his chest. Who wasughing? And why were theyughing outside his room? Has someone recognised him? He gulped with fear.

    To his shock, he saw a silhouette moving through the cracks of the door. He knew it was impossible to see inside but still, someone was trying hard to see him changing clothes. He felt dirty and ufortable. These were private moments that the store was required to respect but someone was outside his door trying to vite his privacy.

    He thought of giving a piece of his mind to the peeping tom and opened the door immediately. To his surprise, Da-Hee pursed her lips and smiled at him shyly.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing here?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Waiting for you sir. Anyway, I can help you?¡± she asked swinging herself sideways and batting her eyes at him.

    Annoyingly he looked at her. Just yesterday, he got rid of a scandal, and he was in no mood to get into a new one today. His PR team would kill him. Just a few days ago, Nivritti helped everyone to get away from a scandal, then his PR team had to issue a statement regarding a different scandal. And now a new problem was standing before him. He had to get away from her at any cost.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your help,¡± he shouted and ran out of the room. He kept moving to a new aisle every few seconds trying to shake his tail.

 Chapter 95

    95 The Escape

    One second, Kyung-Soo was in the jacket section and next, he would be in the trousers section. He would crouch along the way to hide himself or hide behind a pir.

    ¡°Jal saeng-gin namja! Jal saeng-gin namja!¡± Da-Hee kept whispering and wandering all over the male section to find him. ¡°Let me help you, sir.¡±

    Kyung-Soo was in the shirt¡¯s section when he heard her whispers clearly. He held his breath shockingly and tried hard to not make any sound. He closed his mouth with his palm and stealthily walked away from the shirt¡¯s section.

    Leaving Da-Hee to search for him among the clothes, he ran to the changing room constantly looking behind him. When he reached outside the room, he was shocked to see that the door was locked. He was running away from someone and was going to hide in his changing room but now it was locked.

    ¡°Who enters a changing room after seeing so many clothes hanging inside? Did they not think even for a minute that if clothes are inside, it is upied? Did they not think that someone might have gone to get some more clothes? Ohh... what should I do? Shit!! She mighte back any moment. Who is the fool that entered my room?¡± Kyung-Soo gritted his teeth.

    He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ¡°Okay, just knock at the door and get your things out before that girles back. You too would have entered an empty room, don¡¯t get angry at the person who is inside. I too would have thought that someone left the clothes inside as they didn¡¯t like them and left them inside like azy person. Let¡¯s just get out of this situation.¡±

    He started knocking at the door and pleaded, ¡°please open the door. Sorry for troubling you but I left my clothes inside.¡± He waited for some kind of answer but the person inside ignored him. There was no answer.

    ¡°Please open up. I will be out of your hair in a minute. Sorry for your troubles,¡± he begged again and started knocking at the door like a maniac.

    ¡°Okay, okay, just a second,¡± the person inside, shouted. The moment he heard the voice a sudden calmness ran though his body. Something was familiar about that voice. But his hands never stopped. He kept knocking continuously.

    .....

    Abruptly the door flung open, and Kyung-Soo¡¯s jaw dropped to the floor. Nivritti was standing before him in a yellow dress and a white dress was thrown over her shoulder. Her hair was open and free-flowing in all its glory.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°NK?¡± she screamed.

    He kept staring at her when he heard someone screaming her name. He turned to see that Jae was entering the changing room corridor. Before he could react or ask any questions to Nivritti, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him inside with force.

    Due to her jerk, the white dress she had on her shoulder fell on the floor and she immediately locked the door. He wanted to ask many questions, the most important one was how she was doing. She looked better than she looked that night. Her eyes were normal, her nose was normal. Nothing was red or swollen.

    Jae kept shouting her name and Nivritti replied to her. To his surprise, Jae threw a lot of clothes inside and allnded on his head. Annoyed he removed all the clothes and looked at Nivritti, but she startedughing.

    He was looking at her with squinted eyes but was happy to see her smiling. After all those tears, all the sadness, the broken heart, he was ecstatic to see herughing like a child. He was grateful to Jae-Hwa for that.

    ¡°Oh, you find this funny,¡± he lowered his mask and asked, annoyed. But Jae-Hwa heard his voice. She inquired if Nivritti said anything, but she denied it, and Jae-Hwa left.

    The moment Jae-Hwa left, Nivritti startedughing happily. Kyung-Soo gasped at her beauty. Herugh made her more beautiful. His heart started beating fast. He tried looking stoic and angry, but her cute smile made himugh out loud too.

    He could not remove his eyes off her sweet, beautiful face. And then suddenly he lowered his eyes and stared at her smooth wheatish skin. The plunging neckline was showing off her cleavage. He gulped hard as she was looking hot, smoking hot. He started sweating. He had to exhale big puffs of air to cool himself down.

    But she keptughing. Suddenly she slipped on her dress and Kyung-Soo grabbed her instantly and pulled her closer. Hervender smell hit his nose. He smiled at the thought that even Jung-Hwa teased him using her smell. Her soft hairnded on his arm, caressing it gently.

    He kept staring at her face when she suddenly licked her lips. That was his weakness. He knew that was her unconscious move, but it always stirred a lot of emotions in him. A sudden urge to kiss her ran through his body.

    He controlled himself and shouted, ¡°shit!¡± and he let her go.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°As if you don¡¯t know,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    She realised that she licked her lips and he confirmed that. He tried looking away from her silky skin, but his eyes would fall on her cleavage. She noticed that. She looked into the mirror and realised that the dress she hid herself with has fallen and her naked skin was visible to Kyung-Soo.

    She hid her body with her palms and looked ufortable. He realised that he should leave her alone. He collected his clothes and was about to leave when he saw Da-Hee entering the changing room corridor.

    He immediately closed the door and shouted, ¡°shit! Shit! Shit!¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± asked Nivritti.

    And then a female voice entered the room. He knew who she was, but Nivritti looked at him with a weird expression. The woman outside was calling him handsome. He had no idea how she found him out. He thought he shook his tail. He thought that he would take his clothes out and leave the premises as soon as possible but Nivritti pulled him in.

 Chapter 96

    96 The Help of Nivritti

    Kyung-Soo had no idea what to do. Involuntarily he jumped away from the door after hearing Da-Hee¡¯s voice, grabbed Nivritti and hid behind her.

    Even Nivritti was stunned. First, she found it bizarre that a woman was looking for him in a store and second, that he was trying to hide behind her. She wanted to hit her head, but her hands were tightly held by Kyung-Soo.

    She asked him about her, and he told her everything. He told her how an employee kept roaming around her, kept standing outside his room and peeped inside when he was changing clothes. Finally, he had to run away from the room to get away from her.

    To his surprise, Nivritti was furious after hearing that some girl harassed him. Secretly he liked that. But then she said that he had toin about her. He too knew that Da-Hee deserved punishment, but he could not tell anyone who he was. The whole store would go bananas if they got to know that an idol was present there.

    After a small fight with him, Nivritti told him to hide under the clothes, behind the bench and she went to open the door. Her walk had a feel of authority.

    Nivritti just rained hell fire on her. She shouted at her for disturbing her. Kyung-Soo kept smiling under the clothes as Nivritti kept scolding Da-Hee. He blushed hard when Da-Hee called him cute, dreamy, and handsome. ¡°Why can¡¯t Nivritti think like that?¡± he pondered.

    But Nivritti never backed down. She kept shouting at Da-Hee. Just a few days back, she helped Jung-Hwa and now she was fighting his battle for him.

    Due to all shouting, all the patrons in nearby rooms started crowding in front of the door. Nivritti rendered Da-Hee speechless with all her scolding. And then a man arrived at the scene. Kyung-Soo heard him say that he was Da-Hee¡¯s boss.

    Nivritti never lost her footing and established Da-Hee as a harasser. She was firm and on point. Even Jae-Hwa arrived at the scene. He was shocked to hear that she told everyone that Da-Hee peeped inside when he was changing clothes. He let out a hup but immediately closed his mouth preventing himself from making further noise. He prayed to God that no one should hear him.

    .....

    She kept rebuking both Da-Hee and Man-Shik. Once Da-Hee even tried to be smart with Nivritti, but she immediately shut her down.

    Finally, Man-Shik reprimanded Da-Hee and suspended her for a week and she ran away from there.

    Slowly, Kyung-Soo was getting ufortable as he was frozen in a single position. He was not allowed to move even a millimetre. He wanted everyone to go away so that he could stand and rx himself.

    But Man-Shik kept talking about easing her anger. He kept offering her a discount. He knew she was a master negotiator. She negotiated her way to make him ept her Rencontre idea and now, she made Man-Shik give her a 75 percent discount. Mentally, he shook his head and thought, ¡°what is with women and discounts?¡±

    Man-Shik left after confirming that he would give them a 75 percent discount. He waited for another minute for Nivritti to close the door but the next moment he heard two happy shrieks and understood that both girls were celebrating the discount offer. He too smiled at the thought that his Nivritti was happy.

    He was impressed with her yet scared of her. Maybe it was her superpower, she could make people do her bidding. Was she a powerful witch in her previous life? Did she know some kind of magic? Just by her words, she made people do things her way.

    He agreed to her idea, Hu-ssi loved her idea, even finance guys didn¡¯t stop her. She made Thae feel bad with her words. Chung-Ho who was known as a strict mentor was kindly helping her. She was on the verge of winning in the restaurant when Jung-Hwa hit a man and broke her trance. And finally, she made the manager give the footage on his own ord. He had no idea what she said to him, but he deleted the original footage too. Now she made so many people stand by her side. On top of that, she got a discount. She really was magic.

    Then Jae-Hwa let slip something he never gave thought about, her bonus. He remembered that Hu-ssi promised her a bonus. Jae-Hwa¡¯s words made him realise that she received the said bonus today and that¡¯s why they came shopping.

    Jae-Hwa asked Nivritti about a shirt she was wearing. That made him scratch his head. Last he saw she was wearing, oh right, the yellow dress. The dress that had a long neckline which made her look hot. But where did she get a shirt? And why did she wear one? Maybe she felt conscious when everyone starteding so she grabbed one and wore it.

    ¡°Hot damn!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. ¡°That is an awesome dress. Your figure is looking so good. See my choice.¡±

    ¡°So, the dress was Jae¡¯s choice,¡± thought Kyung-Soo. ¡°I should thank her. She is right. Ritti was looking amazing in that dress.¡±

    Finally, Nivritti closed the door andtched the door shut. ¡°You cane out now,¡± she spoke to Kyung-Soo.

    Breathing heavily, Kyung-Soo stood up and shook his head and leg. All the clothes fell to his feet except one. A dress covered himpletely. He tried taking off the dress from his head, but he screamed in pain. Something tucked his hair violently.

    He kept fighting with the dress but could not get rid of the pain. Shemanded him to stop moving. Gently she removed the dress and her face appeared before him.

    ¡°God damn!¡± he whispered. She was wearing his shirt, the blue shirt that he came wearing from his house. It was loose on her, but still, she looked gorgeous.

    He started nning his whole life with her. He wanted her to steal all his clothes and roam his house in them. He wanted to teasingly take his clothes off her to which she would run away all over their house, teasing him, giggling at him. His heart was at ultimate peace.

 Chapter 97

    97 The Recon

    He never knew he could find peace with someone in this life. After he was heartbroken, after his scandal, he never tried to find love or even date a girl. But the moment Nivritti appeared before him, his heart melted like butter. She was the hot fire he needed to melt his heart. All that was left was for her to open her heart. He knew he could breakdown the door, he had to patiently wait outside and when she would be ready, she would wee him with open arms.

    While he was in his thoughts, she kept trying to get the dress out of his head. But he was too tall for her. She removed her shoes and stood on the bench covered with all the clothes she brought in to try. She asked him to get closer and he obliged.

    When he moved closer her breasts were the first thing he saw. The plunging neckline shed before his eyes. He instantly looked away which made him twist his neck away from Nivritti. She scolded him and asked him not to move even an inch.

    She slowly lifted the dress thus reliving some of the pressure from his head and got rid of the heavy purple dress. Finally, she removed every strand if hair from the zip and he was free. She grabbed the dress and made a motion to chuck it away while simultaneously moving forward to get off the bench.

    But she lost her bnce and was about to stumble on the ground when Kyung-Soo grabbed her by her waist and lifted her up. The pressure with which she fell was too strong. He stumbled backwards with Nivritti in his arms and the pressure caused her to jerk forward and her lipsnded on his.

    An electric current ran through his body. Just a day before Jung-Hwa asked him if he had kissed her again and now their lips touched. It was like the universe too wanted them to get together. His heart was ready to jump out of his chest. He wanted to pull her closer and deepen the kiss, but she pulled away and jumped away from him.

    Kyung-Soo stood there silent, as a mute spectator. He saw her stumbling again, falling on the bench, crossing over the bench in a hurry, falling again and finally standing up, embarrassed. He could not even react to the turn of events as they happened really fast.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± he inquired, concerned for her.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I am fine,¡± she smiled awkwardly.

    .....

    He knew she was feeling ufortable about the kiss. He tried tofort her and finally asked for his shirt back. That made her more ufortable. He realised that if she would take the shirt off her yellow dress would be visible again. He would not mind looking at her again, but she clearly was feeling awkward.

    He told her that could keep the shirt. After getting her opinion about a few of his clothes he was ready to leave again. But this time she offered to look if the path was clear. s! Man-Shik was standing at the end of the corridor.

    Kyung-Soo again was forced to stay inside, not that he minded any second of it. They both sat on the bench, and she asked him about Jung-Hwa. He told her about Jung-Hwa and in turn asked about her. She told him that Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother took a look at her hand, and he rxed.

    He was concerned for a minute that she would ask about the actress and his scandal, but she never said a word. That changed his concern into sadness. It meant that she didn¡¯t care about any news that was about him nor she was jealous. The whole world was buzzing with the news so it was impossible that would not have heard about it. Little did he know that she really had no idea about his news and was extremely jealous when Da-Hee harassed him.

    She kept talking about Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother and he kept asking where she met with him. She revealed that the whole San family came to visit her at her house to say thank you. That made him happy. And finally, he asked what he was dying to ask her. Was she doing alright after crying for a whole night?

    She gave him an ambiguous answer as she herself had no idea what she was feeling. They talked for some more time and finally, sheughed when he called Ritvik an asshole. He was d that he made herugh. Sweet bells rang in his ear with happiness.

    After talking and bickering for another few minutes, Kyung-Soo was finally ready to leave. Nivritti checked outside again and announced that the path was clear and that he could leave. He collected all his clothes and wearing his mask finally came out of the room.

    Something was swirling around his mind, and he knew he had to tell Nivritti about it.

    ¡°Ritti!¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t buy that crappy purple dress,¡± he said.

    That made Nivrittiugh out loud. ¡°Okay! Done.¡±

    ¡°And Ritti!¡±

    ¡°Now what?¡±

    ¡°Do buy the dress that you are wearing. It is nice,¡± he said and walked away immediately. He practically ran away from that ce. He didn¡¯t even look behind to notice her expression.

    He went back to the male section and ced every piece of clothing that he was not going to buy. He looked at the ck hoodie that she rejected and smiled at it. At least she showed some interest in him. He ced the hoodie back in the section from where he picked it. He took the pink t-shirt, the brown jacket that she pointed out, a white t-shirt and an orange hoodie and ced them in a basket.

    Now he could roam around freely as Da-Hee was not there to bother him. He chose a spot from where he could see the entrance of the changing room and kept waiting for Nivritti. He could not give away the chance to look at her when she was happy.

    After waiting for a few minutes, she finally came out with a man in the store¡¯s uniform. Another man, a handsome man who did not have to hide behind a mask, stood up and talked to her. She was talking freely to him. He noticed that the man was slightly angry and appeared to shout at her.

    He moved an inch forward to show him his ce, but he saw that she calmed him down instantly. He knew that reacting in such a busy store would be chaotic and he must notnd in another scandal. An idol in a fight would be huge news.

    Nivritti sent the store employee away and kept talking to the man. With clenched fists and clenched jaws, Kyung-Soo kept staring at both of them with squinted eyes. He didn¡¯t like that she was talking to a man calmly and freely.

    ¡°Okay, Kyung-Soo, don¡¯t act like an idiot. You don¡¯t own her. She has friends and that friend can be a boy or a girl. Don¡¯t act like her ex, that asshole. It¡¯s her life. Even if this handsome man with an angelic look is her boyfriend, be happy that she finally is ready to open her heart. Oh, the tragedy this girl has seen, you should be happy that someone is making her happy. It is okay to feel sad that she didn¡¯t choose you but be d that she is ready to move on. And maybe you helped her with that. You listened to her story, you gave your shoulder to her to cry on. Now you know everything about her and you should be honoured. But wait! She never smiled once. She is just talking to him and is busy with her clothes. Who is he? Where she met him? It¡¯s hardly been weeks since she arrived, I don¡¯t think she would get a boyfriend so soon. Who are you kidding, Kyung-Soo? Have you looked at her? With beauty like that, anyone would approach her and ask her out. Maybe this man is of proper age for her. Why does he look familiar? Oh shit! He is Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother. She is here with both brother and sister. But she said that only Jae-Hwa stayed at night then what is her brother doing with them?¡± he kept talking to himself.

    Finally, Nivritti smiled at Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother and Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart stopped. ¡°She smiled at him. What does that mean? What if she likes him? He is a doctor after all, and I am just an idol. He saves lives. I just dance and sing. I am nothingpared to him. Wait! She is scolding him. Why is she scolding him? Where are they going?¡±

    He saw Nivritti go back towards the changing room area and Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother ran to the male section. ¡°What is happening?¡± pondered Kyung-Soo. This was his chance to learn more about the brother.

    Leaving his post, he followed the brother. Silently he kept walking behind him. Kyung-Soo was the tallest in his group and this man was almost tall as him. Even though he was dressed casually he was looking handsome. His personality was well suited for Nivritti which made Kyung-Soo burn with jealousy. Now he had to find out what was his thoughts about her. He wanted to protect Nivritti at any cost.

 Chapter 98

    98 The Investigation

    Kyung-Soo had to talk to him, find out everything about him. But he could not just approach him and start talking to him, he had to find a way that would not raise any suspicions. Stealthily he kept walking behind him. It appeared that he was looking for something. Was Nivritti buying something for him too?

    He exhaled like a bull. His blood was boiling due to jealousy. She just met him and was buying a gift for him. On top of that, he himself was selecting the gift. He pursed his lips and gritted his teeth. And then he realised, maybe he was a good person that¡¯s why Nivritti was impressed with him. His face fell with disappointment. Why couldn¡¯t she find him to be good? Why couldn¡¯t she buy a present for him?

    Or maybe he was looking for something for himself. Why would she buy clothes for someone she just met? Jae-Hwa, he could understand, she was her friend, but she just met with this man, surely, she was not going to buy anything for him.

    He pouted and moved forward. He crossed an aisle and stood before the rack the handsome man was standing behind. If Kyung-Soo would remove a shirt, he would see the handsome man¡¯s face clearly. He bit his lower lips pondering upon how to talk to him.

    Suddenly, he realised what he could do to initiate the conversation. All he had to do was grab a shirt that Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother would pick too. He was standing before a t-shirt rack and was staring at a yellow t-shirt. Kyung-Soo made a disgusted face after looking at the yellow t-shirt. It had an abstract print all over it.

    ¡°He likes this? What is he thinking? What kind of choice he has?¡± thought Kyung-Soo, disappointed.

    Before the brother could grab it, Kyung-Soo pulled on it and both started tugging at the shirt. Abruptly, Kyung-Soo peeped through the collection of t-shirts and looked at Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother.

    The handsome man yelped and jumped away from Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh sorry! I didn¡¯t mean to startle you,¡± said Kyung-Soo and came in front of him.

    .....

    The handsome man had his hands over his chest due to fear, breathing heavily. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine. I was just not ready for a head among the clothes,¡± said the handsome man.

    ¡°Ha-ha, you are funny. Nice to meet you,¡± said Kyung-Soo and offered his hand to him. ¡°Wow! He really is handsome,¡± deliberated Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Thank you. I am San Jae-Geun, nice to meet you too,¡± he said and smiled politely.

    ¡°Oh shit! What name should I give out? Should I tell him my real name or a made-up name? Well, there can be many people with the same name. I will give my real name,¡± pondered Kyung-Soo.

    Jae-Geun stood there looking at Kyung-Soo waiting for him to tell his name. ¡°You don¡¯t know your own name?¡± mocked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Smart-ass!¡± thought Kyung-Soo. He looked at Jae-Geun and replied, ¡°oh, sorry! My name is Nam Kyung-Soo.¡± He said from behind the mask. ¡°Do you like the t-shirt?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s okay,¡± said Jae-Geun and shrugged his shoulder. He could not be more uninterested.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay... and you are still thinking about getting it? Why not buy the thing that you like?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh! It is not for me, it¡¯s a gift,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    Kyung-Soo was slightly happy after hearing that the gift was not meant for him. Then who was he looking for a gift that too in the men¡¯s section? Who else was in her life? His heart kept aching with every thought. ¡°Someone in your rtion or your wife¡¯s rtion?¡± Kyung-Soo asked a far-fetched question.

    ¡°My wife?¡± asked Jae-Geun, shocked.

    ¡°Oh, sorry if I am mistaken. But I thought I saw you with a girl,¡± Kyung-Soo yed another trick.

    Jae-Geun was taken aback. How could someone think Nivritti was his wife? ¡°What? What? What? No, no, no, she is not my wife,¡± he visibly looked flustered.

    ¡°Wow! Amazing reaction. So, she is a girlfriend,¡± somehow Kyung-Soo used the term ¡®girlfriend¡¯. He hated calling Nivritti someone¡¯s else girlfriend. His heart almost stopped at the thought that she might leave his life.

    ¡°Ha-ha, ha-ha, no, no, no, no, no... no, she is someone I just met yesterday.¡± Jae-Geun was nervous and agitated. Kyung-Soo could not understand his expression. He was jumpy and actively trying to tell that he had nothing to do with her, but his eyes were telling a different story. He kept ncing at the entrance of the changing room corridor trying to see if she wasing back. Or maybe he was looking at the ce hest saw her.

    Finally, Kyung-Soo realised what he was dreading. ¡°Ohh! You like her,¡± said Kyung-Soo but clenched his fists with anger.

    ¡°What? No!¡± shouted Jae-Geun. Suddenly he was covered in sweats. He waved his hands vigorously to get some air. He kept exhaling big puffs of air to calm himself down.

    Kyung-Soo mentally facepalmed himself as he grasped something. ¡°You afraid of her?¡±

    Jae-Geun looked at him sheepishly. ¡°Well, she is not afraid to fight with a bunch of goons. So, I think I should be scared of her.¡± Kyung-Soo was happy as his realisation was right. This man was not in love with her but was scared of her. He smiled in the back of his head. How could someone be scared of her? The girl who was scared of a small puppy was scary for a grown-ass man.

    As time was passing by, he was finding Jae-Geun to be a strange man. If Kyung-Soo would tell Jung-Hwa about his fear of Nivritti, they both couldugh together at him. On one side was the sister, who was friends with Nivritti and on the other was the brother who just met her and was afraid of her. Kyung-Soo wanted tough at him.

    ¡°Goons?¡± Kyung-Soo tried to indulge Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a long story,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°But she is so small and petite. How can she fight with goons?¡±ughed Kyung-Soo.

    But Jae-Geun did not like that. He was not ready for anyone to make fun of her. ¡°She not only fought, but she also saved my sister from them,¡± spoke Jae-Geun and raised his eyebrows at Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Woah!¡± eximed Kyung-Soo after seeing a defensive Jae-Geun. He was happy that Jae-Geun was not ready to hear bad things about Nivritti. But that too made him slightly jealous.

    ¡°So, I am a little in love with her,¡± blurted out Jae-Geun. He did not realise what he just said.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo ready to throw his hands at Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s more of a gratitude for helping my sister,¡± exined Jae-Geun.

    That calmed Kyung-Soo down. He exhaled, ¡°oh, that way.¡±

    ¡°Why are you interested in her?¡± suddenly Jae-Geun threw a curved ball at Kyung-Soo.

    Kyung-Soo felt as if the earth slipped from under his feet. ¡°Ha-ha-ha,¡± he keptughing like an idiot. ¡°No, I am... I am interested... in...¡± he stammered, looking for a usible answer. Finally, he saw the yellow shirt in his hand. ¡°...in... yes, this shirt. Who are you buying this shirt for?¡± he hit the curved ball and it was out of the stadium.

    ¡°Oh! The girl you saw, she is buying some gifts for the people she works with. She has a boss, I am looking something for him,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s face beamed with happiness. No one could see it, but he was grinning from ear to ear behind his mask. She was not buying a present for Jae-Geun but for her boss. Her boss would mean Choi-ssi. But he could not make that assumption, he had to make sure. ¡°Is that person old or young?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Does that matter? Well, he is old,¡± asked Jae-Geun, shocked. Kyung-Soo was happy that Nivritti was also buying something for Chung-Ho.

    Kyung-Soo looked at the weird man and finally understood the problem. ¡°You have no idea about fashion, do you?¡±

    ¡°I know about diseases, ailments, blood, and other bodily fluids, but nothing about fashion,¡± smiled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Ew! Bodily fluids! What do you do?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ha-ha, I am a doctor,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    He already knew that as Nivritti told him about that. ¡°Wow! Nice! So let me give you a crash course on fashion. There are different clothes for people of different ages, then there is a colour palette ording to the skin. Not every cloth is meant for youth and the same goes for old people. This t-shirt is for someone young. If you want something for that old gentleman, um...e with me.¡±

    Kyung-Soo moved away from him, and Jae-Geun followed him. They both moved a few aisles away and stopped near the Hanbok section.

    ¡°Hanbok?¡± asked Jae-Geun, confused.

    ¡°It is not only meant for traditional asions. We now have modern hanbok, doctor,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay,¡± noted Jae-Geun.

    Kyung-Soo looked around and picked an olive-green shirt. ¡°Here this one. I think he will like it.¡±

    Suddenly Jae-Geun asked something that made Kyung-Soo burn with fire. ¡°What about her?¡±

    ¡°You want her to like this?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo, trying hard to hide his jealousy and anger.

 Chapter 99

    99 The Save

    Kyung-Soo kept staring at Jae-Geun waiting for his answer. Why did he want Nivritti to like the shirt? Why did he care whether she liked it or not, it was merely a gift.

    ¡°Of course, she is giving the gift, if she does not like it, why would she gift it to someone else?¡± exined Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Right!¡± Kyung-Soo raised his eyebrow after the exnation. He knew that Jae-Geun was right. ¡°I think she will like it.¡± He thought for a minute and said, ¡°if not, you can bring her to this section and let her select everything on her own.¡±

    ¡°That I can do,¡± smiled Jae-Geun.

    Kyung-Soo noticed that Nivritti and Jae-Hwa were searching for him. He asked, ¡°did you bring your sister too?¡±

    ¡°What? How do you know?¡± Jae-Geun was shocked.

    ¡°Well, you guys look simr, and she is approaching with the girl you are scared of,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°To tell you the truth, friend, I don¡¯t want to be afraid of her. She is just so...¡± Jae-Geun had no words to exin Nivritti.

    ¡°So?¡± but Kyung-Soo wanted an answer.

    .....

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Jae-Geun shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Anyway, it was nice to meet you. My sister is calling me, I should go.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, bye,¡± said Kyung-Soo. He saw Jae-Geun walking away from him and talked to himself, ¡°what were you going to say? She is so, what?¡±

    He kept tracing Jae-Geun¡¯s steps towards Jae-Hwa and Nivritti and show them the olive green hanbok. He was d to see that Nivritti liked his choice.

    He followed them to the billing area where he saw Man-Shik helping her with the billing. Another worker brought a lot of boxes and packed the clothes inside them.

    ¡°Why is packing her clothes in boxes? Why is she gathering garbage? Oh, I will never understand this girl. Well, Jae looks happy,¡± Kyung-Soo keptmenting. Jae-Hwa grabbed all the bags and handed them over to Jae-Geun.

    ¡°You guys really brought me here to carry the bags,¡± pouted Jae-Geun which made Kyung-Soo smile.

    ¡°Jae! Stop it. Jae-Geun, give me some of the bags,¡± scolded Nivritti. Kyung-Soo smiled at her kindness.

    ¡°Oh,e on! Why do you think he exercises? He can all the bags,¡± contrasted Jae-Hwa and started pulling Nivritti out of the store.

    ¡°Shit! They are leaving,¡± thought Kyung-Soo and ran to a billing station. ¡°Please make it fast, I am in a little bit of a hurry,¡± said Kyung-Soo, urgently.

    ¡°Yes sir,¡± replied the cashier. While she made the bill for him, he took out his Raume O card and handed it to her. The Cashier¡¯s eyes widened, and her jaw drooped to the floor. She was holding a ck card in her hand which she had always heard about but never saw it. She immediately swiped the card and Kyung-Soo was out of the store in a jiffy.

    Kyung-Soo never lost sight of Nivritti and the party and followed them. He was surprised to see that they were exiting the store via the main gate.

    ¡°Did theye by metro or bus? How will they take so many bags via public transport? Oh, this girl! They should get a cab. But where are they going now?¡± pondered Kyung-Soo.

    He started following them. He had no idea why he was doing that. He had no idea why he was following her. Was he following her or him, he had no idea.

    ¡°Oppa! Car is in the parking lot, where are we going?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. Kyung-Soo sighed with relief after hearing that they came in a car.

    ¡°I am carrying your bags, driving you around, I needpensation, treat me with coffee,¡± demanded Jae-Geun. Kyung-Soo smiled at his im.

    ¡°Okay, fine. Nivritti paid for clothes, you drove us around, I will treat you both. Let¡¯s go,¡± announced Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh! Oh! Oh! Where is the sun? Which direction did it rise from?¡± eximed Jae-Geun. Jae-Hwa rolled her eyes at his expression.

    ¡°What?¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°She never spent a single dime on me and today she is going to treat me. Sun must have risen from the west. Something is wrong with this day,¡± educated Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oppa!¡± sulked Jae-Hwa at his tease. Nivritti startedughing out loud. Looking at herugh, Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart started beating fast. He had to exhale loudly to calm himself down. He loved it when she would be happy.

    Since the day she arrived, he had seen her crying multiple times and it always ached his heart. Her red nose, her red eyes, her swollen eyes, no matter how cute she looked in them, it always made him sad.

    Jae-Hwa started walking in the front and pulled Nivritti along with her. Kyung-Soo shook his head and thought, ¡°this idiot! He could have kept every bag in his trunk and then they could have gone for coffee. Just take some ideas from me. I am so intelligent.¡± He then realised that he too was holding the bags in his hands.

    ¡°Great! I was criticising him and I am holding the bags myself. I am an idiot,¡± he facepalmed. ¡°Wait! I had to follow them. I had no time to go to the car. I was right, I am intelligent.¡±

    Mumbling to himself he kept following them. Jae-Geun was walking behind Nivritti which was making it difficult for Kyung-Soo to look at her. He would get glimpses of her. Her long, silky hair was waving with her every moment. Her white dress till her calves were bouncing with her every step. He kept smiling sweetly all the way.

    The whole street was crowded, and it was getting difficult for Kyung-Soo to follow them. Sometimes he would get too close to them and other times, he would trail behind.

    He was walking close to them when a group of young people came rushing in their direction. They were too happy and busy with themselves to notice anyone. Running and jumping and bouncing they moved forward and one of the boys bumped into Nivritti.

    She was not ready for such a force. She stumbled backwards. She tried to bnce herself but failed. She was on the verge of falling. Jae-Hwa tried to grab her arm to pull her back to safety, but she could not touch her hands. Before Jae-Geun could let go of all the bags and catch her Nivritti was stopped by a kneeling man who was trying to tie his shoes.

    Kyung-Soo saw her falling and ran to her. He knew he could show his face to Nivritti as she would scold him for following her. He had to think fast and save her. He immediately knelt down and raised his hand, stopping her from falling.

    Her long hairnded all over his face. He closed his eyes and took in the soft sensation of her silky hair. Thevender scent was strong. He gulped and took a big puff of that perfume. His hands kept caressing the soft fabric of her dress.

    The boy that hit Nivritti came running to her. ¡°Kweanchanayo?¡±

    Nivritti immediately stood up and looked at the boy. ¡°I am fine, no worries,¡± she assured him. She didn¡¯t realise but she spoke in English. the boy realised that she was some tourist.

    Kyung-Soo looked around. Everyone was concentrating on the boy, he stood up, picked up his bags and vanished from there.

    Jae-Geun looked at the boy and ripped at him, ¡°you guys don¡¯t watch where you go. What if someone would have been hurt? What if she would have fallen and hurt her head or broken her bones? What would you have done, huh? Excitement is good, you guys are happy among friends but is it okay to not look where you go?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, answer him,¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Guys! It¡¯s okay,¡± said Nivritti in Korean. The boy¡¯s mouth fell with shock. The tourist was speaking in Korean. Even her pronunciation was wless.

    ¡°Ajhussi! Joesonghabnida,¡± the boy started bowing down to Jae-Geun. He then looked at Nivritti and opened his mouth.

    But before he could speak, Jae-Hwa shouted, ¡°Ajhussi! Ajhussi!! Does he look like an uncle to you? If you are calling him uncle then you will call me and her, aunt. Do you have eyes? Can you see? We look like aunties to you?¡±

    Nivritti could not control herughter and covered her mouth with her palm.

    Kyung-Soo heard everything and startedughing out loud. Jae-Hwa was concerned that the youngsters would call her aunt. He kept looking at Nivritti and saw her stifling herughter. That made himugh even more. All those who walked past him looked at him like they were in presence of a mad person.

    ¡°No, no, you don¡¯t look like aunty, you look like Nuna,¡± said the boy, scared.

    ¡°Nuna, joesonghabnida. I am sorry that I hurt you. I was just not looking at the way that I was going. Joesonghabnida,¡± the boy kept bowing to Nivritti. All his friends came and all shouted, ¡°Joesonghabnida¡± at once and bowed down to her.

    ¡°Rx guys! I am fine, thanks to this gentleman,¡± she said and turned around to look at her saviour. But the street was empty, her saviour was gone. She looked around but could see no one. Jae-Hwa and Jae-Geun too were taken aback. That person was there just a minute ago. Where did he vanish?

 Chapter 100

    100 The Caf¨¦

    Kyung-Soo kept smiling from afar. All he wanted was to protect Nivritti and he did that just now. Somehow, she always ended up in his arms and he liked it. He was d that he was following her. If he would not have followed her, she would have gotten hurt. And that would have caused him more pain.

    He kept staring at Nivritti who was talking with the youngsters and calming them down. Suddenly she looked at the position where Kyung-Soo knelt down and her mouth fell open with shock. No one was there.

    ¡°Where is he?¡± she shouted. Kyung-Soo stifled hisughter. Jae-Hwa and Jae-Geun too looked around but found no one. It was such a chaotic moment when Nivritti fell that no one paid any attention to the man who saved her.

    ¡°He was just here,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and kept looking all around.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even get the chance to thank him,¡± said Nivritti, sadly.

    ¡°Who runs away after saving someone?¡±mented Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Who was he?¡± asked Nivritti, confused.

    ¡°It seems you have a guardian angel looking after you,¡± replied Jae-Hwa looking all around searching for the man.

    ¡°Really!¡± replied Nivritti, sarcastically.

    .....

    ¡°How else would you exin it? Who vanishes after doing a good deed? And none of us even noticed his clothes,¡± said Jae-Hwa. Kyung-Soo was loving this conversation. He liked the term Guardian angel.

    ¡°I saw!¡± shouted one of the girls for the youngsters group.

    ¡°What?¡± screamed all three at once. Even Kyung-Soo¡¯s mouth fell open with shock.

    ¡°How is it possible that she saw me, even if she saw me I don¡¯t think she recognised me. Did she recognise me? Oh no!¡± Kyung-Soo gulped with fear.

    ¡°He was wearing a mask and a ck shirt,¡± replied the girl. Kyung-Soo immediately ducked behind a wall. He peeped after a second and saw everyone searching for a man in a ck shirt all around them. Lucky for him, there were too many men in ck shirts.

    ¡°Great! How will we know who it was?¡± screamed Jae-Hwa looking all around.

    But Nivritti¡¯s eyes were searching for someone special. When she felt the touch of that stranger, she somehow knew that the person was no stranger. She knew him. He was someone familiar. Kyung-Soo recognised that look in her eyes.

    ¡°Is she looking for me? Did she realise that I was there? No, that is not possible. I don¡¯t have a distinguished smell like her,¡± pondered Kyung-Soo. ¡°But what if she did? What will you tell her? Oh, she will kill you for following her. But I helped her, maybe she will be lenient. Oh, Jae¡¯s brother was right, she is scary, even I am scared of her.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s not dwell on the things that we can¡¯t control,¡± suggested Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Right! Thank you whoever you were and you guys, I am fine. Go enjoy your time,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°No need to say thank you,¡±mented Kyung-Soo from his position.

    ¡°Khamsahamnida, Khamsahamnida,¡± shouting all the kids ran away.

    Kyung-Soo again started following Nivritti, Jae-Hwa and Jae-Geun. They all walked inside a caf¨¦. The coffee house was hustling and bustling with patrons. The moment Kyung-Soo walked in, the strong smell of java and the sweet smell of cakes and other bakery products hit his nose.

    The party of three saw an empty table and went and upied the space. Kyung-Soo looked around. The table next to them was empty but he could not risk sitting next to Nivritti. She recognised him outside the changing room even though he was wearing a mask and now she knew what he was wearing after he spent a lot of time with her inside the room.

    He kept looking around but there was no empty table. Suddenly the table right behind them opened up. Kyung-Soo jumped at the opportunity and sat in the chair right behind Nivritti. He could smell hervender scent faintly. He closed his eyes and took in the sweet smell.

    Two different servers approached both tables and asked for their orders. Kyung-Soo kept his ears open as he wanted to know her choice of drink. He knew that she drank tea and c, and he wanted to know more about her.

    ¡°What can I get you, sir?¡± asked the server from Kyung-Soo. He looked at the server and kept his ears towards Nivritti.

    ¡°What can I get you guys?¡± their server asked them.

    ¡°I want an americano, he will have a cappino and you, Ritti?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I will have a mocha,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Mocha?¡± questioned Jae-Hwa. ¡°You like tea.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I like tea, but I love chocte and you wanted to treat us to coffee,¡± exined Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo smiled at her reply. He learned something new about her. She loved chocte. He realised that the server was standing before him waiting for his order. He signalled her to wait a minute while he pretended to read the menu.

    ¡°Anything to eat?¡± asked the server from Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What is best here?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Well, we have a huge variety of cakes, muffins, croissants, doughnuts,¡± replied the server.

    ¡°Oh, so much sugar,¡±mented Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Hey! Fitness freak, just shut up and eat,¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You can eat such things once in a while. Think of it as your cheat day,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°Fine, I will have a doughnut, if you insist,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, I asked and you said ¡®so much sugar¡¯ and she said and you are ready to break your diet,¡± rebuked Jae-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo was happy as Jae-Hwa scolded Jae-Geun as he too was thinking along the same line. Howe when Jae-Hwa asked him he was like I don¡¯t eat sugar but one sentence from Nivritti and he was like I love sugar? Kyung-Soo clenched his fists tightly.

    ¡°Jae!¡± reprimanded Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, I will have a coconut doughnut,¡± ordered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I will take a slice of blueberry cheesecake,¡± said Jae-Geun. Kyung-Soo shook his head in disbelief.

    ¡°This idiot was not ready to eat any sugar but now he wants cheesecake,¡± thought Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I will have a slice of chocte truffle cake,¡± ordered Nivritti. Kyung-Soo immediately smiled. She really loved chocte.

    The server nodded at them and went away.

 Chapter 101

    101 The News

    Instantly, Jae-Hwa asked in English, ¡°okay, now you, talk.¡± Kyung-Soo gasped with shock when he realised that the conversation till now was happening in Korean. He was so d and impressed with Nivritti, she talked in Korean like a native. Her pronunciations were on point. He suddenly realised that Nivritti¡¯s tonal quality was different when she was talking in Korean. The voice was slightly husky which tickled the ear at the right ces.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I asked and you said no, she asked and you said okay, I will have a cheesecake,¡± mocked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae!!¡± Nivritti shouted again.

    ¡°You know we are in her debt. We cannot deny anything she asks,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Really? You cannot deny? Then give me all your property,¡± taunted Nivritti. Kyung-Soo pursed his lips and sniggered at her tease. It was clear that she was doing the thing that he suggested her to do, even though she was joking.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Geun, shocked.

    ¡°Yes, your property. Give me that and I will consider our debt to be settled,¡± replied Nivritti in all seriousness.

    ¡°Ha-ha, good one, take his property,¡± Jae-Hwaughed at her brother.

    .....

    ¡°Hey! You too are in my debt, I want your property too. I think I should quit my job and be a real estate businesswoman,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Do whatever you want. I am not giving my property to you,¡± teased Jae-Hwa back.

    Jae-Geun spoke, ¡°I really can¡¯t tell if you both are serious or kidding.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind him. I don¡¯t know how he became a doctor. He has no sense of sarcasm. He is an idiot,¡±mented Jae-Hwa.

    And both the girls startedughing loudly. Hearing her genuineugh, Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart jumped with happiness. He really wanted to thank Jae-Hwa from the core of his heart. She made Nivritti extremely happy.

    ¡°Hey!¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Sir? What do you need?¡± asked Kyung-Soo¡¯s server, impatiently.

    ¡°Oh sorry! I will have a ck coffee and a piece of your best chocte cake,¡± replied Kyung-Soo. Nivritti heard his voice and abruptly stoppedughing. She was about to turn around to find who was sitting behind her when Jae-Hwa shouted in shock.

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    Both Nivritti and Jae-Geun turned in the direction, Jae-Hwa was looking in. Kyung-Soo turned in their direction stealthily and saw that they were staring at one of the televisions inside the caf¨¦. His face kept shing on the screen along with the picture of the actress.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± a server came towards her.

    ¡°Could you turn that TV up?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± replied the server.

    The server took out a remote from her back pocket and turned up the volume. The TV chimed with Kyung-Soo¡¯s news. ¡°And he denied everything in hisst live streaming which he held with his team members. Before that K&Q¡¯s PR team too issued a statement that he was at home two nights ago. There has been no statement from Soon Myeong or her agency. The man she was seen with on the Eurwangni beach is yet to be identified. We tried contacting Soon Myeong and her team but unfortunately, there is no answer from them. Let¡¯s go to our correspondent for further news. Lee Byung-Joon, what is thetest in the scandal that has engulfed Nam Kyung-Soo once again.¡±

    Kyung-Soo facepalmed at that sentence. No matter how many times he rified that he had nothing to do with Soon Myeong, the media was still calling it one of his scandals.

    ¡°Let me correct you, Seo Il-Sung, it has been clear that ASD member Nam Kyung-Soo had nothing to with this scandal and we must stop saying that. The man seen with Soon Myeong looked simr to him, but it was not him. As sharp-eyed ASDians pointed out that the man in the video has a blue hint in his hair whereas Nam Kyung-Soo haspletely ck hair. Even though that man was tall but if we see clearly and match his height with Soon Myeong, we will find that the man in the video is a tad shorter than Nam Kyung-Soo,¡± said Lee Byung-Joon.

    ¡°Good points, Lee Byung-Joon. So, what¡¯s next?¡± asked Seo Il-Sung.

    ¡°Well, we are standing outside Soon Myeong¡¯s house waiting for her arrival. She has a shoot to go to. We will try to get an answer from her. Hopefully, she will talk to us and give us some rity about the rumours. Rest assured as soon we know anything. We will tell our viewers,¡± said Lee Byung-Joon.

    ¡°Meanwhile, we will show you the footage where Nam Kyung-Soo is giving the statement in his live streaming about Soon Myeong,¡± said Seo Il-Sung.

    The television shed the footage of thest live streaming where every member was dressed in beautiful suits. ¡°¡±After theughing subsided, the producer asked again, ¡°speaking of scandal, King, you heard what everyone is saying about you?¡±

    The atmosphere suddenly changed and turned more serious. ¡°Yes, I got the news in the morning after I woke up. It was a shock to me.¡± Korain held his hand under the desk to give him support.

    ¡°Why is that?¡± the producer asked.

    Kyung-Soo took a deep breath and replied, ¡°we get limited days to rest. Our schedule for Rencontre is jampacked. We get so tired after all the practise and work that we don¡¯t even get time to finish our household chores. And people think I went out, met with an actress, started dating her and then went to a beach to meet with her, that toote at night. Tell me when do I get time to do such things?¡±

    ¡°What do you want to tell to ASDians?¡± asked the producer.

    ¡°That I have never met Soon Myeong-ssi in my life. How people could think that the man she was with was me is beyond my belief. As per the official statement of K&Q, I too second that no member of ASD has anything to do with her and none of us were present anywhere near the beachst night. Please don¡¯t believe in rumours and I would request the media outlets to fact check every piece of news that they spread in the world. It is high time that we hold them responsible for the same. I know this is the era of the inte but that does not mean that anyone can put anything out in the world. We need to verify every piece of news before talking about it or spreading it further.¡±

    The footage ended.¡±¡±

 Chapter 102

    102 The Life of An Idol

    Kyung-Soo kept staring at the television and shaking his head in disbelief. He rified everything, it had been a day, and still, people were talking about him. He found it bizarre. Why were people so excited about a scandal? Why was it in human nature to gossip?

    ¡°Did you know anything about it?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°No, we were busy since the morning as we had toe to your house,¡± replied Jae-Hwa. ¡°You had no idea,¡± she asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, you know I slept till afternoon and then you guys came to my house. I have been busy with you and have not checked any news nor there was any alert on my phone,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo now understood why Nivritti never asked about the actress or the scandal, not that she was not interested in him, but she had no idea about what had happened. It was true that she kept crying the whole night and then the whole day and night she was with Jae-Hwa. They were drinking and enjoying together. Jae-Hwa even slept at her home.

    The whole world was buzzing with the news, but these girls had no idea. That shattered the notion of Kyung-Soo that everyone was involved in their life. To prove that wrong, three people were sitting right behind him.

    ¡°Me too. I knew that they would go on a live but I had toe to your house. And then we talked and drank and passed our time,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°First time ever, this has happened,¡± sniggered Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What?¡± inquired Nivritti. Kyung-Soo too leaned backwards to hear what happened for the first time.

    .....

    ¡°She chose you instead of ASD. Otherwise, storm, earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, no matter what natural disasteres, she will watch their live. So many times, she forgot to eat food or ran to her room with munchies, locked herself and saw their live,¡± taunted Jae-Geun. Kyung-Soo smiled at his brightest. He had a fan working for him.

    ¡°Well, she loves Jeong-Eun. I think she only watches him,¡± teased Nivritti. Kyung-Soo smiled at her tease.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Which one is Jeong-Eun?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? He does not know who Jeong-Eun is. And what does he mean by ¡®which one¡¯?¡± mumbled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You really have no idea about ASD?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°He was too busy with his medical books,¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae! I said this to your brother, and I will say this to you too. Following one¡¯s passion is good, just don¡¯t berate each other for their choices. You love ASD and I hope that from now he will support you and the same goes for you. If he does not like K-pop, stop talking about the same in front of him,¡± exined Nivritti, calmly.

    ¡°What? He does not like K-pop? Oh, the difference between brother and sister. That¡¯s why he has zero fashion sense, idiot!¡± muttered Kyung-Soo.

    Servers returned to their tables and ced their food and drink.

    ¡°Have you ever watched any live?¡± asked Jae-Hwa. It was not clear who was she talking to but considering that her brother had no interest in K-pop, Kyung-Soo understood that the question was for Nivritti.

    ¡°I have watched their recorded session. I never logged in while they were live,¡± replied Nivritti. Kyung-Soo¡¯s face fell with disappointment. He picked up his cup to take a sip but after hearing her answer he ced the cup back down.

    ¡°Then how did you find out about them?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I was aware of the K-pop scene but had never listened to any of the Korean songs. When I applied for the position of Scriptwriter at K&Q, I researched everything about them to prepare for the interview. I just went inside the rabbit hole of the K-pop frenzy. I learned about every group under K&Q as I had no idea for whom I would work. So, I looked up their most famous songs, some videos, some documentaries and learned the names of every artist in K&Q,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Wow!¡± eximed Jae-Geun. That was the exact expression of Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°So, you are not a fan of ASD or any other group? Yet you cracked this interview?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa, shocked.

    ¡°Do you really think that was a criterion for getting selected? It didn¡¯t matter if I knew Nam Kyung-Soo or Shin Korain, all that mattered was if I could write beautiful scripts and churn out good ideas,¡± said Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo pouted at her reply. Why was she always dismissive of him? Girls applied to K&Q for a job so that they could catch a glimpse of him and his team members but this girl, she had no interest in any of them. She just came here to work. But now because of her, Kyung-Soo could not concentrate on his work.

    ¡°Nam Kyung-Soo? Was he the man who was speaking in the footage?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yes!¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Strange!¡± eximed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? What is strange?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°I met with a man in the store. His name too was Nam Kyung-Soo,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What?!¡± shouted Nivritti. Kyung-Soo clearly heard the change in her tone. He pursed his lips and smirked. He could have given anything to see her shocked face. He wanted to see how she would get out of this situation. He was so d that he gave his real name to Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yeah, he helped me select the hanbok for Choi Chung-Ho ssi,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    Kyung-Soo could hear Nivritti gulping hard with fear. He knew she must have licked her lips. Oh! What he would give to see her lick her lips again and again.

    ¡°Um... did you thank him?¡± gulped Nivritti.

    ¡°Of course!¡± protested Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Is Nam Kyung-Soo an umon name?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Where are you going with this?¡± muttered Kyung-Soo and took a sip from his coffee.

    ¡°No, no it is a fairlymon name,¡± replied Jae-Geun. ¡°Yeah, I know, your idol won¡¯te to shop at that store. He would go to a branded store and buy clothes worth hundreds of thousands,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Clever girl!¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah, I think so too. Why would he be at that store and that too after a day of getting away with scandal?¡±mented Nivritti.

    ¡°Because I am not like you. I don¡¯t run, I fight,¡± sulked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But poor King!¡± eximed Jae-Hwa. ¡°Life of an idol is difficult. No matter what they do, everything is scrutinised. They can¡¯t even sneeze without breaking the news.¡±

    ¡°Yes but that¡¯s the life they chose for themselves. With one good thinges a bad thing. They receive a lot and lots of love and among them are a few that would love to see their downfall,¡±mented Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, Oppa!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No, he is right. If you chose to be a public figure, you must sacrifice your privacy to a great extent,¡± nodded Nivritti. Kyung-Soo was taken aback. ¡°I don¡¯t say that you have to share every aspect of your life with them. But they love to know everything about you. Where you go, with whom you go, etc. I also feel that idols are held up to an absurd standard in this industry. They have to be slim, fit, have abs, must be beautiful, be polite at all times no matter how they are feeling, overwork themselves, can¡¯t date, can¡¯t fall in love, can¡¯t marry, if any of those things happen, their career is over.¡±

    Kyung-Soo felt every wording out of her mouth. She was right. Since ASD was formed, a camera crew always followed them. Everything about their life was aired on television. Their mornings, their evenings, their breakfast, their dinner, every chore, even when they would sleep, everything was aired on television.

    And why was thete-night excursion of the actress such big news? So what she was roaming the beach at night. That¡¯s her life and that man¡¯s life. They should be encouraged to live their life on their own terms not criticised for that. People should be happy that their idols, their celebrities found someone to spend their life but instead they would start trolling and verbal abuse.

    ¡°Yeah, some fans act like they own the celebrities. They willment like ¡®you are mine¡¯ or ¡®don¡¯t even think about dating anyone¡¯ or ¡®if you date someone else, I will kill myself¡¯,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ew... that is wrong on so many levels. Let the idols, actors, public figures, live their life on their own terms. They too are human,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Most fans are respectful and polite and loyal but you can¡¯t control Sasaeng,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I hope ASD is fine and they are not concerned about this stupid news,¡± said Nivritti. Kyung-Soo smiled with gratitude.

    ¡°You helped them with one scandal, can¡¯t you help them with another?¡± requested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I think NK handled everything rather beautifully. He was firm yet polite and extremely clear in his position. I just hope that the media would stop associating him with everything,¡± said Nivritti. Kyung-Soo just wanted to jump from his chair and hug her tightly.

    He was using every ounce of strength in his body to stop himself from doing that.

    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. We should leave,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yeah, right! We have to drop her off and then return home. Tomorrow is work, work, work,¡± spoke Jae-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo was sad to hear that they were leaving. He wanted to spend some more time with Nivritti. Hearing her voice, smelling hervender smell, gave him peace. The moment he saw her in the changing room hepletely forgot about the harassment he faced a few moments ago. Talking to her he forgot about the news that was in cirction.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± requested Jae-Geun and a server came up to him.

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    ¡°May we have the cheque, please?¡± requested Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Of course, sir. I will be right back,¡± said the server and walked away.

    After a few minutes, the server came back with the bill and ced it on their table. They paid the bill and the rustling of the bags indicated Kyung-Soo that they were getting ready to leave. He too wanted to follow them but he had to pay his bill first.

    Nivritti, Jae-Hwa and Jae-Geun walked out of the caf¨¦ and Kyung-Soo kept staring at them till they vanished before his eyes. He paid his bill and walked up to his car. Thinking about Nivritti, he drove to his mansion.

 Chapter 103

    103 The Return Home

    Nivritti was sitting in the back seat with Jae-Hwa. Jae-Geun had to drive but his attention was on Nivritti. Her hair was flowing in the air. She kept trying to tame it but was failing spectacrly. Jae-Geun could not stop smiling at her struggle.

    ¡°Oh!¡± she groaned.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°My hair,¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°I don¡¯t think I packed a scrunchie in my bag.¡± She picked up her bag and searched for any kind of hair band or clutch.

    ¡°Let me look too,¡± said Jae-Hwa. She too reached into her purse and found nothing.

    ¡°Here,¡± said Jae-Geun after he saw both the girls struggling.

    ¡°You have a hair band?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°What? No. I have a handkerchief,¡± he replied. ¡°It can work.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that will work. Thank you,¡± said Nivritti. Jae-Geun lifted himself slightly and took out his handkerchief and handed it to Nivritti. She grabbed all her hair and started rotating it in a bun. Jae-Geun nced at her in rear view mirror. A faint gasp escaped from his mouth. His heart started racing faster than his car. She wrapped her bun with the handkerchief and tied it tightly.

    .....

    ¡°Wow! How can someone look beautiful while tying her hair?¡± he pondered. He immediately looked at the road and kept driving.

    He parked the car at the destination and opened the trunk of his car. Everyone picked up some bags and walked up to Nivritti¡¯s apartment. She punched in the code 2048 and her locked beeped. All entered her house and took off their shoes.

    Nivritti ced the bags in one corner and then took the bags from their hands. Jae-Hwa and Jae-Geun sat on the couch with a thud. Nivritti ran to her kitchen and brought water and cookies for everyone.

    Jae-Hwa drank the whole ss in a gulp.

    ¡°You want more?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, please!¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti ran to the kitchen and brought a pitcher full of water and filled the ss. Jae-Hwa drank the water and sighed with relief.

    ¡°Tea, anyone?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I think we should leave,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No, no,e on, stay a little bit longer,¡± pleaded Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, Oppa. Stay a little bit longer. I am in no position to move at all,¡± groaned Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Hey! I drove, I carried everything, you just spent a lot of time in the changing room,¡± he yfully hit Jae-Hwa on her head.

    ¡°Oppa!¡± pouted Jae-Hwa. Nivritti smiled at their yfulness. She suddenly remembered her sister and her naughtiness.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s have tea and then you can go,¡± offered Nivritti.

    ¡°Fine!¡± said Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti walked to the kitchen and started working on the tea. She chose a chamomile cardamom tea and ced the tea leaves in the teapot. She stood on her tiptoe and tried getting the teacups out of the cupboard.

    She didn¡¯t realise that Jae-Geun kept staring at her and Jae-Hwa kept staring at him. She smiled mischievously at him.

    ¡°Go help her,¡± said Jae-Hwa and nudged him slightly.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Geun, shocked.

    ¡°Stop staring at her and go help her,¡± mocked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oppa!¡± she pushed him and made him stand.

    Jae-Geun stood up and walked inside the kitchen. Nivritti kept grabbing the teacups from the cupboard when the handkerchief loosened and fell on the floor making her hair fall down with speed.

    Jae-Geun¡¯s heart stopped. He gulped hard and started sweating profusely.

    ¡°Shit!¡± shouted Nivritti. She immediately turned around and in front of her, Jae-Geun was standing. One more step and she would have bumped into him. She instantly traced her step back. Jae-Geun saw that she was going to bump into the b, so he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer.

    ¡°Careful,¡± he shouted and snaked his arm around her waist. Her handsnded on his chest. ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked.

    She pushed him away within a second and stood before him. ¡°Yes, I am fine.¡± She turned her head around and nced at the b. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    She was grateful yet embarrassed. Meanwhile, Jae-Geun was frustrated as she got out of his grip too soon. Her beautiful face was too close to his eyes, and he loved that sensation. Her soft hair over his arm felt heavenly.

    Jae-Hwa smirked at both of them and came running into the kitchen.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yes, yes, I am fine, thanks to your brother,¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°Take a look at the tea. I will tie my hair ande.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti exited the kitchen and ran to her room. Jae-Hwa looked at her brother smiling mischievously.

    ¡°What?¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Nothing!¡± Jae-Hwa nodded her head in no.

    ¡°What?¡± he asked again.

    ¡°So, you too are charmed by her,¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± screamed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I saw how you looked at her. You have never been influenced by any girl. You never look at anyone, but you cannot stop looking at her,¡± mocked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ha-ha, shut up!¡± scolded Jae-Geun. ¡°Take care of tea.¡±

    Jae-Geun walked up to the couch and sat down, pouting. Jae-Hwa startedughing loudly.

    ¡°What happened?¡± asked Nivritti as soon as she came out of the room.

    ¡°Nothing!¡± shouted both Jae-Hwa and Jae-Geun together.

    ¡°Ooo...k...ay!¡± said Nivritti sceptically. ¡°You guys are acting weird.¡±

    ¡°We are weird,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, I can see that,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    Nivritti sieved the tea and brought the cups to the living room.

    ¡°What¡¯s your speciality, Jae-Geun?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I am a family doctor,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Nice!¡± eximed Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, and he works in thergest hospital in Seoul,¡± said Jae-Hwa proudly.

    ¡°Jaehwa!¡± eximed Jae-Geun, shyly.

    ¡°Let her talk. She is proud of her older brother,¡± smiled Nivritti and sipped her tea. ¡°Which hospital?¡±

    ¡°Seoul General hospital,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    Talking andughing they finished their tea.

    ¡°We should leave now. Jaehwa, grab your bags,¡± ordered Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Wait!¡± shouted Nivritti and went near the bags. She searched in the bags and took a box out. She came back to Jae-Geun and extended her arm towards him. ¡°Here,¡± she said.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Something for you,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I bed your pardon,¡± screamed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°As thanks for driving us around and carrying our bags,¡± teased Nivritti. ¡°Or think of it as your sry for a day.¡±

    ¡°Oh, trying to be funny,¡± taunted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No, not trying. I am funny,¡± mocked Nivritti. Jae-Hwa just kept looking at them, hearing their cute exchange.

    ¡°Who told you that?¡± asked Jae-Geun, mockingly.

    ¡°Oh, the world¡¯s bestedian,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Seriously, Nivritti, why?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Just take it,¡± rebuked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, Oppa, just take it,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, okay, chill, both of you, jeez,¡± said Jae-Geun and took the box from Nivritti¡¯s hands. She smiled at her brightest which tickled Jae-Geun¡¯s heart. If he had known that she would sh her brightest smile, he would have epted the gift sooner.

    Jae-Hwa grabbed her bag and both brother and sister left Nivritti alone after saying goodbye. Nivritti kept waving till they vanished before her eyes. She came inside and locked her door. She went into her room and the first thing she did was change her dress.

    She dumped her white dress in theundry hamper and came out into the living room. She cleaned the table and dumped all the cups, sses, and tes in the sink.

    She then grabbed all the bags and ced the boxes on her table. She made sure that she brought everyone something. She had parcels for every member of ASD but two gifts for Jung-Hwa. Another box stared at her that was meant for Chung-Ho. She opened the box and the green hanbok stared at her.

    .....

    She bit her lips and thought back. Did Kyung-Soo really help Jae-Geun choose that shirt? Only she knew that Kyung-Soo was present in the store. Did he see her with Jae-Geun? Did he know who Jae-Geun was? Or he helped him as a stranger?

    She kept admiring the shirt. She knew being an idol his fashion sense was on point. She looked at the boxes and opened the one that had a white scarf in it. The first time she met him, he was wearing white, so she wanted him to select that. Or should shebel the boxes and then hand them over to them? But what if someone dislikes a colour? She was in dilemma whether she should let the boys choose or should she assign a scarf to every one of them.

    One thought never urred to her was what if every one of them disliked her gift or rejected her gift.

    ¡°Oh no! I never thought about that. They don¡¯t know me that well, why would they ept a gift from me? Shit! Should I give them or not? But now I have bought it, I will have to give it to them, otherwise, what will I do with seven scarves? I can wear the hoodie but scarves, ohh... I am so stupid. I should have asked NK about it,¡± she facepalmed.

    ¡°Wait! He said not to gift anything to JJ as he will tease everyone. That means that he can ept my gift. I just hope that they like it. Okay, let¡¯s pack them up and we will see what happens tomorrow.¡±

    She ced all the parcels back in the bags and ced them on the chair. She then opened the bag that had her clothes. She knew she had to wash them once before wearing them. One by one she started taking out the dresses andstly, she pulled the yellow dress out of the bag.

    Involuntarily, she started smiling. Her mind shed back to the changing room where Kyung-Soo was trying hard not to look at her.

 Chapter 104

    104 The Envy

    Nivritti stared at the yellow dress and her cheeks felt hot. She ced the back of her palms on the cheeks and realised that she was blushing.

    ¡°Woah! What is this? What is happening? Yeah, he praised me, so what? Jae too praised me, that meant nothing. Oh, God! Why do I keep thinking about him? I too told him about what to buy, it really meant nothing. I was just trying to help him. Maybe he was doing the same. Oh, why am I overthinking this?¡± she shouted and ced the dress back in the bag and threw the bag away from herself.

    ¡°Okay, stop thinking about him, he helped you just like he helped Jae-Geun. I just hope that everyone would like their gifts,¡± she wished.

    After grabbing all the bags that she just sorted she hung them on the hooks next to the door. Her eyes fell on her purse, and she gasped. ¡°Oh, NK¡¯s shirt! How did I forget about this?¡± she hit on her head. It was the one thing she had to do that she engraved in her mind. She had to wash his shirt before she would return it.

    She took out the shirt from her purse and grabbed the bag with her clothes in it. She dumped every piece of clothing inside the washing machine and threw some washing liquid inside too.

    ¡°What to do next? Should I work a little? First, let¡¯s take some food out of the fridge. Oh! How many days I will have to keep eating that? I will be 100 kgs after I finish the food. Why did they have to do so much for me?¡± wondered Nivritti.

    She went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She looked around and selected the food items she wanted to eat for dinner. She took out the containers and ced them on the kitchen b. She saw something from the corners of her eyes, something white. She turned around and saw Jae-Geun¡¯s handkerchief lying on the kitchen floor.

    ¡°Oh shit! What is this doing here?¡± Her mind shed back to the moment he held her in his arms. ¡°Why the hell do such stupid things happen to me? Ohh... men should stop grabbing me. This is getting annoying,¡± she groaned. She picked up the handkerchief, walked up to the washing machine, and chucked it inside the machine.

    While her clothes were getting washed and her food was thawing out on the b, she decided to work a little. She went into her bedroom and brought herptop to the living room. cing her foot on the table, she satfortably on the couch and ced theptop on her legs.

    .....

    Her mind was buzzing with ASD, ASD and instead of opening the Rencontre site, she opened the search engine and looked for thetest live of ASD. The two days old video shed up. She clicked on the option and the video started ying.

    She smiled first when she looked at everyone in their gorgeous suit. Even though they were sitting, it was clear that the suit was made in such a way that it would enhance the members¡¯ physiques. Their broad shoulders and toned body were impossible to hide. And their gelled slick back hair was giving off mafia vibes.

    She saw them ying Monopoly andughed at their funny antics. Most sheughed at was at the time when they would forget whose turn it was or where their tokens werest ced. And then some man from behind the camera asked the question she was waiting for, the question about the actress.

    She had heard everything Kyung-Soo said in that footage and wanted to hear them again. No one knew but stopped breathing in the caf¨¦ when she realised that the night everyone was talking about, Kyung-Soo was with her, listening to her life story. She was his alibi. She knew he had nothing to do with that woman. She could be the witness but that would mean giving herself up.

    Thank God that everything was okay, and this news was not dragged on till eternity. Kyung-Soo came out unscathed. ASD escaped yet another scandal.

    She really was angry at every news media. They didn¡¯t fact-check beforehand and started spreading rumours. It was their job to enlighten the mass and uncover the scandals that would hamper their lives, but they were too busy spreading rumours and invading the privacy of celebrities.

    After she was done with the live-streaming video, she searched for the viral video that everyone kept talking about, the actress with a man who looked like Kyung-Soo, walking on a beach at night.

    It was a dark video, and nothing really was clear. She was impressed by the eagle-eyed people who found out that the woman in the video was a famous actress and the man looked like Kyung-Soo as she could make out nothing. For her everything was dark, and two silhouettes were walking along.

    She increased the brightness of her system, came close to the screen, and squinted to look better.

    ¡°No, nothing,¡± she shouted. ¡°Either I am going blind, or someone had too much time on their hands. How people said that this man had a tint of blue in his hair, I can¡¯t even see his hair. I can see one thing, his shoulders. NK has a broader shoulder, his is average at most.¡± She immediately gasped at herment.

    ¡°Why the hell do you know how broad his shoulder is? You can¡¯t see anything but can see this man¡¯s shoulder. Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Get him out of your mind,¡± she shouted at herself. She instantly closed the screen on herptop and dumped theputer on the couch next to her. ¡°Okay, I am going mad. Why do I care about his scandals? He is free to see anyone he wishes.¡±

    ¡°I know he was with me that night. Even if he would not have been with me it would have been fine. He is entitled to live his life the way he wants.¡± Nivritti had no idea but her whole body was burning with the fire of jealousy. She hated seeing a look-alike of him with another woman. She knew that the man in the video was not Kyung-Soo yet she closed and threw herptop in anger.

    She was fuming with anger and invisible smoke wasing out of her ears. She kept exhaling like a bull. Her anger subsided when the washing machine signalled to her that theundry was done. Groaning she stood up and went near the machine. She took out all the clothes and spread them on a stand to drypletely.

    She came back to the living room, nced at theptop, made an angry face at it as if everything was theptop¡¯s fault, and walked into the kitchen. She ced her food in the microwave to heat. The moment the microwave beeped, her phone started ringing.

    She groaned, ¡°ahh... who is it? I don¡¯t want to talk to anyone.¡± The phone kept ringing and ringing but Nivritti never even tried to move near it. The phone rangpletely and the sound died down. She brought her food to the table and her phone started ringing again.

    She rolled her eyes at the sound and looked at her phone. It was Jae-Hwa. She felt guilty for ignoring her the first time. Nivritti picked up the call and unknowingly she was stoic, ¡°Hello!¡±

    ¡°Woah! What¡¯s up with the tonal change? Who irked you? Are you alright?¡± Jae-Hwa noticed her anger.

    ¡°What tone change? I am the same just the way you left me. What are you talking about?¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°No, no, something has happened. You sound angry. What is the matter?¡± questioned Jae-Hwa again.

    ¡°Nothing is the matter, Jae. I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Well, I just called to tell you that I reached my house,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Now?¡± Nivritti was surprised.

    ¡°Not now, I reached ages ago. Changed my clothes, helped my Uhmma cook food and now I had a little free time so thought of calling you,¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    That made Nivritti smile. ¡°You thought well. I am d that you called me. But sad that I didn¡¯t call you and asked you whether you reached.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no worries. I too was not going to call you but Oppa pestered me to,¡± giggled Jae-Hwa.

    Suddenly a male voice screamed on the other side of the phone, ¡°Jaehwa!¡±

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± Nivritti too shouted.

    ¡°Rx both of you. I am teasing. Ritti! He wanted to remind you about the eye drops. Apply it tonight before sleeping. Your eyes were looking better and the drops will soothe them further,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I will keep that in mind. Say thanks to him,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°She is saying thanks,¡± Jae-Hwa said away from the phone.

    ¡°And to your mother for delicious food,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, will do that. See you tomorrow,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°See you tomorrow. Good night.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Oppa is asking if you were hurt when that man saved you on the street,¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Um... no, I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Then, Good night,¡± greeted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Sweet dreams.¡±

    Nivritti ced the phone down and her mind wandered to when she was pushed by that boy on the street. Why did it feel like that man was someone familiar? She knew that touch. She knew that warmth. Was that man Kyung-Soo? No, that was impossible. It was clear that he was in that area but why would he follow her?

 Chapter 105

    105 The Brown Jacket

    Nivritti was thankful to the man who saved her but was disturbed by the thought that she didn¡¯t get to thank him or even see his face. That man made no sound, or movement, he just helped her and walked away. Was Jae-Hwa, right? Did she have a guardian angel looking after her?

    No, that cannot be true. If she had a guardian angel, she would not have experienced such a brutal heartbreak in her life. She would not have uprooted her life and shifted to a different country all together.

    Since the day she arrived, so many events happened to her when all she wanted was a boring, repetitive life. But that was not in her kismet, everyday she had to face something or the other. It felt like her life was turning into a movie, twist and turns everywhere.

    With a loud sigh, she looked at the te of food and pulled the te towards her. Thinking about her eventful life in Korea, she finished her food, went into the kitchen, cleaned all the utensils, and cleaned the kitchen.

    After grabbing herptop from the couch, she went to her bedroom and sat on her bed. She opened the lid of theptop and found that it has shut down as the battery was drained. Groaning, she stood up and brought the charger.

    She plugged in the charger and switched on herptop. Every page that she opened was still visible as the system didn¡¯t shut down, it simply went to sleep. As soon as the pages appeared before her, she fumed with anger.

    She had no idea why she was suddenly feeling hot. Her eyes were burning with heat. One more minute and herptop would have exploded due to her anger. She immediately closed the tabs and closed her eyes for a minute. After breathing heavily for a few minutes, she calmed herself down and worked for about an hour.

    Yawn after yawn was not letting her do her work. Her eyelids were getting heavy with sleep. Groaning and moaning, she got up from the bed, grabbed herptop and switched it off while walking to the living room. She kept theptop on the centre table and returned to her room. After putting the eyedrops in her eyes, she tucked herself in and slept.

    Meanwhile, Kyung-Soo reached his mansion. Grabbing his bags from the front car seat he walked inside the house. Everyone was busy with their work in their own rooms. Only Thae and Jeong-Eun were watching some series on television.

    .....

    ¡°How was the shopping Hyung? Did you meet with another woman and walked with her on a beach?¡± teased Jeong-Eun. Thae sniggered at the tease.

    ¡°He, he, he, shut up!¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Food is in the fridge. Heat it up and eat,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°No, I just had coffee. I will eatter,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ooh! Coffee! With whom?¡± Jeong-Eun repetitively raised his eyebrows and teased Kyung-Soo.

    Kyung-Soo contorted his lips and shifted them slightly to the left and stared at Jeong-Eun with disgust and disappointment. ¡°What did you eat? Drugs? Are you tripping? Just go back to your TV, idiot! No better, get me a ss of water, run,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes, yes, Hyung,¡± gulped Jeong-Eun and ran to the kitchen.

    Hearing all themotion, Jung-Hwa came running to the living room. He didn¡¯t acknowledge Kyung-Soo, he just snatched the bag from his hand and shouted, ¡°what did you buy?¡±

    Kyung-Soo snatched the bag and said, ¡°nothing is for you. Everything is mine. Go buy your own clothes, you broke millionaire.¡±

    Jung-Hwa smiled innocently showing every single tooth in his mouth. ¡°At least let me see what you bought,¡± he requested.

    ¡°Fine!¡± Kyung-Soo handed him the bag and Jung-Hwa peered in. Shirt after shirt came out of the bag.

    Jung-Hwa keptmenting on every piece of clothing. ¡°Hmm... this is nice. This is okay. I will never wear this. And finally, he took out the jacket, the brown jacket Nivritti chose for him. ¡°Woah! This is nice.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you go and buy things from generic shops. You know you can afford luxury brands,¡±mented Him-Chan who came out of his room after hearing the expressions from Jung-Hwa¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Just because I can afford it does not mean that I should splurge my money. And I go with the motto ¡®affordable andfortable¡¯,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, you go with the motto, ¡®cheap andfortable¡¯,¡± teased Him-Chan.

    ¡°I am an idol of the masses, when they see I dress like them, they like me more, they connect with me more, they love me more. I am stylish even in less expensive clothes,¡± taunted Kyung-Soo.

    Him-Chan smiled, ¡°that¡¯s why you are the leader, Hyung.¡±

    Kyung-Soo too smiled at him and then looked at Jung-Hwa who dumped the contents of the bag on the couch and was about to wear the jacket.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. All looked at Kyung-Soo and then at Jung-Hwa. Jung-Hwa had half his arms in the sleeve and was staring at Kyung-Soo with his mouth open. In Kyung-Soo¡¯s mind, it was the first thing Nivritti showed interest in and he was not ready to share that with anyone. That jacket belonged to him.

    ¡°Take your arms out and hand that jacket over,¡± screamed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hyung!¡± Jung-Hwa was stunned.

    ¡°Jee Jung-Hwa! GIVE ME THAT JACKET, NOW,¡± shrieked Kyung-Soo.

    Jung-Hwa immediately closed his mouth and took off the jacket and handed it over to Kyung-Soo. Kyung-Soo grabbed all his clothes and ran to his room.

    ¡°What the hell was that? He didn¡¯t even drink his water,¡±mented Thae after looking at Jeong-Eun who was standing, stunned, with a ss of water in his hands.

    He was about to reach his room when a door on his side opened, and Korain ran into him.

    ¡°Why are you shouting?¡± asked Korain, concernedly.

    ¡°Nothing, Hyung,¡± Kyung-Soo replied while avoiding looking at Korain. He hurriedly moved towards his room when Korain stopped him.

    ¡°NK! Weren¡¯t you wearing a blue shirt when you left?¡±mented Korain.

 Chapter 106

    106 The Angel

    ¡°Shit!¡± Kyung-Soo¡¯s jaw dropped to the floor. He was hoping that no one should notice what he was wearing but as always Korain was annoyingly observant. Kyung-Soo felt as if someone pulled the earth from under his feet. He immediately pressed his tongue between his teeth.

    ¡°NK?!¡± asked Korain, again.

    ¡°Hyung, I was trying this ck shirt, liked it better and came wearing that,¡± lied Kyung-Soo and without waiting for another question, he ran to his room and shut his door. He leaned on the door with his back and grabbed his chest. His heart was racing like the wind.

    ¡°What just happened?¡± Korain scratched his head.

    ¡°Strange! I didn¡¯t see any blue shirt in that bag,¡± noted Jung-Hwa. He kept stroking his chin with his forefinger.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°Well, he said that he wore the ck one in the store so he must have kept the blue one in his bag. But there were only new clothes in the bag. Where is that blue shirt?¡± the inner detective of Jung-Hwa woke up.

    ¡°You must not have looked closely,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°No, no, I took every shirt out. Either he left his shirt in the store which is impossible, or he is hiding...¡± Jung-Hwa trailed far with his thoughts. It was clear to him that Kyung-Soo was hiding something. He never stopped him from trying a cloth, hell, he never stopped him from stealing his clothes. Half the wardrobe of Jung-Hwa was filled with Kyung-Soo¡¯s clothes.

    .....

    So, something must have happened to Kyung-Soo when he was out. He lost one shirt and was possessive about another. What could have happened? What was the reason behind it?

    Suddenly a bulb lit over his head. He knew why Kyung-Soo was acting strange, he met her. That was the only reason. Just two days back, he avoided a scandal and if anyone would have learned that he was with her, they would have started unnecessary rumours again.

    ¡°What, JJ?¡± asked Korain who kept staring at Jung-Hwa¡¯s face and kept watching all the expressions that shed on his face.

    He realised that he had to save his hyung. ¡°Oh no! I made a mistake. I saw the blue shirt. Yes, it was there in the bag,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa and ran to Kyung-Soo¡¯s room.

    ¡°What is happening? Why everyone is running?¡± screamed Korain, annoyed.

    ¡°No idea,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°Everyone is weird today,¡±mented Thae.

    ¡°Weird thing is even after so much shouting Young-Chul is sleeping in his room peacefully,¡± exhaled Korain.

    Jung-Hwa knocked at Kyung-Soo¡¯s door and whispered, ¡°open the door, Hyung. I know.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± eximed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°About who you met at the store,¡± murmured Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo immediately opened the door, grabbed Jung-Hwa¡¯s shirt, and pulled him inside with force. He squinted his eyes at him and demanded, ¡°speak. What do think you know?¡±

    ¡°That you met Ritti and chose the jacket for you,¡± Jung-Hwa ced his hands over his waist and popped his hips in a sassy manner.

    Kyung-Soo froze with shock. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped to the floor with a loud thud.

    ¡°Haa... I knew it,¡± Jung-Hwa snapped his fingers and screamed happily.

    ¡°Shh... shhh... shhhh...,¡± Kyung-Soo shushed him. ¡°You guessed?¡±

    ¡°I would have been a great interrogator. I should apply to be a detective,¡± Jung-Hwa patted his own back with pride.

    ¡°Really!¡± taunted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Tell me, tell me everything,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa in whispers.

    ¡°There is nothing to tell, you guessed everything already,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, the details, I want details. I want to know what happened with the blue shirt,¡± pleaded Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°She took it home,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Uff, JJ!¡± eximed Kyung-Soo and dropped on the bed. He stared at the roof and exhaled, ¡°she will kill me one day.¡±

    ¡°You are smitten, Hyung,¡± smiled Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°You have no idea, JJ, and the way she looked in that yellow dress, my heart stopped,¡± sighed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yellow dress!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she was changing into that dress when I saw her,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ew! Ew! Ew! Why would you tell me that? She was changing and you saw her?¡± scolded Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo sat up and stared at Jung-Hwa, condescendingly. ¡°You are an idiot. She was in the changing room, I knocked, and she opened the door that¡¯s when I saw her in a yellow dress.¡±

    ¡°Ohh that way.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that way.¡±

    ¡°But why did she take your shirt?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°That yellow dress had a plunging neckline and she looked HOOTT. To hide her skin and to make sure that she didn¡¯t show her skin too much she wore my shirt that was hung on the hooks,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Wait! Wait! Wait! This is so confusing. Why was your shirt on hooks in her changing room? You are making my brain hurt,¡± Jung-Hwa scratched his head.

    Kyung-Soo exhaled heavily and narrated everything that happened in the store. How Da-Hee harassed him, how he ran away from the room and when he came back it was upied by Nivritti. But Jae-Hwa came at that moment and Nivritti pulled him inside. She then scolded Da-Hee on his behalf and got her suspended.

    She made sure the path was clear and then Kyung-Soo left, and no one found that he was inside the store. If people would have known he was there he would be in news, again.

    ¡°Wow! A bonus and then a discount. She is lucky. And again, she helped ASD. She is like our angel,¡±mented Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°You can say that,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you stopped me from wearing that jacket,¡± pouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, that is mine. Don¡¯t even think about wearing it. I would treat it as the first gift she ever got me,¡± exhaled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ooo... Hyung is in love, Hyung is in love...¡± Jung-Hwa started singing the phrase, repetitively.

    ¡°Oh, shut up!¡± scolded Kyung-Soo but kept smiling at him.

    ¡°Wear it tomorrow and surprise her,¡± suggested Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Good idea! Well, she was thinking of buying some gift for you,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? Really! Oh, TK Hyung would be so jealous. What did she get me?¡± asked Jung-Hwa, excited.

    ¡°No idea. I told her not to get anything for you,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? What?? What???¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. ¡°Why would you do that?¡± he pouted.

    ¡°Because then you would get cocky and would tease us all every day, every moment,¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°That is right. You are right,¡± nodded Jung-Hwa. ¡°How was she? Was her hand, okay?¡±

    ¡°She was fine. The lines on her arm were a little faded,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Good, that¡¯s good. Let¡¯s get out otherwise everyone would start gossiping about you.¡±

    ¡°You, go. I will change my clothes ande.¡±

    Jung-Hwa exited Kyung-Soo¡¯s room and went downstairs. Kyung-Soo followed after him after a few minutes.

    ¡°Not a word from any of you,¡± ordered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Just tell us if we are going to see another scandal or rumours in your name,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°No, Hyung. I did nothing, I promise. No one recognised me who I was, and no one knows that I went outside the house except you guys,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    No one talked about Kyung-Soo after that.

 Chapter 107

    107 The Troublesome Hair

    The faint light of the sun streamed inside the room. The almost dark and warm room was extremelyfortable. Nivritti was tucked in her nket when her rm rang. But she was in deep sleep. The rm rangpletely and stopped. She didn¡¯t move even an inch.

    Thest few days were tiring for her. The constant tsunami of emotions wore her out. As always, she was healing slowly. The finger marks over her arm were fading. Her eyes were better. She was in deep sleep without any nightmares.

    After ten minutes, the rm rang again. She groaned slightly and reached for her phone. After snoozing the rm, she dunked her head inside the nket and went right back to sleep.

    The rm screamed loudly after another fifteen minutes. Without taking her head out of the nket she pulled the phone inside. She was too cosy andfortable and didn¡¯t want toe out of the nket.

    The moment she saw the screen of the phone she screamed loudly. ¡°Shit! Shit! Shit! No, no, no, I amte.¡± She threw the nket away and jumped from the bed. She raced to the bathroom and just pushed the door shut. She had no time to waste on locking it.

    Within seconds she brushed her teeth and jumped into the shower. She would not get time to dry her hair, so she avoided washing it. She came out of the bathroom in a towel and ran to the kitchen. She ced the kettle on the stove and quickly threw two pieces of bread in the microwave. She had no time to toast them.

    Leaving the water to boil and the microwave to do its job, she again ran into her bedroom and opened her closet. She took out her undergarments and threw the towel on the side of the bed. She had no time to be modest. She ced one foot in one of the openings of the panties and hurriedly ced her other foot in another opening.

    It is said that if you are in a hurry, the universe will conspire for you to bete. Nivritti tried getting her leg out of the opening of the panty when her foot was caught in the fabric, and she stumbled. She could not control herself and she fell on the floor face down with her leg still caught in the fabric.

    ¡°Great! I am alreadyte. Oh! Why? Why?? Why can¡¯t I have a day in peace?¡± she shouted frustratingly.

    .....

    Luckily, she was not hurt. She just got up and with patience wore her clothes. She chose a full-sleeve, slim-fitted, brownish-orange formal suit. She instantly braided her hair and ran to the kitchen. She shoved a tea bag into her cup and poured the water into it. While the tea seeped into the water, she took out the bread and released that her butter was in the fridge. She forgot to take it out.

    Groaning loudly, she grabbed the stick of butter and rubbed it all over her heated bread. As the bread was hot, the butter slightly melted, and she instantly dumped the pieces of bread in her mouth. She took out her traveller mug and poured her tea into it.

    She looked at the clock. ¡°OH, GOD! Run, Ritti, run.¡± It would take her 15 minutes to reach the office if she walked. But if she could pick up the pace, she might reach within 10-12 minutes. She was about to exit her house when she remembered that she had to get the gifts too. ¡°Oh, Shit! Ahhh... why did you have to sleep more, you idiot?¡±

    First, she ran to her balcony to get Kyung-Soo¡¯s shirt and Jae-Geun¡¯s handkerchief. She had to return both items. She folded the shirt as small as she could and ced it in her purse. She dumped the handkerchief in her pocket. After grabbing all the bags of gifts and her tea mug, she ran out of her house.

    She was walking and running towards the K&Q building, trying to juggle all the gift bags,ptop bags, her purse, and her mug in her hands. She was sweating profusely and breathing heavily. She ran inside the building. A big obstacle was in her path, the turnstile.

    ¡°Ohh,¡± she groaned, ced every bag on the floor and fished her ID out of the purse. The turnstile opened. She looked at the lifts. One was on the verge of closing. ¡°Please hold the elevator,¡± she shouted.

    A hand appeared through the lift door and stopped it from closing. Nivritti ran to the lift and entered. Breathing heavily, she lifted her head to say thank you to the person who helped her.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said and looked at the person. She shouted immediately, ¡°JH!¡±

    ¡°Good morning!¡± he smiled. He carefully took in the view before him. With a ck t-shirt under her orange suit, she looked like a lily flower. Tiny drops of sweat on her forehead were glistening in the bright light of the lift. A few strands of her hair were stuck to her cheeks. ¡°11th floor?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, please!¡± she smiled at him. His heart started racing with her smile.

    ¡°What is all this?¡± he asked and pointed at all the bags in her hand.

    ¡°Oh... um... I can¡¯t tell you,¡± she had no idea what to say to him. The gifts were a surprise so she could not divulge the information to him. That would have ruined the surprise.

    ¡°Okay,¡± said Him-Chan. ¡°But you can let me help you carry them.¡±

    ¡°Wait! You too are going to the 11th floor?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I am your designated driver for today. Please to meet you,¡± he bowed down to her teasingly.

    ¡°Ha-ha, okay Mr Driver!¡± she teased him. ¡°But aren¡¯t you here early?¡±

    ¡°No, you arete,¡± he said.

    Nivritti lowered her eyes and looked at the floor. ¡°You are right. I amte today,¡± she said sadly.

    ¡°You are allowed to bete once in a while,¡± assured Him-Chan.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think...¡± Nivritti started speaking when instantly she froze with shock.

    Him-Chan kept staring at her face and his eyes were following the strands of hair ying on her cheeks. He was jealous of them. He wanted to touch her cheeks. He wanted to feel her smooth skin. He kept talking with her, but his eyes kept following her hair. Involuntarily, his hands moved. He raised his arm, traced his fingers along her cheeks and tucked her hair behind her ears.

    Nivritti was motionless. She had no idea what just happened. Her brain stopped processing every piece of information. She had no idea how to react. She stepped back and her backnded on the wall of the lift.

    ¡°Sorry! Didn¡¯t mean to startle you. You have so many things in your hand, and you are not letting me help you with that. So, I thought my hands are free, let me help you with your hair problem,¡± apologised Him-Chan.

    Nivritti never said a word, she just smiled faintly at him. Him-Chan realised that he did something wrong. He was feeling guilty. He cursed himself for not asking her permission beforehand. ¡°Are you alright? I am sorry.¡±

    Nivritti looked at him and saw that he was distraught. She felt bad for him. ¡°It¡¯s okay, JH. You just took me by surprise.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t like being touched, do you?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°No, no, that is not the case. It¡¯s just I was not expecting that.¡±

    ¡°Sorry again, I just saw hair all over your face and thought that you need help,¡± said Him-Chan innocently.

    ¡°Okay, apology epted. So, now you can stop apologising. If you stop, I will let you carry a few of these bags, what say?¡± she teased.

    ¡°Done!¡± smiled Him-Chan. Nivritti handed him half the bags and the lift chimed. The doors opened and they both walked together to the script department.

    ¡°Now they will gossip about you and me,¡±mented Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh yeah, right. You cannot control every mouth,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± As she predicted, the moment she entered everyone stared at her and Him-Chan. Everyone had their jaws on the floor. They were looking at both of them with widened eyes. Slowly the surprise changed into a murmur and that murmur changed into full-on gossip.

    Him-Chan looked at their expressions and startedughing.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± murmured Nivritti.

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it, they are idiots,¡± whispered Him-Chan which made her smile.

    ¡°Why is no one working?¡± shouted Chung-Ho. He then looked at Nivritti, ¡°you arete.¡± And then addressed Him-Chan, ¡°and what are you doing here so early?¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t NK Hyung call you?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°No,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Well, it is their time to work with him. He sent me to bring them to our dance practice location,¡± replied Him-Chan.

    ¡°Very well, Rencontre team, pack your bags and go with Johan,¡± ordered Chung-Ho. ¡°Rest of you, shut up and concentrate on your work.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Choi! May I talk with you in the conference room?¡± requested Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay,¡± he replied politely and stood up from his seat.

    ¡°Please wait here,¡± said Nivritti to Him-Chan. She looked into the bags and picked the one with hanbok in it. She followed Chung-Ho and moved towards the conference room. On her way, she nced at Jae-Hwa and winked at her which made Jae-Hwa grin from ear to ear.

 Chapter 108

    108 The Fear

    Everyone kept staring at Nivritti and Chung-Ho. Just two days ago the new girl scolded everyone and made the CEO scold them too. And today the first thing she did aftering to the office was getting Chung-Ho in the conference room. What was she going to discuss with him? Were they supposed to get another scolding?

    Chung-Ho too was worried. Why did she ask him to get inside the conference room? What was it that she could not discuss in front of everyone? Did something happen? His mind was full of questions and his heart was racing fast.

    ¡°What is the problem, Ritti?¡± Chung-Ho asked concernedly as soon as they both entered the conference room.

    ¡°What? Why would there be a problem?¡± she was taken aback.

    ¡°You arete, and you want to talk to me in private,¡± exined Chung-Ho.

    Nivritti scoffed, ¡°What? I amte because I overslept, no other reason. And I called you here because I wanted to give you this.¡± She lifted the bag and presented it to him.

    ¡°What is this?¡± asked Chung-Ho, surprised.

    ¡°A present for you to say thank you,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°A present? And why, thank you?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    .....

    ¡°CH! You ask a lot of questions. Just ept it,¡± scolded Nivritti. ¡°I have to leave soon. JH is waiting.¡±

    ¡°Ritti!¡± Chung-Ho stared at her seriously.

    ¡°You stood by my side. I just wanted to show a little appreciation for that. That¡¯s why I brought you this. I got my bonus yesterday,¡± she winked at him.

    ¡°And you spent your bonus on me?¡± inquired Chung-Ho, perplexed.

    ¡°Not all of it, a small amount,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to,¡± Chung-Ho was too overwhelmed with gratitude.

    Nivritti grabbed his shoulder andforted him, ¡°since the day I arrived, you have been taking care of me. Every time you stood with me.¡±

    ¡°Not every time,¡± Chung-Ho lowered his head with guilt.

    ¡°CH!¡± said Nivritti, sweetly. ¡°You stood with me every time. Stop feeling guilty. You are my boss and as a good boss and good friend, you always helped me. Thank you. Now open it and see. I hope you like it.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Chung-Ho opened the bag and took out the box. A beautiful hanbok appeared before him as soon as he opened the box. ¡°A modern hanbok shirt!¡± he eximed.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like it!¡± Nivritti face had disappointment written all over it. She thought that he might like her gift but that was not his expression.

    ¡°What? I love it,¡± shouted Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Your face does not say that,¡± informed Nivritti.

    ¡°I am old. I cannot jump with excitement with these old bones,¡± teased Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Who said you are old? You are younger than my dad,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Reallyparing me with your father??¡± Chung-Ho tilted his head andmented.

    ¡°Ha-ha, but you liked it for sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I love it,¡± replied Chung-Ho. ¡°Thank you.¡± He pulled Nivritti into his arms and hugged her sweetly.

    ¡°You are wee.¡±

    He broke the embrace, ced his gift inside the box, and said, ¡°Okay, Johan is waiting for you. Go.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± saluted Nivritti, teasingly. Chung-Ho smiled at her cuteness.

    Nivritti walked out where Jae-Hwa and Dae were standing with Him-Chan waiting for her.

    ¡°Ready?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Dae looked at Chung-Ho who had a packet in his hand and then looked at Him-Chan who was surrounded by bags all around him. What was in that bag and all the other bags around Him-Chan? What did Nivritti want to talk to Chung-Ho about? The new girl was getting popr day by day. She even was friends with the most famous boyband in the world.

    Thae who berated her, always brought gifts for her when he came to get the scripts. Her very first idea was selected for one of the major events of K&Q. Either she was extremely lucky or had some connection with the CEO. Never had he scolded every single employee of K&Q collectively. Maybe she too was a product of nepotism like Jae-Hwa, that¡¯s why these two were friends. Dae kept his facial expression neutral trying to hide his jealousy.

    ¡°What did you bring, Johan?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°These are not mine, Seong-ssi. These are Ritti¡¯s,¡± replied Him-Chan.

    ¡°What are these, Nivritti?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Surprise, Seong-ssi, surprise,¡± interrupted Jae-Hwa. Dae smiled faintly at her reply.

    ¡°Choi-ssi! Please send today¡¯s script on our emails,¡± requested Him-Chan.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Nivritti, Jae-Hwa, and Him-Chan distributed the bags among themselves and all four moved towards the parking area and reached the VIP section where all the cars of idols and upper management were parked. Nivritti helped Him-Chan to load all the bags in the trunk of the car. After that, they all sat in his car and went to the dance practise room.

    Carrying all the bags, they moved to the practise room. The moment Him-Chan opened the door, Thae shouted, ¡°what? You are back? So soon!¡±

    ¡°Nice way to greet, TK!¡± taunted Him-Chan.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand...¡± before he couldplete his sentence, Nivritti, Jae-Hwa, and Dae entered the room. Thae immediately ran to the end of the room, picked something up, and hid it behind his back.

    All found his action extremely bizarre.

    ¡°What just happened?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Him-Chan.

    Thae looked at Nivritti with fear. ¡°Could you step outside for a minute, Ritti?¡±

    ¡°Huh... what? Why?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°Yeah, why?¡± asked Nivritti, again.

    ¡°Please!¡± pleaded Thae.

    ¡°Trust him, Ritti, leave,¡± nodded Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    Jeong-Eun who was looking at all the drama went behind Thae, snatched the thing from his hand, and showed it to Nivritti. It was Yong, Thae¡¯s dog. Nivritti saw the white Japanese Spitz and screamed loudly. She let go of every bag in her hand and threw herself at Him-Chan, involuntarily.

    She wrapped her arms around him and hid her face in his chest. She was shivering vigorously. Unknowingly, tears started streaming down her face.

    The moment she hugged Him-Chan, all the bags dropped from his hand. His heart skipped a beat and he instantly stopped breathing. The girl he had a crush on was in his arms and he had no idea what to do next. Involuntarily his hands lifted up and wrapped themselves around her shivering body. When he touched her soft hair, he finally exhaled loudly.

    The sweet smell ofvender hit his nose and he breathed deeply. A shiver ran down his spine, but her warm body made himfortable again. He tightened his grip and pulled her closer.

    ¡°No, no, no,¡± she kept murmuring and sniffling on his chest. Thae¡¯s heart broke after seeing her like that again. He knew she wasing and nned to send Yong back home. But before he could do that, she arrived. And now he had no idea what to do.

    Kyung-Soo who had to receive a call went outside the room. He stood near therge window that looked outside on the street and waited for Him-Chan¡¯s car to arrive. He waited and waited but no car arrived.

    Suddenly, he heard a scream. He excused himself from the phone call and ran to the practice room. The moment he arrived he saw the door was blocked by so many people. He could see Jae-Hwa, Dae, and Him-Chan but Nivritti was not there. He stepped forward and the wind was knocked out of his chest.

    He forgot how to breathe after he saw Nivritti in Him-Chan¡¯s arms. His whole body heated up with jealousy. Every single pore of his body was oozing envy. He wanted to pull Nivritti away from Him-Chan. He knew Him-Chan had a crush on Nivritti and he was not liking the scene before him.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and looked at Nivritti who never heard what anyone was saying. She was a prisoner of her fear at that moment.

    ¡°This!¡± Jung-Hwa pointed at Yong.

    ¡°Kang Thae!!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I was about to send him away Hyung but before I could do that, she arrived,¡± Thae hung his head low with guilt.

    ¡°Send him home, now,¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Go!¡± Jeong-Eun nudged Thae.

    Thae took the dog from him and started walking towards his dog¡¯s caretaker. He handed the dog over to him and told him to take him home.

    The moment the caretaker passed by Nivritti, Kyung-Soo stood before her to shield her from the dog. He saw her shivering badly in Him-Chan¡¯s arms.

    ¡°He is gone,¡± informed Kyung-Soo. ¡°You can calm down.¡±

    Thae ran to the end of the room where water was kept for everyone and brought a bottle of water for her. He slowly approached her and touched her head. ¡°Ritti! Drink this.¡±

    Slowly her breathing slowed down and she stopped crying. Jae-Hwa who was looking at everything silently, feeling bad for Nivritti, approached Him-Chan, pulled Nivritti away from him, and made her look at herself.

    ¡°Yong is gone. Calm down! Drink this water,¡± she pointed at the bottle in Thae¡¯s hand.

    Nivritti raised her eyes and looked at Thae who was looking scared and concerned. With shivering hands, she took the bottle and gulped the whole bottle in an instant.

 Chapter 109

    109 The Gifts

    Everyone was looking at Nivritti with concern. Thae was feeling bad, extremely bad. The moment she screamed all the boys came and stood near her. Luckily, the dance team was yet to arrive and no one else saw the drama being unfolded.

    She drank the whole bottle of water in an instant and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Jae-Hwa took out a tissue from her purse and wiped Nivritti¡¯s cheeks and got rid of the tears glistening on her face.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she whispered to Jae-Hwa. Jae-Hwa just blinked once at her and smiled. Nivritti could feel everyone breathing around her.

    She realised that someone was more upset than her because he had to send his beloved dog away. She looked at Thae and started apologising profusely, ¡°I am sorry, I am sorry, TK.¡±

    He immediately held her shoulder and asked, ¡°what are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°You had to send your dog away because of me,¡± she cried.

    His mouth fell open with shock. He pulled her close and hugged her tightly. ¡°Oh my god! Are you an idiot? There is nothing to be sorry about. I am sorry that you had to face your fear again. I am sorry for the pain.¡±

    Kyung-Soo smiled at their interaction. He loved the way Thae was holding her and consoling her. The moment he heard the sentence out of Nivritti¡¯s mouth, he shook his head in disbelief. She was scared yet she was thinking about Thae. She felt bad that he had to send his dog away because of her.

    ¡°But you love him,¡± said Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°Yes, I love him, but I care for you too. It was time for him to go home. What will he do here while I rehearse?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Still, I am sorry,¡± she sniffled.

    ¡°Ritti! You don¡¯t have to be sorry,¡± said Young-Chul. ¡°Anyway, Yong hates being in midst of a crowd and loud music. We were about to send him away, but we werete.¡± Nivritti lifted her head up and smiled at Young-Chul. Sweetly, he patted her head.

    ¡°Are you okay, now?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    She broke the embrace and turned around to look at Kyung-Soo. She loudly gasped the moment she saw him. He knew why she gave that reaction. He was wearing the brown jacket that she suggested to him. The brown jacket with ck buttons everywhere was making him look like a biker bad boy. His porcin skin in contrast to brown and ck made him look even more enticing.

    ¡°How can someone be so handsome? It is not fair to others,¡± she thought. She realised that everyone was waiting for her reply, so she cleared her throat and replied, ¡°I am okay, now. Thank you for asking.¡±

    ¡°Ritti!¡± interrupted Korain.

    ¡°Yes, SK.¡±

    ¡°Pull up your sleeve,¡± he demanded.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± she was surprised at his request.

    ¡°He wants to see your injury,¡± exined Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°We are sorry for not asking you about that. We were hesitant to call you. We didn¡¯t think that it was a good idea to call and disturb you,¡± educated Korain.

    ¡°Nonsense! You guys can call me anytime,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, will keep that in mind. Now, your sleeve,¡± Korain pointed at her arm.

    Dejected, she scoffed and pulled her sleeve up. Four faint ck marks were visible on her hand. ¡°See it¡¯s fine now,¡± she said.

    Young-Chul grabbed her arm and brought her arm closer to his eyes. ¡°Yeah, it looks slightly better.¡± He touched the marks with his finger and softly traced over the mark. ¡°Any pain?¡±

    ¡°None. I am fine,¡± she replied. Young-Chul let go of her hand and then she turned towards Jung-Hwa. ¡°What about your hand?¡±

    ¡°Better than yours,¡± answered Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°By the way what is all this?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Oh right! I forgot. I brought something for you guys. Hope you will like it,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°For us?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, excited and surprised.

    She picked up all the bags and one by one handed them to all the members. ¡°I didn¡¯t know what to get you guys. What can you give to the people who have everything?¡±

    ¡°But why?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°For helping me and standing with me in front of Mr. Hu,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What???¡± shouted Korain. ¡°Of course, we would have stood with you. You were right and you saved this idiot...,¡± he patted Jung-Hwa on his back. ¡°...and saved ourpany from a big scandal. It would have eclipsed our Rencontre.¡±

    ¡°I would never have let that happen. My blood, sweat and tears are now invested in Rencontre,¡± replied Nivritti which made everyoneugh. ¡°Okay, okay, open your gifts and if you don¡¯t like the colour, you can exchange them with others.¡±

    All opened their gifts and saw the pretty pastel-coloured scarves.

    ¡°Woah! Wow!¡± everyone eximed at the same moment. ¡°These are pretty. I love it. This is my favourite colour,¡± everyone kept talking over each other.

    She looked at Jae-Hwa who smiled at her. Both were d that the men liked the scarves. Nivritti then looked at everyone who let go of the box and were wrapping the scarves around their neck. Young-Chul and Him-Chan exchanged their blue and yellow scarves, and all looked happy.

    Nivritti was shocked to see that the moment the white scarf was revealed everyone handed the scarf to Kyung-Soo saying that it was his favourite colour. She was extremely d to see that the scarf she wanted for him somehow reached him.

    ¡°Um... what is in it?¡± asked Jung-Hwa, pointing towards thest bag that was still on the floor.

    ¡°First promise me you will not get smug,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Smug! I am never smug,¡± pouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, then. This is for you,¡± she said.

    He gasped with child-like excitement and shrieked, ¡°two gifts?¡±

    ¡°Yes. You first saved me, I just returned the favour,¡± she smiled at him.

    ¡°Two gifts! Two gifts,¡± without opening the second gift he started shouting in a sing-song voice and stuck his tongue at Thae.

    ¡°Not smug, at all,¡± teased Nivritti. Everyone againughed out loud.

    While all this was unfolding, while Nivritti was handing over the gifts, Dae quietly moved towards the bench that was supposed to be their working station and ced his bag on it. He now understood what was in the bag. It meant that she brought a gift for Chung-Ho too.

    And what everyone was talking about? How did she save Jung-Hwa? How did she save K&Q from a scandal? What happened on Friday that only these people knew and no one else? It was clear that it had something to do with Jae-Hwa and Jung-Hwa and Nivritti had an important role in that.

    He had been working for ASD since the beginning but they were not that close to him. This girl came just a few weeks ago and they acted as if they knew her for ages. She even bought gifts for everyone but forgot him. He too worked with her. Not that he needed something from her, but a gesture would have been much appreciated.

    He rolled his eyes at every one of them and switched on hisptop. He had no interest in what they were doing. He noted that she didn¡¯t bring anything for Jae-Hwa, still, she was happy. Why was she happy? Why everyone loved Nivritti so much?

    Yeah, she was intelligent, had good ideas but he was more experienced. Chung-Ho favoured her over him. He outright rejected his idea but loved her idea even though it was just her second day. What hold did she have on everyone? Why everyone fell in love with her? That was gradually making him despise her.

    ¡°Oh my!¡± eximed Him-Chan after Jung-Hwa opened the box and took out the white hoodie.

    ¡°This is beautiful, thank you,¡± shirked Jung-Hwa with happiness and hugged Nivritti dearly.

    ¡°You are wee. The moment I saw this hoodie, I imagined you in it,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Thank you, Ritti,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°You are wee.¡±

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t have to get anything for us,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti looked at him again and the wind was knocked out of her chest. The white scarf around his neck looked more beautiful after being around his handsome face. She gulped and replied, ¡°it¡¯s just appreciation for you all for sticking with me. World-famous idols standing up for a mere employee means something to me.¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± scolded Thae. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®mere employee¡¯? You are our friend, do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡± said Nivritti defeated. ¡°Then ept these gifts as a present from your friend.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s better.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s start our work before the dance crew arrives. I won¡¯t get time after that,¡± requested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah, we can help too,¡± offered Korain.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go,¡± said Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa bent down to pick up herptop bag which she let go to take care of Nivritti. But before she could pick that up, Jeong-Eun reached for the bag to help her. Their hands touched each other at the same time. Both gasped simultaneously and pulled their hands back.

    Their eyes met and both were back in the parking lot hiding from everyone. Jae-Hwa immediately lowered her eyes with shyness, but Jeong-Eun loved her expression. He bit his lips to avoid smiling at her. He was aware of his surroundings and didn¡¯t want anyone to know about his feelings for Jae-Hwa.

 Chapter 110

    110 The Sitting Arrangement

    Nivritti picked up her bag and nced at Jeong-Eun and Jae-Hwa. She stifled her smile and picked up her bag. She was surprised at how can someone not notice their sizzling chemistry. They wanted to touch each other but were avoiding doing that. There was a definite yet invisible pull between them.

    Jae-Hwa was actively avoiding looking at Jeong-Eun whereas Jeong-Eun kept ncing at Jae-Hwa. He was fighting hard not to touch her red bangs that were floating over her eyes. Her red lips were parted as if trying to invite him for a kiss.

    ¡°Is anyone going to pick that up?¡± teased Nivritti and pointed at Jae-Hwa¡¯sptop bag. She ced her forefinger on her lips to hide her smile.

    ¡°Right! Right!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and bent down again.

    ¡°I will do that,¡± said Jeong-Eun and he too bent down to pick up the bag.

    Both Jae-Hwa and Jeong-Eun reached for the bag at the same time but this time instead of their hands touching, they both bumped their head. ¡°Ow!¡± both screamed simultaneously.

    Everyone looked at them whereas Nivrittiughed out loud at their cuteness.

    ¡°Hey! We are hurt and you areughing,¡±ined Jeong-Eun while pouting cutely. That made herugh even harder.

    ¡°You know you are cute, right?¡± smiled Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°I am cute,¡± sulked Thae.

    ¡°You are the cutest,¡± she yfully caressed his hair which turned his cheeks crimson.

    ¡°She never calls me cute. Everyone is cute for her except me,¡± sulked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°She is so kind and yful with my younger brothers. I like her so much,¡± thought Him-Chan. ¡°Oh wow! She was in my arms. Her hair was so silky. And her smell is so sweet. It must be an expensive perfume.¡±

    Jeong-Eun finally picked up theptop bag after rubbing his forehead for minutes to ease the pain. Jae-Hwa too kept caressing her forehead. She looked at him and he looked at her. Without speaking a single word, he just moved towards the workstation and Jae-Hwa followed him.

    Everyone started walking towards the table and bench at the corner of the room to read scripts. Nivritti was walking behind everyone. There was only one thought in her mind, ¡°I gave them everything I had to except NK¡¯s shirt. I cannot give it in front of everyone. What to do? Think, Ritti, think.¡±

    She looked around and saw the bag the guys dropped on the floor after wrapping the scarves around their necks. She picked up all the bags, slowly took out the blue shirt from her purse, and ced it in one of the bags.

    ¡°Guys! You should ce the scarves back in the bags. I don¡¯t think you will be able to dance with them. Take one bag and keep them in,¡± she suggested. ¡°Here NK, take this,¡± she extended the bag with the blue shirt in it before him.

    But that idiot never understood her signal. He moved his hands to grab an empty one.

    ¡°No, no, not that, this one,¡± she signalled to him. He looked at her with surprise. What was the difference between the bags? Why she wanted him to take a particr bag? ¡°Just take it,¡± she emphasised.

    ¡°Okay!¡± he said scared. He took the bag off her hand. The moment he grabbed the bag he realised that the bag was not empty. There was something in the bag. What was in it? What was she trying to hide from everyone? He kept thinking. He stealthily peeped inside the bag and his blue shirt stared at him. He looked at Nivritti who was shaking her head surreptitiously in no. She was trying to signal him not to react in any way.

    He immediately took off his scarf and dumped it in the bag hiding the shirtpletely with the scarf. He then ran to his backpack and carefully ced the bag inside it. Meanwhile, she handed the bag to every other member, and they too ced their scarves in their bags.

    ¡°Sit!¡± said Thae and pulled her next to him.

    After she sat next to him, Jung-Hwa came to her other side and said, ¡°move.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°Both of you, slide,¡± exined Jung-Hwa. Both Thae and Nivritti slid a little and Jung-Hwa sat on her other side.

    Now both Him-Chan and Kyung-Soo were fuming with anger. They wanted to sit next to her but both maknaes took the cake. Dae who was sitting directly in front of Jung-Hwa was watching everything furiously. They were treating Nivritti as royalty, and no one was paying attention to him even though he was the senior.

    Jae-Hwa sat next to Dae and Jeong-Eun instantly sat next to her so that no one could grab that chance. Him-Chan didn¡¯t want to sit far from Nivritti, so he sat next to Thae. Young-Chul sat next to Him-Chan and the whole bench was covered.

    So, Korain went and sat next to Jeong-Eun. The only seat that was empty was next to Korain which was too far from Nivritti. Kyung-Soo cursed himself for running away towards his backpack. He could have ced the bag inside his backpack afterwards, but no, he had to instantly run and hide the bag. ¡°Stupid! Stupid! Stupid,¡± he kept murmuring to himself.

    Sulking, he walked towards the workstation and moved near Korain. He squinted his eyes and gave a death stare to Jung-Hwa. It felt like if Kyung-Soo would concentrate harder, he could explode Jung-Hwa¡¯s head. He wanted to sit next to Nivritti, but Jung-Hwa stole his spot.

    Jung-Hwa nced at Kyung-Soo and was taken aback. ¡°What is happening? Why is Hyung looking at me like that? What did I do now? Wait! I literally did nothing, then why is he staring at me like that? Okay, JJ, detective mode on. He is only staring at me. Let us check again. Yeah, it is confirmed he is only looking at us. Not at other members, not even Ritti. Woah! He is not staring at Ritti. What could be wrong? Why only me? Think, JJ, think.¡± He ced his forefinger over his chin and kept pondering.

    His detective skills befuddled him. He mouthed at Kyung-Soo, ¡°what?¡±

    Kyung-Soo his eyes further, pointed his finger at himself, and mouthed, ¡°I.¡± He then moved his finger at his neck and moved his across his neck while mouthing the words, ¡°will kill.¡± And finally pointed at him, mouthing, ¡°you.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. Everyone started looking at him, shocked. No one talked to anyone then why did he shout?

 Chapter 111

    111 The Unbearable Jealousy

    Everyone concentrated on Jung-Hwa. No one even thought of looking at Kyung-Soo who was the main culprit.

    ¡°What?¡± Jeong-Eun asked.

    Kyung-Soo immediately widened his eyes to warn Jung-Hwa not to speak. Jung-Hwa gulped with fear. ¡°Nothing! Nothing!¡± lied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°You said, what,¡± said Nivritti. Jae-Hwa was still too overwhelmed to speak in presence of ASD, so she was silently listening to everyone. She was more concerned and was rendered speechless after Jeong-Eun sat next to her. He was sitting too close to her which was bad for her heart as it was ready to jump out of her chest.

    ¡°I thought Seong-ssi said something,¡± lied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Since the moment I arrived, I have literally not spoken a single word,¡± said Dae, condescendingly. No one understood his taunt. Everyone was talking to Nivritti only and was ignoring him. No one paid any attention to him when he walked alone towards the workstation. And now suddenly Jung-Hwa used his name that too when she asked him a question. He was liking Nivritti less and less with every passing minute.

    ¡°Enough chit-chat, let¡¯s work,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Should we start with our senior?¡± suggested Nivritti.

    Smoke came out of Dae¡¯s ears. ¡°Oh, right! First, all ignored me, paid no attention to me and now suddenly everyone wants to start with senior. Hypocrites!¡± she murmured to himself.

    .....

    ¡°Yes, Seong-ssi. Let¡¯s start with your server,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we do this, we have threeptops. JJ and TK can look at Ritti¡¯s server. JH and MY can look at Jae-Hwa¡¯s server and we three will take a look at Seong-ssi¡¯s server,¡± suggested Korain.

    Finally, Dae was getting some footage, that too Korain snatched away from him. He gritted his teeth.

    ¡°As usual, amazing idea, Hyung,¡± smiled Young-Chul.

    As per Korain¡¯s idea, all three fired up theirptop and opened the folder of the selected scripts. Jeong-Eun, Korain and Kyung-Soo who were sitting next to each other started reading on Dae¡¯sputer. But Kyung-Soo¡¯s attention was on Nivritti.

    Nivritti showed Thae and Jung-Hwa the best script and they kept screaming ¡®ohh¡¯ and ¡®ahh¡¯ and ¡®wow¡¯ after every sentence.

    Jung-Hwa wrapped his arms around Nivritti¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°this one is amazing.¡±

    ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I star marked this script,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°You are too good,¡± said Thae.

    Dae rolled his eyes at Thae¡¯sment. Those two idiots were acting as if she herself wrote the scripts. She just read them and selected them. Everyone was reading silently except those two. They kept praising Nivritti for things she didn¡¯t even do.

    ¡°You know I just selected it, right?¡± educated Nivritti.

    ¡°So what? Selecting proper scripts is a really hard job. You will have to read millions and millions and then select seven. That is going to be a bonkers job,¡± replied Thae.

    ¡°You are too sweet,¡± Nivritti patted Thae¡¯s head tenderly.

    Kyung-Soo clenched his fists, angrily. First those two idiots sat next to her and now they kept touching her and she kept touching them. While Korain and Jeong-Eun were reading the scripts, Kyung-Soo was again staring at Jung-Hwa. Jung-Hwa knew that Kyung-Soo liked her but still he was not helping him. He could have offered to exchange the seats but no, he had to sit next to her, idiot!

    Jung-Hwa felt a pair of eyes staring at him. He slightly lifted his head and was shocked to see that Kyung-Soo was still staring at him. Jung-Hwa innocently looked at him and gulped with fear. Kyung-Soo signalled at his hands and tilted his head, signalling him to move his hand away from Nivritti.

    Jung-Hwa slowly and steadily removed his hand and brought it by his side. Kyung-Soo clenched his fists above the table and gestured towards Jung-Hwa. Jung-Hwa understood that his Hyung was going to beat him up when they would reach house, his mouth went dry with fear.

    Because finally, he understood why Kyung-Soo was staring at him angrily. It was because of Nivritti. His Hyung was jealous of him as he was sitting next to Nivritti and was touching her and was talking to her, in short, was near her. He understood that he wanted to be close to her. s! He understoodte.

    ¡°Jae-Hwa! Could you pleasee here,¡± said Young-Chul. She gulped with anxiety and looked at Nivritti. Nivritti knew that she was always overwhelmed in presence of ASD. She looked at Jae-Hwa and nodded sweetly. That gave Jae-Hwa a little courage.

    ¡°Go,¡± mouthed Nivritti and finally Jae-Hwa stood up and walked behind Young-Chul and Him-Chan.

    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Sir?¡± teased Him-Chan. ¡°We are not your sir. Do we look like a sir to you?¡±

    Jae-Hwa didn¡¯t understand that he was teasing her. She was worried that she might have offended him.

    ¡°JH! Hyung!¡± shouted Nivritti and Jeong-Eun together.

    ¡°Jae, he is teasing,¡± exined Nivritti and smiled at Him-Chan. Kyung-Soo was burning with unbearable jealousy. Finally, Jae-Hwa started breathing again.

    ¡°She is a little overwhelmed because she is ASD¡¯s biggest fan,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. She turned red as a tomato after Nivritti revealed her secret.

    ¡°What? Was that a secret?¡± she teased.

    ¡°Oh, nice to meet you, biggest fan,¡± smiled Korain.

    ¡°Thank you, sir,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Jae-Hwa! Ritti is our friend, and you are her friend, so indirectly you too are our friend, right guys?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Great! Now she too is their friend. Am I invisible to them? Everyone is nearest and dearest to them, except me. They know me better than these two rookies,¡± Dae rolled his eyes, hard.

    ¡°Right! Right!¡± all cheered together. Nivritti kept smirking at Jeong-Eun, trying hard to control herughter. She even nced at Jae-Hwa and winked at her. No one, no one except Kyung-Soo saw that. He followed her eyes and saw that she would once look at Jeong-Eun and then at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What is going on in this girl¡¯s mind? What is it that she is seeing but no one of us is aware of?¡± he pondered.

    ¡°Which is your favourite song, Jae-Hwa?¡± inquired Korain.

    But she could not speak. ¡°Speak up, girl!¡± nudged Nivritti.

    ¡°Well... second chance,¡± spoke Jae-Hwa, softly.

    ¡°Ohh... Jeong-Eun¡¯s song!¡±mented Nivritti. Jae-Hwa immediately looked at her with a frightened expression. Was Nivritti going to reveal another secret? Was she going to tell everyone about the parking lot? Well, it was her own design. She was the culprit. Jae-Hwa never asked Jeong-Eun to approach her, it was Nivritti.

 Chapter 112

    112 The Reading of Scripts

    Dae was rolling his eyes at every sentence. Now even Jae-Hwa was their friend. First, they were focused on Nivritti and now they were focused on Jae-Hwa. It seemed that he was invisible, unimportant, not worth spending time upon.

    ¡°Who is your bias, Jae-Hwa?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Hmm...,¡± Nivritti slightly nudged his stomach with her elbow and showed her disapproval. That made Kyung-Soo very happy. For the first time, he smiled and sat leaning on the chair, rxed. ¡°That is rude to ask. Her bias is her personal choice. What if one of you starts treating her rudely after she won¡¯t take your name?¡±

    ¡°Hey! We would never do that,¡± pouted Young-Chul. ¡°And if she does not want to tell us we would never force her, right, JJ?¡±

    ¡°Right, Hyung,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    Dae was hating every minute of this conversation. He wanted to leave and run away from there. He was sure that no one even notice him running away or even ask the reason for his going away.

    ¡°Oi, stupid detective, she gave you a big clue and still you asked that stupid question. Calling himself, detective, huhh...¡± scoffed Korain.

    ¡°What clue?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Her favourite song, second chance by Jeong-Eun. It means he is her bias. Even I cracked this case,¡± Korain rolled his eyes hard at Jung-Hwa.

    .....

    ¡°You call yourself, detective,¡± Nivritti smiled broadly. Kyung-Soo again sat upright after looking at her beautiful smile.

    ¡°Yes, why?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°My sister too calls herself, detective,¡± replied Nivritti, adoringly.

    ¡°You have a sister?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Why? I can¡¯t have a sister?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°I know you are teasing,¡± pouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°He really is a detective,¡± mocked Nivritti. The room was filled withughter. Everyone started pointing at Jung-Hwa andughing at him.

    ¡°You guys are so rude!¡± poutingly shouted Jung-Hwa and stood up, trying to walk away. All just looked at him. No one even tried to stop him. Everyone kept stifling theirughter.

    When he saw that no one was stopping him, he sat again with a thud and sulked, ¡°I hate you all, huh.¡± That made everyoneugh out loud. Korain kept banging the table with his palm whileughing loudly. Thae extended his arm and yfully hit Jung-Hwa on his back.

    Dae faked his smile and looked at everyone. ¡°Okay, okay, let¡¯s go back to work,¡± he said.

    ¡°He is right,¡± said Young-Chul. ¡°Tell us what these folders are, Jae-Hwa?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I have sorted every script ording to your names. So, that I don¡¯t have to search for them again,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Nice!¡± eximed Him-Chan.

    ¡°And if we like one?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°You can star marked it like Ritti does,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, thank you. Go, sit down,¡± said Him-Chan, politely.

    Everyone started reading scripts again and again Kyung-Soo kept staring at Jung-Hwa and Nivritti. Jung-Hwa would touch her palm or her shoulder and keep asking questions.

    ¡°What are you doing, NK? Are you even reading scripts?¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°No,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. ¡°These scripts are so boring. TK is giving autographs or JH is dancing with the writer of the script. There is nothing attractive in them. The X-factor is missing. I want something... something... well, I can¡¯t exin, but something different, amazing,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    Dae bit his lips with anger. ¡°My choice is boring? And these girls choose better than me? I am the senior for crying out loud,¡± he shouted in his mind. He kept gritting his teeth but hid his feelings as he knew the power of ASD. They could get him thrown off the Rencontre team. He was wishing for a bonus just like Nivritti received.

    Finally, Thae and Jung-Hwa opened the script Nivritti chose for Korain.

    ¡°Wow! Hyung you should read this,¡± shouted Thae and looked at Korain.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°This is for you and it¡¯s amazing. Nice going, Ritti,¡±plimented Thae. Dae again gritted his teeth with anger.

    ¡°Again, TK, I just read it and selected it. I have not written it,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°And how many scripts you had to read for finding this out?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    She looked at him and immediately lowered her eyes as it was difficult to look at him in the brown jacket. He was looking absolutely gorgeous. ¡°Well, about 20 or 30 stupid scripts,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°There you go,¡± said Korain. He got up from his seat and every member of ASD followed him. Kyung-Soo stood right behind her and lowered himself near her neck. Korain was on her other shoulder, but he kept his distance.

    Him-Chan and Young-Chul stood behind Thae and Jung-Hwa respectively. Jeong-Eun came near all but had no ce to stand or sit. He pulled Jung-Hwa leg and sat on it making everyone die withughter.

    But Nivritti was too shocked tough or even move. Kyung-Soo was slowly breathing over her neck. His warm breath every time was sending a shiver down her spine. She wanted to look at herptop but would nce sideways at him.

    Kyung-Soo was loving the sensation he was feeling being close to her. Hervender smell was hitting his nose. But he wanted more. He wanted to touch her. He moved his arm over her shoulder brushing it slightly and reached down her palm that was sitting on the scroll pad ofptop. He softly removed her palm and ced it on the table, and he proceeded to scroll the script to read itpletely.

    Nivritti gasped as soon as Kyung-Soo touched her hand. She froze with shock. Her mouth was slightly open, and she forgot to breathe.

    ¡°Wait! I didn¡¯t finish reading,¡± shouted Korain.

    Korain¡¯s voice brought Nivritti back. She started breathing again. She reached for the scroll pad. At the same moment, Kyung-Soo too reached for the scroll pad and again their hands touched. Kyung-Soo sighed with relief as if he reached his heaven. But nit Nivritti, his touch again fried her brain. She pulled her hand back immediately and Kyung-Soo scrolled the script up for everyone to read.

    Jung-Hwa who kept staring at Kyung-Soo and Nivritti kept smirking at them. He knew what his hyung was doing and he was loving Nivritti¡¯s reaction. She was too overwhelmed by his touch. His mischievous mind was racing fast.

    He thought of teasing Kyung-Soo. ¡°Why did you do that, Hyung? You could have asked Ritti to scroll up and down.¡±

    ¡°He, he, he,¡± Kyung-Sooughed sarcastically. ¡°I was too submerged in the script, I was not thinking straight, dear JJ,¡± Kyung-Soo stealthily gritted his teeth and smiled at Jung-Hwa, sarcastically. Jung-Hwa gulped at Kyung-Soo¡¯s reaction. He knew he would get scolded after they reach home.

    ¡°Right, you are absolutely right, Hyung,¡± Jung-Hwa tried to do some damage control. But Kyung-Soo just smirked at him and squinted his eyes.

    ¡°Wow Hyung! Water god!¡± shouted Him-Chan.

    ¡°Yeah! Ritti, this is amazing,¡± screamed Korain. Nivritti turned around and looked at Korain. Her smile broadened. Korain sweetly patted her head. ¡°Keep up the good work.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, SK.¡± She thanked him and nced at Jae-Hwa who smiled at her and gave her two thumbs up.

    ¡°As if she wrote the script. These boys are idiots. My scripts are boring, and her script is amazing? I think she tricked me. She took the best server for herself and gave me a boring server, this stupid girl!¡± Dae kept murmuring.

    ¡°Which perfume do you use Ritti?¡± abruptly Him-Chan asked.

    ¡°E... excuse me!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    Everyone immediately stopped reading the script and stood straight, even Jeong-Eun stood up from Jung-Hwa¡¯sp and all stared at Him-Chan.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Him-Chan, innocently.

    ¡°Why would you ask such a question?¡± shouted Young-Chul.

    ¡°What? It¡¯s such a sweet smell. You all know I like sweet smells,¡± replied Him-Chan.

    ¡°Come on, Hyung. You can¡¯t tell it¡¯svender?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°JJ!¡± shouted Nivritti, embarrassed and hid her face.

    ¡°You guys are embarrassing her,¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± everyone apologised immediately.

    Kyung-Soo grabbed her shoulder and said, ¡°please forgive them, they have no concept of personal space.¡±

    The moment Kyung-Soo ced his hands over her shoulder, she sat up straight and her hands fell down from her face involuntarily. She gulped hard as his thumb grazed her neck. Every single hair on her body stood up and she shivered internally.

    ¡°Yes, Ritti, please forgive my sweet idiots,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°What did I do?¡±ined Young-Chul making everyoneugh at him. That lightened the mood and Kyung-Soo lifted his hand from Nivritti¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°I want a script like that for me. Oh, the costume, I can only imagine,¡± wished Thae.

    ¡°Jae found a great script for you the very first day,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Really!¡± eximed Thae with happiness.

    ¡°Yeah, I saw that. It was nice,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°It¡¯s not finalised TK, nothing is finalised. Let me finalise a script and then they will tell you,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, guys let¡¯s warm up. Dance crew would be arriving soon,¡± ordered Korain.

    ¡°Right!¡± said everyone and started moving away from the Rencontre working station. Jung-Hwa grabbed Nivritti¡¯s hand and teased, ¡°we will be back soon. Don¡¯t miss us too much.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no! how will I work without you?¡± mocked Nivritti and held his hand tightly.

    Kyung-Soo stared at both of them and angrily unzipped his jacket. Not for once, he removed his eyes from them. ¡°I will kill him today,¡± he thought and gritted his teeth.

 Chapter 113

    113 The Insane Resentment of Dae

    ¡°Thank you for the gift, Ritti,¡± said Thae and kissed her on her cheeks. Nivritti froze immediately. But soon smiled at his naughtiness. Both Jung-Hwa and Thae ran away from there and looked at Kyung-Soo who was staring at them with squinted eyes. Jung-Hwa understood why he was giving such a reaction, but it was bizarre for Thae.

    ¡°What is happening? Why is he looking at us like this?¡± whispered Thae to Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Ritti, TK Hyung, Ritti,¡± exined Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, shit!¡± Thae understood everything.

    ¡°I just touched her hand, you kissed her on her cheeks. You are dead today. Good luck,¡± teased Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Help me,¡± pleaded Thae.

    ¡°If I help you, who will help me,¡± gulped Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Only god can help us,¡± said Thae and moved his feet as slowly as he could.

    Kyung-Soo looked at both of them and bent his forefinger, gesturing for them to get close to him. They both gulped with fear and slowed their walk even more. They both kept praying to God to help them avoid the wrath of Kyung-Soo.

    .....

    Luckily God heard their plea and send the dance crew at the right moment. Before they both could get close to Kyung-Soo, the door opened, and the dance crew started walking in. Thae and Jung-Hwa sighed with relief and ran away from Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo! Annyeonghaseyo!¡± everyone started greeting each other. After the formalities were done, everyone stretched and took their position.

    ¡°Thank god, the dance crew arrived at the right time,¡± said Thae to Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, thank god,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Are you two done? Can you be serious for a second and concentrate on dance?¡± scolded Kyung-Soo. He had to find a way to vent his anger, so, he scolded both of them without any reason.

    Today¡¯s agenda was to practise an old song. Some had forgotten the choreography, some had little memory of it. The choreographer yed the song and asked the boys to show what they remembered about the dance.

    Thae was the only one who remembered most of it. Everyone was extremely impressed. The Choreographer made him stand in front of everyone and ask him to teach everyone. Thae obliged. He taught everyone the dance moves including the dance crew. The remaining dance was taught by the choreographer.

    Dae pulled hisptop to his side. Even though Jae-Hwa offered to help him, he ignored her, bent over her, and grabbed hisptop with a jerk. Jae-Hwa was taken aback. She thought she did something wrong to make Dae angry. She had no idea what to apologise for.

    She slid a little away from him and took out her phone. She messaged Nivritti. ¡°What happened to Seong-ssi?¡±

    Nivritti¡¯s phone chimed with the notification, but the loud music muffled the sound. She felt the vibration and took out her phone. On the screen, she saw a message from Jae-Hwa. She nced at her who just signalled at her phone. Nivritti understood that she was trying to convey some secret message. She opened the message and read it. She replied, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    He is suddenly angry.

    How could you tell?

    I asked him if I could help him, but he ignored me, stretched around me, and grabbed hisptop.

    Maybe he didn¡¯t want to trouble you.

    Yeah, as if crossing over me won¡¯t trouble me.

    True, maybe he was too focused on scripts. Or maybe some problem at his home.

    Maybe, he never acts this way. I have never seen him angry. But...

    But?

    He is known for his temper.

    Temper? I never saw him angry.

    Yeah, he has fired a few girls before.

    Girls? Only girls? Do you mean he is sexist?

    I never saw him discriminating ever. But the day I joined, I was warned to stay away from him.

    Really!

    Yeah, there was a girl before you, she resigned but she never told anyone the reason.

    Don¡¯t think about it. I am sure it was because of her personal reasons. Now focus on your work.

    Why do I get this feeling that I did something wrong, and he is angry at me?

    Nonsense! You think too much. Don¡¯t pay any attention to him. Look at me and concentrate on your scripts. ASD will be back soon to read more.

    You are right.

    They stopped messaging each other and looked at theirptop. Before going back to her server, Nivritti nced once at Dae. He kept mumbling and moving his finger on the scroll pad. Maybe he was reading. He didn¡¯t look angry. He looked the same as he always looked.

    No one knew but Dae was fuming with anger. The scripts the girls chose was better than his. Even the ideas these two girls gave were better than his. It was impossible. Howe, rookies, that too girls like them were better than him?

    Kyung-Soo outright rejected his scripts. And every member of ASD ran to read her script. Why were they so interested in what she does? He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs that she just chose the scripts, she didn¡¯t write them herself.

    He was sure that if she would be asked to write something like that she would definitely fail. He would write a better script than her as he had more experience. He had been writing scripts for ASD for ages. He knew what the boys liked and wanted.

    What was with her, why the boys were so close to her that too in a few weeks? And what did they mean by she saved them? What happened on Friday? He made a mental note to get the inside news from Chung-Ho. He was sure that Chung-Ho would tell him everything. He was, after all, the first in line to be the head of the department.

    He nced at Nivritti who was busy reading the scripts. He clearly looked at her. She was not even beautiful. She had no features that Koreans would find pretty. Yes, she had big, beautiful eyes. Yes, she had double upper eyelids which was a desirable trait. Yes, she had full lips. But she didn¡¯t have a heart-shaped face or pointed jawline. She had a sharp jawline and a tall nose but, in his eyes, she was not beautiful.

    ¡°Just one idea, one idea and she is everyone¡¯s favourite. She even received a bonus,¡± he gritted his teeth. ¡°I have been busting my ass to get them scripts every day and no respect for me,¡± he angrily nced at ASD who were busy in their dance practice, oblivious to his feelings. ¡°Whatever she does is good. Whatever I do is boring. I will show them, I will show everyone.¡±

    Fuming with anger, he started sorting out the scripts. He was feeling like deleting every single one of them but he didn¡¯t want to face Chung-Ho¡¯s wrath.

 Chapter 114

    114 The Cause of Cynophobia

    Everyone was busy with their work. The Rencontre team was working on the scripts and ASD and the dance crew were working on learning the long-forgotten dance moves. Continuously dancing with a small rest period in between, ASD were making progress.

    Soon the lunch time arrived, and all sat on the floor, wiping their sweat. Kyung-Soo took out his phone and asked his manager to ce the food order for every person in the practise room. His manager informed him that the food will arrive in half an hour.

    The moment he disconnected the call, he nced at Nivritti who was busy reading on herptop. Her braided hair was on her shoulder, and she was rolling her fingers in the hair that was at the end of the rubber band. She would roll the hair in one direction for a minute and then would roll it in opposite direction the minute after.

    ¡°Another unconscious move!¡± she pondered and smiled at her.

    ¡°Should we go and read another script?¡± suggested Korain. Kyung-Soo wanted to kiss him for suggesting that. He wanted to get close to Nivritti and Korain snatched the words right out of his mouth.

    ¡°I was thinking the same,¡± said Thae. He started getting up when Kyung-Soo stared at him. Thae immediately sunk down on the floor. Kyung-Soo instantly stood up and almost ran to Nivritti. He sat on the ce where Jung-Hwa sat in the morning.

    ¡°Seong-ssi, give me yourptop. Let me finish reading thest script,¡± said Kyung-Soo. While he requested Dae, Thae ran and sat beside Nivritti once again. This time Korain chose to sit next to Thae, and Young-Chul sat next to him. Jeong-Eun was happy that no one sat next to Jae-Hwa, and he got another chance to sit next to her. Him-Chan and Jung-Hwa sat next to Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t like the script,¡±mented Dae.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t like the one before that. But thest one I was reading was good,¡± said Kyung-Soo. It made Dae smile. Finally, one of his scripts was liked by Kyung-Soo. He always respected Kyung-Soo. His ideas, his choices were always on point.

    .....

    Dae pushed theptop towards Kyung-Soo, happily. But his happiness was washed away the very next moment.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± said Thae.

    ¡°Just a minute, TK. I am opening the folder for you,¡± said Nivritti.

    Thae grabbed the lid of herptop and closed it. ¡°TK!¡± said Nivritti, taken aback.

    ¡°I have a question to ask you if you don¡¯t mind,¡± said Thae. Everyone started looking at Thae.

    ¡°About what?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°About your fear,¡± replied Thae.

    ¡°My fear?¡±

    ¡°Why are you afraid of dogs? Is this something you were born with? Or did you develop it over years?¡± inquired Thae.

    Dae bit his lower lips with anger. He was finally getting his moment, but Thae had to interrupt that. Reading scripts was not important for him, her useless fear was more important. He wanted to push theptop from the table and repeatedly stomp over it in anger.

    ¡°Oh, it is based on my personal history with dogs,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Could you tell me what happened?¡± pleaded Thae.

    Suddenly a shiver ran down her spine. She exhaled loudly and clenched her fists. Kyung-Soo realised that painful memory was shing before her eyes. He held her fists and tightened his grip. Him-Chan too bent over the table and grabbed her hand that was on the table.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t feel like it, you don¡¯t have to tell us,¡± said Him-Chan. She looked at him and smiled. Then she looked at Kyung-Soo and blinked her eyes once, gesturing to him that she was okay.

    Thae stood up and wrapped his arms around Nivritti tofort her. ¡°Yes, Hyung is right. Sorry if I triggered a painful memory.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine, TK,¡± she assured him. She took a deep breath and started her story, ¡°So, what happened was, I was a little girl, about three or four years old. My mother used to feed the street dogs and cows and birds. She made sure that I was close to nature and loved animals.

    ¡°I used to apany her when she would go to feed the dogs. Slowly they started recognising me. I would y with them, touch them and they would quietly let me touch them. After some time, my confidence grew, and I started feeding them with my own hands. Everything was alright for months.

    ¡°Then one fateful day, I went with my mother to feed the dogs. I took pieces of bread and a few chapattis. The dogs came running at us. But that day, the number of dogs that approached us was somehowrger.

    ¡°Bread and the chapattis that we brought, were finished in an instant. My mother left me for a few seconds and went inside to bring more food. And that was my fault. Being a small girl, standing between so many hungry dogs.

    ¡°The familiar dogs, who received the bread, walked away after seeing that my mother had left. But two new dogs kept staring at me waiting for food. Unfortunately, I had nothing in my hand. I thought of patting them as I did with other dogs. But the dogs perceived it as a sign of attack.

    ¡°Before my hands could reach their back, the dogs jumped at me and pinned me to the ground. One dug his teeth into my left leg, and another dug his teeth into the back of my head. I started shrieking and wailing and my parents came running. They saw the dogs attacking me and started throwing stones.

    ¡°But the dogs never let me go. I started bleeding profusely. My dad came running and he literally pulled the dog away from my head and threw him away on a wall. When the dog started yelping with pain, the other dog let go of my leg and ran away from there.

    ¡°I was rushed to the hospital. Doctors immediately took me inside the operating room and worked on repairing my tissue and skin for hours. Luckily my bones were not damaged. I still remember the pain of the fourteen injections I had to take in my stomach.

    ¡°All this pain and memory get triggered every time I face a dog. I still have a scar on the back of my head and a faint scar on my left calf.¡± Nivritti exhaled again after her narration.

    While she was telling her story, Kyung-Soo and Him-Chan, never let go of her hand. Thae tightened his grip and kissed on head. She felt water drops on her head and turned around.

    ¡°TK? Are you crying?¡± she inquired. Everyone looked at Thae.

    ¡°I am sorry, I am sorry, I was rude to you. I had no idea what you had endured,¡± sniffled Thae.

    Nivritti tried to pull her hand, but Kyung-Soo was not ready to let her go. Him-Chan on the other hand loosened his grip and she wiped Thae¡¯s tears with her right hand. Korain pulled Thae closer and hugged him. ¡°Feeling guilty and asking sorry is a very good step. She forgave you, what else do you need? Let¡¯s focus on our future and not the past.¡±

    ¡°Well said, Hyung,¡± pped Young-Chul.

 Chapter 115

    115 The Mental Health

    Thae controlled his tears and hugged Korain back. As usual, his silky sweet voice calmed Thae down. All felt bad for both Nivritti and Thae except Dae. While everyone was trying to feel Nivritti¡¯s and Thae¡¯s pain, Dae just kept rolling his eyes.

    ¡°Ugh! Drama queen! Both of them,¡± Dae was disgusted with everything around him. ¡°Who is scared of a dog? So, what if she got one bite? If I get into an ident, I should stop driving? What nonsense? This generation, I tell you. And everyone is acting as if that is such a big deal. And this Kat, so what he berated her once. It¡¯s a done deal, why keep thinking about it over and over again?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you have such long hair, to hide the scars,¡± mocked Dae, condescendingly.

    ¡°Ha-ha, Mr. Seong. Nice one!¡±ughed Nivritti as she thought that he was trying to lighten the mood. Everyoneughed after Nivrittiughed but not Kyung-Soo. Something about Dae¡¯s tone bothered him.

    He looked at Dae who too was smiling at Nivritti and the other boys, but his smile was not reaching his eyes. The feelings in his eyes were missing. Kyung-Soo realised that something was off with him but could not put his finger on that.

    ¡°Come on TK, smile. It¡¯s fine,¡± said Nivritti and patted Thae¡¯s back. She again tried to get her hands out of Kyung-Soo¡¯s hands, but he never let her go, he even tightened his grip. She looked at him and gestured towards her hands. He innocently mouthed, ¡°What?¡±

    Before Nivritti could say anything, ¡°Have you tried to ovee your fear?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°Yes, I had a therapist who worked with me on my phobia. Slowly I wasfortable with a dog being in the same building and then a dog being with me in the same room. Then I grew up and stopped the therapy. But again, my fear red up. I don¡¯t know how but it came back,¡± educated Nivritti. Dae gasped and stared at her.

    Nivritti looked at him shocked and then looked at everyone. Only Kyung-Soo didn¡¯t react. Others were taken aback.

    .....

    ¡°You see a therapist? And how are you so casual talking about that?¡± asked Young-Chul, shocked.

    ¡°Yes, I see a therapist. Seeing a therapist is good for you, you know that right?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    Young-Chul nced at her and then lowered his eyes, ¡°well, if you are an idol and people get to know that you go and see a mental health officer, your career would be over because they will see that a sign of weakness. And also, it will be a scandal.¡±

    ¡°Oh my God! Why everything is a scandal for idols? You guys work so hard, face so many difficulties, have given all your life to this skill, you have forsaken your childhood for this life, sasaeng, constant scrutiny in public eyes, always has to maintain a charming persona, constant bullying and people pulling you down, getting mobbed, cyberbullying, and what not. You guys have to endure so much, and you guys have never sought therapy? Howe yourpany does not provide you with mental health help? If they can have a doctor on standby, why not a psychiatrist?¡± Nivritti was furious.

    ¡°Calm down! Don¡¯t get angry,¡±forted Kyung-Soo. But she was extremely angry. With all her night she pulled her hand out of his and this time she was sessful. Kyung-Soo¡¯s mouth fell open as he saw her angry avatar. He knew she was ready to fight for others and now she got an opportunity.

    ¡°Calm down? Calm down?? Are you seriously asking me not to get angry?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± eximed Kyung-Soo and lowered his gaze.

    ¡°Therapy is not easy in South Korea, Nivritti,¡± Dae weighed in.

    ¡°Why not? Don¡¯t South Koreans have a brain? Don¡¯t they have issues? Don¡¯t they feel the need to share their feeling with others? What are you talking about?¡± snapped Nivritti. That infuriated Dae even further.

    ¡°Howe this girl is shouting at me? The audacity she has. Who does she think she is?¡± thought Dae. But he was low-key scared of her. He had seen how she scolded everyone after they were talking about Jung-Hwa and Jae-Hwa. She was ready to rip everyone apart and again she was showing the same signs.

    ¡°It is perceived as a sign of weakness in this country,¡± said Young-Chul softly.

    ¡°MY! Mental health issues are perceived the same way in India too but now, people are talking about it. They are seeking help from professionals. Many celebrities have openly talked about it and started the conversation. At first, if people went to a therapist or psychiatrist, they were called crazy but not now. Indians are talking about physical as well as mental health and it should be the same everywhere, every corner of the world,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy for you to say. We are in constant surveince of people. They will talk,¡± pointed out Korain.

    ¡°Haah,¡± she scoffed. ¡°When I first started my therapy, I was just four years old, and my surgeon rmended me. He said that I would develop PTSD if I don¡¯t get help. I won¡¯t even be able to walk on streets which are littered with street dogs. My daily life would hamper. And you know what everyone in my society called me after they knew that I was going to a psychiatrist? They called me a freak, they called me weak. They even bullied my parents andmented that they didn¡¯t raise their kid right. They said that if I needed therapy at such a tender age, I must have been born with mental health issues. They started calling me autistic as that was the only knowledge they had. But my parents fought for me. They educated every member of our society. They kept handing informational fliers to them. And slowly their perception changed. So, yes, Korain, people will talk, they always do, but one should focus on things that will help them and not on other people¡¯s perception,¡± educated Nivritti.

    ¡°But you have a phobia, an issue you can talk about,¡±mented Jung-Hwa.

    She smiled at him and said, ¡°tell me this, JJ. What age did you join this group?¡±

    ¡°When I was fourteen,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°And you have been with this group since then?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Being away from your house, being away from your parents, being away from family and friends, practising day and night and sharpening your skills, don¡¯t you think that affected your mental health? You didn¡¯t get to experience a normal childhood. Don¡¯t you feel that loss? You didn¡¯t go on school trips. You didn¡¯t experience normal school culture. You didn¡¯t participate in normal school activities. You didn¡¯t fight with friends your age. You didn¡¯t experience the first crush on your teacher. You didn¡¯t experience puppy love. You didn¡¯t experience the first heartbreak,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°But that sacrifice made me what I am today,¡± interrupted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°True. But can you talk to these guys with whom you spend all your adult life about anything without the fear of judgement? Do you share everything with them, your feelings, your emotions, your desires?¡± asked Nivritti.

    Jung-Hwa simply looked down and shook his head in no. She sweetly asked, ¡°so, you don¡¯t want anyone unbiased, a stranger with whom you can share every aspect of your life without being judged? Don¡¯t you want to find out the true meaning of the feelings you are experiencing? Don¡¯t you want someone to tell you that failure too is okay, you don¡¯t have to be perfect all the time? Don¡¯t you want someone who will keep your secrets no matter what, one who will help you find all the answers to every question swirling in your mind?¡±

    There was no answer. They all looked at her and then lowered their head. ¡°I know it is difficult being a public figure to talk about things that are considered taboo. But if we won¡¯t start the conversation, how will we abolish that taboo? And if idols would talk about mental health, you have no idea how many people you would be helping. So many depressed teenagers don¡¯t even know what is wrong with them, same with biprs. Sometimes they will be happy and at others, it is difficult for them to even get out of their beds. But if someone like you, a pioneer in everything, the boyband who took the world by storm, who does not discriminate among their fans, talks about it, maybe those individuals would find it okay to get help. Recently an intelligent person told me, acknowledging that you need help, is the highest form of bravery.¡±

    Kyung-Soo immediately looked at her as she repeated his words. He was amazed that she remembered his wisdom.

    ¡°Take Jae-Hwa as an example, don¡¯t you think she should go and talk to someone about what she experienced in that restaurant that day when she was harassed?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I proposed therapy for both of you to Hu-ssi,¡± recalled Jeong-Eun, innocently.

    ¡°You did?¡± questioned Jae-Hwa suddenly looking at him.

    ¡°Yes, I did,¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°So, if it¡¯s okay for Jae and me to go to therapy, why is it not okay for you guys? You all are human too, you too have issues. No one knows what one person is suffering from or what is going on one¡¯s head. It will only be solved by talking and a therapist or psychologist or psychiatrist, they are expert listeners and analysers. They can help a great bunch. Everyone should take on therapy at least once.¡±

 Chapter 116

    116 The Monologue

    Everyone was quietly listening to Nivritti. They were pondering upon her views on mental health and realised that she was right. So many countries in the world put mental health on the backseat and only worry about their physical health but they have no idea how bad mental health can impact one¡¯s physical health and vice versa.

    She made them realise that everyone needed to talk about it, they needed to start the conversation about it. It was the need of the hour. Even though one had no diagnosable mental health problem, they still needed to talk to a professional for the betterment of their mental health.

    If one had a physical health problem, they could openly visit a doctor and their fans would pray for their fast recovery. Why can¡¯t it be the same with mental health problems? Every public figure had to face public scrutiny on daily basis and that impacts mental health, which affects mood. Constantly burying emotions can impact negatively every aspect of one¡¯s life. And it was high time that someone started talking about it.

    Kyung-Soo knew how much therapy helped Nivritti in her life. He knew what happened to her after her heartbreak and how not only she, but her parents too had to go to therapy to realise what she was going through and how to handle her needs and help her. He looked fondly at her for helping him and his team members understand how much talking about mental health issues was important.

    Everyone kept ncing at Nivritti trying to ask a million questions they had in their mind, but no one knew where to start.

    ¡°So, therapy has helped you a lot?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°There was a time in my life when I waspletely broken. Therapy brought me back on my feet,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°How does this therapy work?¡± inquired Young-Chul.

    ¡°Simple, go to a doctor. Tell them about your problems, feelings, emotions, whatever you think you can talk about. Even if it is about your childhood, your friendship, your rtionships or your idol lives, just talk,¡± answered Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°What if I have nothing to talk about?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°Go and talk about your day. Just tell a joke, anything, just talk. Slowly you will feel easy with the doctor and finally be open about the issues that you really wanted to talk about,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°That easy, huh,¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, NK, no, it¡¯s not easy. Opening up about your life with a stranger is not easy. But somehow it gets easy to talk with someone whom you know can never talk about your deepest, darkest secrets to anyone else. Isn¡¯t that the reason we try avoiding talking to other people because we don¡¯t want to spill our tea, because of the fear of judgement? That is the best thing about the therapist, they never judge, they just help. But you need a professional who can diagnose and prescribe therapy or medicine, whatever is your need,¡± educated Nivritti.

    ¡°So, you are an expert?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°No, Thae, I am not even close. All I can tell you is that therapy is good for your mind, for your heart, for the burden that you are holding in your heart. Life would be less painful, that¡¯s for sure,¡± she smiled at him.

    ¡°So, you have been in therapy multiple times?¡± inquired Him-Chan.

    ¡°Yes, I have, and it helped me a lot,¡± replied Nivritti with gusto. She nced at Kyung-Soo as he knew everything about her and her therapy history. She again looked at Him-Chan and continued, ¡°I am still searching for one in Seoul but have not found one yet. I really need to get help from a professional as I know my screaming after seeing a dog is getting annoying.¡± She tried to lighten the mood and looked at Thae, adoringly. Thae too understood her tease and smiled at her. ¡°You too shoulde with me for your anger management issues,¡± Nivritti mocked Thae.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± sulked Thae, childishly that made everyoneugh at him.

    ¡°If you want to find a therapist, why didn¡¯t you ask Oppa?¡± for the first time, Jae-Hwa spoke with confidence in ASD¡¯s presence. Nivritti looked at her impressed. Kyung-Soo felt ufortable after the mention of Jae-Geung.

    ¡°Hey! I just met him. I could not bother him with my problems,¡± replied Nivritti. That made Kyung-Soo happy. At least Nivritti was treating Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother as a stranger.

    ¡°Then let me ask my Oppa to help you,¡± offered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°His hospital has a Psychiatric wing?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes. I told you that is the biggest hospital in Seoul,¡± Jae-Hwa rolled her eyes. Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes too widened.

    ¡°Did she say the biggest hospital in Seoul? It means that Jae-Geung is a doctor in the most prestigious hospital in Seoul, Seoul General Hospital. He must be a genius as he got a job in that hospital. Oh, why is he such a good and intelligent person? I want to hate him but every piece of information about him is good,¡± pondered Kyung-Soo and kept biting his nails.

    ¡°Oh, talking about your Oppa, please give him this,¡± Nivritti stood up, took out a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to Jae-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s mouth fell open. ¡°What is this? Why is she asking to give him this?¡±

    Jae-Hwa saw a white piece of folded cloth and inquired, ¡°what is this?¡±

    ¡°His handkerchief, that I borrowed,¡± replied Nivritti. Jae-Hwa hesitated for a minute. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I cleaned it,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti borrowed his handkerchief? What the hell? Calm down, NK! He is way behind. You gave her your clothes, he just gave his handkerchief,¡± thought Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ohh... a handkerchief of a man,¡± teased Korain. Kyung-Soo squinted his eyes at his Hyung but Korain paid no attention to him. He was even oblivious to what Kyung-Soo was thinking or feeling at that moment.

    ¡°Ew! Don¡¯t give that expression. It¡¯s just a handkerchief. I had no hair tie and he helped me. Chill!¡± Nivritti shut him down instantly.

    ¡°Hey!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. ¡°Why are you saying ¡®ew¡¯ to my brother?¡±

    ¡°No, no, no, I never said ¡®ew¡¯ to your brother. I said ¡®ew¡¯ to Korain¡¯s thoughts and expression. I can never say ¡®ew¡¯ to a person. Sorry if you felt offended,¡± Nivritti immediately rified her position.

    Jae-Hwa stared at her angrily and growled, ¡°hmm... then it¡¯s okay. I thought you were insulting my brother.¡±

    ¡°No, never, Jae. I can never. Sorry,¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°Apology epted,¡± said Jae-Hwa, pretending to be hurt but her cute face betrayed her.

    Dae had enough of this drama. He wanted to get away from everyone. Nivritti kept talking about mental health and he found that bizarre. ¡°She even went to therapy. How stupid is she? People with strong mentalities never need help. Mental health issues are a hoax created by doctors who cannot diagnose certain people with issues. They don¡¯t know the name of the disease or the root of the behavioural problem, and they say something is wrong with their brain.

    ¡°We too use to be sad but no, nowadays kids are not sad they are depressed. I never had the luxury to be depressed. I had to bust my ass to get to this position. These youngsters nowadays take everything for granted. They want everything on a silver tter. If they don¡¯t get it, they get depressed. They change emotions like they change their clothes and then call themselves bipr.

    ¡°She is now saying to support mental health issues. Then she will tell the ASD to date in public or to get married ore out as gay. What nonsense? What hold this she-devil has on these boys? If she would have been beautiful, I could have understood for a minute. Jae-Hwa is much prettier than her. Standard Korean beauty! Her red bangs enhance her rosy cheeks. Jae-Hwa is cute but this shrew is ugly as hell. Yeah, she has a nice body, but I don¡¯t like her face. I don¡¯t like her brain or her ideas. What does Choi-ssi see in her? Why did he hire her? I was opposed to her recruitment. I have to find out. Is she a product of nepotism like Jae-Hwa? Should I ask Jae-Hwa? She must know.

    ¡°God! I hate her. I am the senior of this team, yet these stupid boys treat her like she is the senior, like she is my boss. I need to get her fired. I need to take over this team. I need the next bonus. I need to overpower her somehow. I need to do something to show that she is ipetent. Then only Choi-ssi will go against her. Is she a witch? Has she done some magic over everyone? I know I am immune to such nonsense, that¡¯s why I don¡¯t like her. From early on, I can tell if someone is good or not. Just like Thae, his sixth sense is legendary but he too failed before her.

    ¡°Not me, no one can fool me. Beware Nivritti! I am on to you. My eyes are fixed on you. You will make a mistake and I will be there to punish you. Even if you don¡¯t make mistake, I will fashion a mistake for you. Mark my words! You will be gone. I have tried to be a bigger person since you arrived. But then you stole my position for giving an idea for Rencontre, then you stole my bonus.

    ¡°I have been working for years and these boys only treat me as a colleague, but they called you, their friends. Choi-ssi stood for you. He scolded everyone in the script team for not being friends with you. He again scolded everyone because you asked him to, for Jae-Hwa. Don¡¯t even think for a minute that I am jealous of you. You are not even in my league. You are a rookie, I am an expert. You can write decent scripts, I write legendary ones. I know both English and Korean, you just know English. Your CV was so boring that I didn¡¯t evenplete it, then how can you write good scripts, haah...

    ¡°I need to get away from all this,¡± he finished his monologue and stood from his seat.

    ¡°Where are you going Seong-ssi? Lunch would be arriving soon,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ohh, just to the bathroom. I will be back in a minute,¡± Dae smiled, as awkwardly as possible.

 Chapter 117

    117 The Progress

    Everyone looked at Dae, running away from the room. He said that he was going to the bathroom, but he just wanted to get away from Nivritti. His senseless jealousy was overtaking his creative mind. He always felt threatened by women more intelligent than him, more talented than him.

    This happenedst time when Song Ha-Eun entered K&Q. When she arrived, she took all the glory and praise for her brilliant ideas. Dae started harassing her and ultimately got her fired. He knew he had to do something simr to that. But that was going to be difficult as Nivritti not only became Chung-Ho¡¯s favourite, but she was now friends with ASD and had direct contact with the CEO.

    He had to get creative to get her thrown out of K&Q. he wanted all the glory for the Rencontre for himself. Even though he was the senior, he knew everyone was aware that she thought of the idea. He had to do something that would make people believe that she was ipetent and the idea for Rencontre was her one great n.

    While he went away Kyung-Soo¡¯s manager came with the food and distributed it to everyone. Dae came back and his food was waiting for him. To his surprise, the boys chose to eat with the dance crew.

    After lunch, everyone went back to their work. ASD went back to their dance practice and the Rencontre team went back to their script fishing. Dae now started looking for extraordinary scripts. He started rejecting almost all the normal scripts even though they were good.

    While he was getting all the footage, while Nivritti asked him for his opinions, he was fine with everything. He even helped her reach the idea of rewriting a script with bad grammar but when she started to outshine him, he started resenting everything.

    The boys practised for around 4 p.m. and then the dance crew left for the day. The boys again ran to the Rencontre team and urged them to let them read the scripts. Kyung-Soo again sat next to Nivritti and, this time concentrated on reading the scripts.

    Korain and Young-Chul liked a script on Dae¡¯sptop which made him feel slightly better. For two hours, everyone kept reading and discussing the scripts and then it was time to leave. Thae offered to drive the Rencontre team back to the office.

    Everyone said goodbye and Kyung-Soo praised Dae for handling the Rencontre process so well. Dae¡¯s chest puffed with pride. Finally, someone was giving him the recognition he was craving for. Thae dropped them right outside the K&Q building and left for home.

    .....

    After the Rencontre team entered the office, Chung-Ho wanted to get the progress report.

    ¡°How is the search going?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°It is going good,¡± replied Dae while collecting his things to finally leave the office for the day.

    ¡°Is King reading the scripts or calling you guys just for fun?¡± teased Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Today everyone from ASD read the scripts,¡± interrupted Jae-Hwa, excited. Dae pursed his lips and looked at Jae-Hwa with disdain. Why did she interject when he was talking to Chung-Ho? No one asked her. He was talking to him, so must have answered the question. But he just gulped his anger.

    ¡°Wow! Great! I thought only King would read it,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°No, they came and sat with us, and they even liked one on my script,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Only one! Seong-ssi, you are slipping,¡± mocked Chung-Ho, yfully.

    Dae clenched his fists and faked his smile, ¡°ha-ha, Choi-ssi. You tease too much.¡±

    ¡°You guys are doing a great job. Keep it up. Did they like any script from your server, Ritti?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    Dae¡¯s dam of anger was just about to burst. Chung-Ho mocked him because ASD liked only one of his chosen scripts whereas Nivritti said nothing about her scripts, yet she was getting all the importance. In his jealousy, he couldn¡¯t even see that she never spoke between him and Chung-Ho or tried to hog the time while answering Chung-Ho¡¯s query. She just stood behind Dae, silent listening to their conversation. But he was too blind with envy.

    ¡°Oh, CH, yes they liked a few,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°A few! Good going. See Seong-ssi, a few. That¡¯s how we want the progress of Rencontre to be. Read more and read fast. I want good results from you,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    Dae clenched his jaw and tried hard to control himself. He didn¡¯t want to show his true colours before his boss. Chung-Ho had the power to fire him without any prior intimidation and getting fired from K&Q would mean that no one in that industry would ever hire him. He had to maintain his good name.

    ¡°Of course, Choi-ssi! They are youngsters, they don¡¯t have the responsibility of a family. They can work even in their homes, but I can¡¯t. but don¡¯t worry, I will go home and read more, search more,¡± said Dae through a fake smile and gritted teeth. He side-nced Nivritti with animosity. ¡°Now, I will take leave,¡± he bowed down to Chung-Ho and left the department.

    The moment he left the department, he looked at Chung-Ho and Nivritti through the ss door. His anger climbed a notch up when he saw them talking andughing. He felt as if he was stabbed with a dagger through his heart. He felt as if they wereughing at him.

    But inside the script department, no one was thinking about him. Jae-Hwa, Nivritti and Chung-Ho kept talking to each other about the progress they were making.

    ¡°Are they enjoying reading scripts?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, very much. After they finished their practice, they came running for more to read,¡± chimed Jae-Hwa, happily.

    ¡°She is too happy,¡±mented Chung-Ho and looked at Nivritti.

    ¡°Well, she talked to ASD for the first time without feeling conscious,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡±ughed Chung-Ho. A few people who overheard the conversation too smiled at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ritti!¡±ined Jae-Hwa and hid her face in her hands.

    ¡°She never talked in front of them. She was too shy. But today I told her secret to them,¡±ughed Nivritti.

    ¡°Secret?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yeah, that she is their fan,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Chung-Ho. Suddenly he realised something. ¡°Wait! She gets conscious while talking to them because she is a fan, and you don¡¯t feel any fear because you are... not... a fan?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    Suddenly Nivritti felt a slight pressure on herself. Every eye in the department was on her, waiting for an answer. She looked at everyone and then her eyes rested on Chung-Ho. Jae-Hwa too stood with her arms folded over her chest. ¡°Um... I am a fan. I listen to their music, but I am not obsessed with them. I don¡¯t treat them as gods like Jae,¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°I treat them as fellow humans.¡±

    ¡°Hey! I don¡¯t treat them as gods,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Really?!¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Okay, fine, I treat them as gods. Have you looked at them? They look like sculpted Greek gods,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh my God! I don¡¯t know you. Give me another team member CH, I don¡¯t know her,¡± teased Nivritti. Chung-Ho startedughing out loud. Watching himugh, the rest of the script department too startedughing and then Nivritti burst outughing. Only one standing while pouting was Jae-Hwa. Everyone wasughing at her expense, and she just sulked.

    ¡°Come on, Jae! We are teasing,¡± said Chung-Ho after looking at her poor face.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Jae. I will treat you to a coffee,¡± Nivritti tried to butter her up.

    ¡°What about soju?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, cutely.

    The Saturday shed before Nivritti¡¯s eyes. She knew what would happen if Jae-Hwa would drink. Nivritti shouted, ¡°no! no soju for you, ever.¡±

    ¡°Just a sip,¡± pleaded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No, you drunkard, no,¡± emphasised Nivritti.

    ¡°I will pretend this conversation never happened,¡±mented Chung-Ho and started moving away from the girls. ¡°By the way, Ritti, thanks again for the gift.¡±

    ¡°You are most wee, CH,¡± Nivritti bowed down to him.

    Both the girls collected their things and Jae-Hwa dragged her to a restaurant. They drank coffee and went to their ces.

    Jae-Hwa was so happy as her bias sat next to her all day. He read on herptop every time and even praised a few scripts. For the first time, she talked with the members and finally her fear was gone, thanks to Nivritti.

    It was Nivritti who revealed her secret. It was she who gave her the courage and strength to talk to ASD. If she would not have been there with her, she would never have talked to them or shown them herptop. They asked her questions, and she answered them, confidently.

    The only thing that was bothering her was the behaviour of Seong Dae. She could have easily helped him, but he just bent over her and grabbed hisptop. She didn¡¯t like him touching her. She felt awkward when his whole body towered over hers.

    Maybe Nivritti was right. Maybe there was some problem at his house, and he was not thinking straight. Finally, she decided to pay no heed to him and not let his one gesture destroy her beautiful day. Happily, she reached her home and the whole night kept thinking about the hand touch with Jeong-Eun. She could not help but blush in her bed.

 Chapter 118

    118 The Gift for Apeksha

    Nivritti reached her house and immediately ran to the bathroom. After drinking too much coffee she needed to relieve the pressure.

    ¡°Ahh! This girl,¡± she cursed Jae-Hwa the moment she came out of the bathroom. ¡°My intake of coffee has increased because of her. I will have to put my foot down. If she wants to drink coffee she can go with PJ.¡± For a second she smiled when she remembered how both acted in the morning while picking up theptop bag. ¡°Idiots!¡±

    Sulking she changed into pyjamas and went into the kitchen. She opened her fridge and stood in front of it staring at all the food inside. She sighed loudly and pondered, ¡°why did they have to give me so much food? Will I be able to finish it any day soon? Ahh... Jae!¡±

    One by one she started taking the containers out and saw that she would still have food left for a whole day after eating tonight. She knew few side dishes were supposed to be stored for months so she let them sit in the fridge and for the food that had less shelf life, she took all out.

    As she didn¡¯t have to cook, she had a lot of time on her hand. The whole day she kept working on scripts so decided to take some time off from it. She knew she had hundreds of scripts to read, she just wanted a few minutes of rest from her official work. She needed to rest her eyes from staring all day at the screen.

    She looked around, the house needed cleaning. While her food was thawing on the kitchen counter, she dusted the shelves, changed all the sheets, and mopped the floor. She made a mental note to buy a small vacuum for cleaning the couch and chairs. While the clothes were in the washing machine, she took a shower to get rid of the dust that settled on her after cleaning her house.

    With her hair tied in the towel, she sat on the couch and switched on the television. First, she tuned into a news channel and updated herself with Korean news. About fifteen minutes in, she got bored and started flipping the channels. Leaving a k-drama on, she went to the balcony when her washing machine signalled thepletion of the wash cycle.

    She dumped all the clothes on the dry line and removed her towel. Locking the balcony door, she came inside and sat before her television. The k-drama was a romanticedy. Even though her heart was hurt, she closed the way to her heart, she still enjoyed romanticedies.

    She was smiling at aedy scene when an advertisement for Rencontre shed on the screen. Her smile widened. Looking at all the boys, she felt a warmth in her heart. She just met them weeks ago, but they felt like someone she knew for ages.

    .....

    Her mind shed back to the morning when everyone felt bad for her after she screamed at the sight of Yong. And also, after she told them her story. She smiled at Thae who hugged her from behind and kissed her head. Poor boy! He started crying.

    She smiled when the vision of Jeong-Eun sitting next to Jae-Hwa shed before her eyes. She realised that every time ASD came to read the scripts, he sat next to her. Her jaw dropped with surprise. ¡°How did I not notice that before? PJ! That sneaky, sneaky boy. Well, they look good together.¡±

    Abruptly her face fell with sadness. ¡°What am I thinking? I don¡¯t wish such things for Jae. I don¡¯t want her to undergo scrutiny for dating an idol. Oh, the horror! His fans would rip her apart. The death threats she would get. But what if it is what she wants? Please, God! Don¡¯t let her face struggles and tribtions. Hope she gets everything she wishes for even if it is dating her bias, PJ. I wish from the bottom of my heart that his fans would ept his dating life.¡±

    Jung-Hwa appeared on her TV. And her mind shifted from Jeong-Eun and Jae-Hwa to Jung-Hwa. Her sadness turned into a smile. That sweet boy showed concern for her injury. He made sure to check her arm and then sat next to her. She grinned from ear to ear after she recalled that he called himself detective, just like Apeksha.

    She realised that it was days since she called her home. ¡°Ohh what that headache is doing right now? Why hasn¡¯t she called me? Oh right! She doesn¡¯t have my number. Wait! But she has my Swipe ID. I know how she will call me. Let me send her some of my bonus money,¡± she smiled wickedly.

    Nivritti grabbed her phone and transferred ten thousand rupees to her sister. She ced the phone on the table and smiled at the screen. She knew she would receive a call immediately. ¡°Five, four, three, two, one,¡± and she pointed at her phone. But ity silently on the table.

    ¡°What? Maybe she didn¡¯t see the message. Let me wait for a few more minutes,¡± pouted Nivritti. A few seconds changed into a minute which in turn changed into ten minutes. The television kept talking loudly but Nivritti¡¯s concentration was on her phone. She was getting annoyed that Apeksha was not calling her.

    ¡°What the hell? I want my money back,¡± she shouted and instantly her phone screen lit up and started ringing loudly. ¡°Uhh... finally!¡± she screamed. With a devilish smile on her face, she picked up the video call and stared at her sister.

    ¡°Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you,¡± screamed Apeksha, excitedly.

    ¡°Oh, you greedy, greedy person. You remembered me after I sent you the money. Tch, tch, tch,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I have my internal tests in a few days. I was busy cramming for my papers,¡± sulked Apeksha.

    ¡°Excuses, excuses! Even mom didn¡¯t call, and neither dad,¡± pouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey! As if you kept calling us. Wait! Are you watching a Korean drama?¡± asked Apkesha. Nivritti immediately realised that her television was on. She jumped to grab the remote but the remote refused to get into her grip, it slipped even further. Nivritti kept fumbling over and over again to grab the remote, but it kept slipping away. Finally, she grabbed the remote, but it slipped from her hand andnded on the floor with a soft thud.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± shouted Apeksha and Nivritti realised that she could mute the video call and the sound from her end would cut off. She pressed the microphone symbol on her screen and then reached for the remote. With a swift motion, she switched off her TV. Her secret was about toe out in the open.

 Chapter 119

    119 The Idiot

    Nivritti sighed with relief, but her heart was racing with fear. She thought that her secret was about to be revealed. Maybe finally Apeksha would realise that she was in Korea. She was praying to God to not let that happen.

    ¡°Di! Di!¡± Apeksha kept shouting.

    ¡°Yeah, I am here,¡± said Nivritti and faced her sister.

    Apeksha raised her eyebrow and looked at her, disappointed. ¡°You know you muted yourself, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, sorry!¡± said Nivritti after unmuting herself. Apeksha shook her head in disappointment.

    ¡°And she calls me, an idiot,¡± Apeksha facepalmed.

    ¡°Yeah, okay, enough drama,¡± scolded Nivritti. ¡°How are you? How is mom? How is dad?¡±

    ¡°Everyone is okay and why were you acting weird? It¡¯s not like you were watching porn, it was just k-drama,¡± noted Apeksha.

    ¡°Yeesh! Shut up!¡± scolded Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°Why were you hiding that you were watching k-drama? You have watched it hundreds of times,¡± Apeksha scratched her head trying to make sense of everything.

    ¡°What?!¡± scoffed Nivritti. ¡°I was not trying to hide it. I was just bringing the volume down so that we could talk,¡± she lied. She was surprised to see that the self-proimed detective was unable to catch a clue. Well, k-dramas were seen all over the world, so it was not that important of a clue. ¡°It¡¯s good to see that you are brushing up on your Korean.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that I have been practising my Korean?¡± asked Apeksha, amazed.

    ¡°And she calls herself a detective,¡± mocked Nivritti. She rolled her eyes, hard at her sister, and said, ¡°you recognised thenguage just by hearing it. You didn¡¯t ask me what I was watching, you yourself realised what was ying on my screen.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that. Well, I had to learnnguages. I saw you learning so manynguages. So, I thought about what people will say if they find out that the elder sister knows hundreds ofnguages and the younger sister knows only two, Hindi and English. You call me an idiot and they too will call me that,¡± pouted Apeksha.

    ¡°You know people can¡¯t help themselves. They say as they see. If one is an idiot, they will call them an idiot,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Di!¡± shouted Apeksha. Nivritti startedughing out loud at her sister. ¡°I am telling mom,¡± pouted Apeksha.

    ¡°Comint box!¡± shouted Nivritti. Before she could stop her sister, Apeksha ran to the living room of her house and turned the phone towards her mother.

    ¡°See, mom, Di is calling me an idiot again,¡±ined Apeksha.

    ¡°Hi, mom!¡± greeted Nivritti.

    ¡°Very bad, Ritti! You must not call an idiot, an idiot in front of their face,¡± said her mother. Both Nivritti and her mother pursed their lips and stifled theirughter. But one look at each other and they startedughing out loud.

    ¡°Mom!¡± sulked Apeksha. ¡°Only dad care for me. You both are so bad.¡± But both her sister and mother were busyughing at her. ¡°Dad!¡± shouted Apeksha and her father came running from his room.

    ¡°What happened?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Your wife and your daughter are making fun of me. They are calling me, idiot. Di even called me,int box,¡± grimaced Apeksha.

    ¡°Very bad, darling!¡± he said to his wife. He then looked into the phone and scolded Nivritti, ¡°not good, Ritti. You should not call your sister names. Fix one name. You already had a name, ¡®headache¡¯, then why are you calling her ¡®idiot¡¯ and int box¡¯, very bad!¡±

    Again, Nivritti and her mother startedughing after hisment. Everyone was finding it amusing to tease Apeksha.

    ¡°Hi, Dad!¡± greeted Nivritti.

    ¡°Dad! Even you? I am not talking to anyone of you,¡± shouted Apeksha.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to talk to me, give me my money back,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Money? What money?¡± asked Anil Rathod, Nivritti¡¯s father.

    ¡°Nothing, Dad. I received a bonus for doing great work. So, I thought of treating ¡®headache¡¯. She can buy anything she wants. I know you and mom won¡¯t take money from me, so I am sending a few gifts to you,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your money, idiot. We don¡¯t want gifts,¡± scolded She Rathod, Nivritti¡¯s mother.

    ¡°Ha-ha-ha, Mom called you an idiot,¡± teased Apeksha,ughingly.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± scolded Nivritti. She then addressed her mother, ¡°Mom, Mommy, Maa, just ept it. This is the second bonus I received.¡±

    ¡°Woah! A few weeks of a new job and a second bonus? What are you doing? Where are you? Tell me, tell me,¡± demanded Apeksha.

    ¡°I am in...¡± started Nivritti. Apeksha grew excited. ¡°...your head,¡± mocked Nivritti. Apeksha stuck her tongue out at her.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Anil asked seriously.

    ¡°Yes, Dad, I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Is your new job treating you fine?¡± he asked again.

    ¡°Dad, I just told you I received a second bonus. How finer do you want my job to treat me?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°But are you happy?¡± asked She.

    ¡°Yes, Mom, I am happy, very happy. This is an amazing job. People are too kind, so good,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Did he...¡± She trailed off.

    ¡°No, Mom, no call since I changed my number,¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°You guys can rx.¡±

    ¡°So, when will you give us your number and tell us where you are?¡± scolded She.

    ¡°Mom, you can talk to me on Swipe anytime you want. You can even message me. Why do you need my number? To give to aunties?¡± Nivritti raised her eyebrow at her mother.

    ¡°No!!¡± She¡¯s tone climbed up a notch.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give her your number. She will distribute it to the world,¡±mented Anil.

    ¡°I know, Dad,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Anil!¡± She softly punched her husband on his arm.

    ¡°Ow!¡± eximed Anil. Watching her parent¡¯s yful nature, Nivritti grinned from ear to ear.

    ¡°Okay, guys, I have to go. Talk to youter,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Take care of yourself,¡± said She.

    ¡°Always, Mom,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Always!!!¡± screamed Apeksha. ¡°Don¡¯t lie.¡±

    ¡°Hey! I take care of myself,¡± pouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Did you find a therapist yet?¡± inquired Apeksha.

    ¡°I am actively looking for one,¡± replied Nivritti. All three, her father, her mother and Apeksha stared at her, angrily. Nivritti gulped, hard. ¡°I am going to find one tomorrow,¡± she urgently replied.

    ¡°I will call you after two days and if you haven¡¯t found a therapist by then, I will find where you are, I wille to your ce and hit you on your head,¡± shouted She.

    ¡°Right, okay, noted,¡± replied Nivritti, fearfully.

    ¡°Huh... calling me, idiot. You are an idiot,¡±mented Apeksha.

    ¡°Yeah, she is right,¡± scolded Anil.

    ¡°Wow! Now you guys are ganging up on me,¡± Nivritti rolled her eyes.

    ¡°We just worry for you. We saw what happenedst time you were away from us,¡± said She.

    ¡°I know, Mom. I assure you, I will find a therapist soon and then call you. Now I really have to go. Good night, guys!¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Fine, go, and tell us as soon as you find one. Good night!¡± said She.

    ¡°Good night!¡± said both Apeksha and Anil, simultaneously.

    Nivritti disconnected the call and sighed loudly. ¡°I will have to take Jae¡¯s help. I need to find professional help else Mom will kill me.¡±

 Chapter 120

    120 The Night Work

    Nivritti was still pondering upon what her mother said. She had to find a therapist soon. She needed to talk about her shifting to a newnd, her nightmares, and her fear of dogs. She also had to discuss about her feelings for Kyung-Soo. She wanted to stay away from him so why did he always pull her heartstrings when he would be in front of her?

    ¡°Yeesh!¡± she shouted when she realised that she was thinking about talking to a therapist and finallynded on Kyung-Soo. ¡°Why? Why? Why always him? Why can¡¯t you think about someone else? Wait! Why do you have to think about anyone? Think about your work. Concentrate on your work, stupid.¡±

    After giving herself a pep-talk, she went and grabbed herptop. ¡°Should I try to reconstruct the scripts that are in the bad grammar folder? They too need my attention. But then I have a lot of scripts to read.¡±

    She opened herptop and opened her continental servers. She changed the option from freshly received tost received and started reading the scripts. The scripts that the Rencontre team rejected would still be visible on the server for all to read as they could not delete anyone of the scripts which would inform the whole world that their script was rejected, and the suspense of the winner would be destroyed. Only the K&Q IT team and Rencontre team could see the ¡®rejected¡¯ mark on the rejected stories.

    Every member of the Rencontre team had different notions for saving the scripts. As discussed, selected scripts were being saved inmon folder named ¡®Kyung-Soo¡¯. Dae made sure to dump every script he chose in that. Nivritti chose to make two sub-folders ording to her servers and would transfer the selected scripts ording to her servers.

    The highly efficient one was Jae-Hwa. She not only made different folders for her servers but also for every member and kept sorting the scripts ordingly. And everyone had amon folder named ¡®bad grammar¡¯ for transferring the scripts with non-existent grammar.

    Nivritti opened her folder that had all the three sub-folders, but a yelp escaped from her mouth when she saw that only two sub-folders were visible on her system. The ¡®bad grammar¡¯ one was gone. It just vanished. She quickly refreshed the folder and finally all three folders started showing on her screen. She sighed with relief.

    That made her realise that she could lose any folders or scripts at any given time. She had to think of a way to make sure that even if she would lose the folder, she would lose her hard work. Otherwise, she would have to go back and read every single script on the server once again.

    She worked for a few hours meticulously and after hours her brain signalled that it was tired with a loud yawn. She looked at the clock. It was 11 at night. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± she shouted and jumped from the couch.

    .....

    She ran to the kitchen and ced all the food she was going to eat in the microwave. While her food was being heated, she shut herptop down and ced it back in her bag. Quickly she finished her dinner, washed all the dishes, and retired for the night.

    A new morning, a new day and the hard work continued. Nivritti went to the office and the preparation for Rencontre continued. That morning, the Rencontre team worked in the office for about an hour waiting for someone toe and receive them.

    Nivritti had no idea why she was getting restless as time passed on. At first, she didn¡¯t want to see Kyung-Soo every day but now it felt bizarre not working in the practise room. Doing her job while staring at dancing Kyung-Soo in the mirror had already be an integral part of her life.

    Her heart was pounding in her chest thinking that Kyung-Soo didn¡¯t have time for reading scripts today, so he didn¡¯t send anyone. Yesterday they demanded the daily scripts be sent to their email, what if the same things happened today? Will she not be able to meet him? Her heart started aching.

    ¡°Why am I feeling as if something is missing as if I forgot something at home? Concentrate, Ritti, concentrate,¡± she pondered.

    Finally, she beamed with happiness when Jeong-Eun came for the Rencontre team.

    ¡°Apologies for beingte,¡± said Jeong-Eun and he smiled at Jae-Hwa. Nivritti bit her lower lips to avoid smiling at both of them.

    ¡°No worries, One. You guys are busy, we understand,¡±forted Dae.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you guys send only your driver to get them? You didn¡¯t need toe. That way you all can save so much of your precious time?¡± suggested Chung-Ho.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Choi-ssi. We don¡¯t mind,¡± smiled Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°One! May I ask why King called and cancelled today¡¯s script?¡± asked Chung-Ho. Nivritti was shocked to hear that they were not shooting their daily video for the tube¡¯. Was everything alright? She pondered.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the details Choi-ssi but that was something he and Hu-ssi discussed and finalised,¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I told him not to add reading Rencontre script to his schedule. Surely, he is overworked,¡±mented Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Choi-ssi! Don¡¯t worry we all are taking care of ourselves,¡± assured Jeong-Eun. ¡°Now, I must leave. We have a lot to practice.¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine,¡± Chung-Ho patted Jeong-Eun¡¯s shoulder.

    The Rencontre team followed Jeong-Eun to the parking area. To Nivritti¡¯s shock, Thae was standing near the car. He saw Nivritti and ran towards her with three coffee cups in his hands. He first hugged Nivritti sweetly and presented the coffee cups to the Rencontre team.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked Nivritti, smiling.

    ¡°I came to pick you up,¡± replied Thae.

    ¡°That I can see but why two of you?¡± asked Nivritti. She nced at Jae-Hwa who was shaking her head in no. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know,¡± smirked Thae.

    ¡°TK! What?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    Thae startedughing loudly and stood next to Jeong-Eun. He wrapped his arm around Jeong-Eun and mockingly said, ¡°my dear friend, PJ, does not know how to drive.¡±

 Chapter 121

    121 The Drama

    Thae was grinning from ear to ear and Jae-Hwa was looking angrily at Nivritti.

    ¡°Ohh!!¡± Nivritti felt like an idiot. Now she understood Jae-Hwa¡¯s reaction. She was signalling her not to ask the question because it would lead to humiliation of Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°We have tried so many times to teach him, but we all failed spectacrly,¡± teased Thae. He had Jeong-Eun in almost a headlock.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± Jeong-Eunughed sarcastically. Nivritti saw his face and realised that he was embarrassed.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay if he does not know how to drive. He has an army of drivers at his disposal and moreover, you guys are not allowed to drive for your safety purposes. I don¡¯t know how you get to drive,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Wait! You know that they are not allowed to drive but you don¡¯t know that One can¡¯t drive. How selective is your knowledge?¡± mocked Dae.

    ¡°Um...¡± Nivritti had no exnation.

    ¡°Because she is not a fan of ASD,¡±mented Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°What? What?¡± shouted both Thae and Jeong-Eun simultaneously. ¡°You are not our fan,¡± pouted Thae.

    ¡°Who said that?¡± shrieked Nivritti.

    ¡°She did,¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°She is lying. I am a fan. I have listened to your music, I have watched your music video. What are you talking about?¡± scoffed Nivritti.

    ¡°What are our names? Who is the eldest among us? Who first joined the band? What is the birthday of ASD? When is my birthday? Leave all that just show me your ylist!¡± demanded Thae.

    ¡°Oh, oh, you want proof. You think I don¡¯t your names. You... you are wrong. Nam Kyung-Soo, Shin Korain, Man Young-Chul, Joh Him-Chan, Pae Jeong-Eun, Kang Thae, Jee Jung-Hwa, these are your names. ASD debuted on 5th August. And here! I will show you my ylist,¡± Nivritti took her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Thae.

    ¡°It¡¯s locked,¡± Thae raised one of his eyebrows at her. Nivritti grabbed his hand and raised her phone to her face and the phone unlocked.

    ¡°There!¡± she said.

    Thae searched for the music app on her phone and opened her ylist. There were only eight songs of ASD in her ylist.

    ¡°Only eight songs!!¡± he shouted. ¡°What kind of fan are you?¡±

    ¡°Shit!¡± she lowered her head and avoided their eye contact. ¡°Um... baby fan,¡± she said, softly.

    ¡°It is clear that she started searching for you after she applied to this job to prepare for the interviews,¡±mented Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°That is not true,¡± shouted Nivritti and sneered at Jae-Hwa. Thae stared at her with squinted eyes. ¡°That is true,¡± she corrected herself immediately.

    ¡°Traitor!!¡± Jeong-Eun shook his head in disbelief.

    ¡°And we called you, our friend!!¡± said Thae, dramatically. He ced his arm on his forehead and looked away from Nivritti dramatically.

    ¡°Hey! I know everything about you, well, almost everything. Do you have any idea how many documentaries and videos I had to see for research?¡± she shouted. Both Thae and Jeong-Eun looked at her with disappointment. Nivritti again lowered her head after looking at their expression and said, ¡°fine. Give me a list of your songs and I will listen to it today itself,¡± said Nivritti softly.

    ¡°It¡¯s toote,¡± shouted both Thae and Jeong-Eun, together. They looked at one another and startedughing.

    ¡°Jinx!¡± shouted both again.

    Nivritti rolled her eyes at both of them. ¡°They were angry at me,¡±mented Nivritti.

    ¡°Idiots!¡± shouted Dae. ¡°Are you all done with your drama? Can we go?¡± he was getting annoyed with the disy of friendship and rapport among them. He was furious that no one was involving him in the conversation. He was irritated at the fact that it mattered to them that Nivritti must know everything about them. It was clear that her friendship was important to Thae and that irked him.

    ¡°Sorry, Seong-ssi,¡± said Thae and bowed down to him. He then looked at Nivritti, ¡°you! No coffee, no treats for you, ever.¡±

    ¡°TK!¡± Nivritti spoke softly.

    ¡°What?¡± he shouted back with fake anger.

    ¡°Therapist. Consult one. For your anger and over the top DRAMA!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Give me back my coffee,¡± he demanded Nivritti immediately took a sip from the cup making Thae contort his lips trying to avoid smiling at Nivritti¡¯s cute action. ¡°Last cup,¡± teased Thae.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± smiled Nivritti. Thae too ended up smiling at her.

    She was done with Thae and now it was Jeong-Eun¡¯s turn to be teased. Thae and Dae sat in the front seats and Jae-Hwa, Nivritti and Jeong-Eun were supposed to sit in the back seat. Mischievous thoughts were swirling in Nivritti¡¯s mind. She made Jae-Hwa enter the car first.

    Jae-Hwa thought that Nivritti would send Jeong-Eun to sit next to her but instead of him she herself entered the car and sat between Jae-Hwa and Jeong-Eun. Now, both Jae-Hwa and Jeong-Eun were annoyed with her. But she could not stop smiling. She kept looking at both of them one by one and kept grinning at them.

    ¡°You are so bad,¡± gritted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Why did you do that?¡± snapped Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what both of you mean,¡± replied Nivritti, innocently.

    ¡°I hate you,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Then whom do you love?¡± Nivritti teased again.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Jae-Hwa turned away from her and started looking out the window.

    Nivritti turned to look at Jeong-Eun who was staring at her with squinted eyes. She knew why he was giving such a reaction to her. He wanted to sit next to Jae-Hwa, but she came in between them.

    ¡°What?¡± she asked innocently.

    ¡°Nothing!¡± snapped Jeong-Eun and he too turned away and started staring outside the window. Nivritti could not control herughter and startedughing like a maniac.

    Dae rolled his eyes at her. ¡°What happened now? Always he-he-he, such an annoying sound,¡± he thought.

    ¡°What happened to you?¡± inquired Thae.

    ¡°Nothing!¡± she lied. ¡°You know I am crazy, a crazy person who is looking for a therapist.¡±

    ¡°Yeah right! Yesterday you were saying that taking care of mental health does not make you a crazy person and today you are calling yourself crazy,¡± Thae rolled his eyes, hard.

    ¡°Sarcasm, TK, sarcasm!¡± taunted Nivritti. ¡°Speaking of therapist, Jae, Jae,¡± she nudged Jae-Hwa slightly with her elbow. ¡°Please talk to your brother. Ask him to help me, pleaseeee!! Find me a good doctor.¡±

    ¡°Huh!¡± eximed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Help me and I will make sure you are alone with Jeong-Eun once again without anyone noticing,¡± she whispered in her ears.

    ¡°What??¡± shouted Jae-Hwa immediately. Her sudden shouting made Thae lose control of the car for a second.

    ¡°Careful, Kat,¡± shouted Dae. ¡°You girls! Keep your mouth shut while in the car. Jae-Hwa, your shouting would have caused an ident,¡± he scolded both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti.

    ¡°Sorry, Mr. Seong. Sorry, Seong-ssi!¡± both girls apologised together and lowered their heads.

    ¡°Are you okay, TK?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I am fine. Why did you shout, Jae-Hwa?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°Oh, nothing!¡± she lied.

    ¡°So, will you help me?¡± asked Nivritti softly.

    ¡°I will talk to Oppa. And you don¡¯t have to do... that,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Do what?¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Jae-Hwa scrunched her nose.

 Chapter 122

    122 The Wait For Young-Chul

    Finally, all reached the practise room. Jeong-Eun was still angry at Nivritti for not letting him sit next to Jae-Hwa.

    Dae first jumped from the car and moved inside the building as he was not interested in their talk anymore. Thae followed him and Nivritti, Jae-Hwa and Jeong-Eun were walking behind. Nivritti looked at Jeong-Eun with a smirk and moved closer to him.

    ¡°Psst!¡± she whispered. Jeong-Eun turned towards her but instantly turned her face back away from her. ¡°Do you want to spend time alone with her?¡± she mumbled to him.

    He suddenly stopped walking. ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked defensively.

    ¡°You are angry because I didn¡¯t let you sit next to her,¡± she pointed at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Haa...¡± he scoffed. ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about. I am angry because you don¡¯t listen to our music.¡±

    ¡°Liar!¡± she teased. ¡°You like her, don¡¯t you?¡± she was smiling mischievously.

    ¡°What? What?? What???¡± with every ¡®what¡¯ his voice became louder.

    ¡°What?¡± Thae turned and looked at them. Jeong-Eun and Nivritti looked at each other and then looked at everyone. Dae, Thae, and Jae-Hwa were staring at them.

    .....

    ¡°Nothing!¡± both Jeong-Eun and Nivritti shouted at once.

    ¡°You! What are you whispering to Jae and PJ? Why do they keep shouting?¡± Thae came close to Nivritti and asked while staring at her with squinted eyes.

    ¡°I am innocent. I did nothing. They both enjoy shouting,¡± said Nivritti innocuously.

    ¡°Babo! (fool)¡± Thae hit her on her forehead yfully. She smirked at him making him smile at her.

    ¡°Are we going in or not?¡± scolded Dae.

    ¡°Yes, Seong-ssi,¡± replied Thae and signalled him to enter the room. ¡°Who died and made him grumpy?¡± mumbled Thae making everyoneugh out loud.

    One by one Thae, Jae-Hwa, Jeong-Eun, and Jae-Hwa entered the practice room.

    The moment Nivritti entered the room her eyes searched for Kyung-Soo andnded on him. Slowly her mouth fell open when she saw that he was wearing the blue shirt, the shirt she took off from the hangar of the changing room and wore to hide the yellow dress. As usual, his radiant skin was making the blue shirt, bluer. Colours neverplimented his skin, his skin enhanced colours.

    She had no control over her facial muscles, and she ended up smiling at him. ¡°Wait, what?¡± she instantly controlled herself and stopped smiling.

    Kyung-Soo looked at her with amusement. ¡°This girl!¡± he walked over to Dae and greeted him first. He then looked at both the girls and said Hi. One by one every member of ASD approached them and greeted them.

    Jung-Hwa opened his arm and was about to hug Nivritti when Kyung-Soo grabbed him by his cor and dragged him backward. Smiling, he whispered, rather warned Jung-Hwa, ¡°don¡¯t even think about it.¡±

    Jung-Hwa simply shook Nivritti¡¯s hands and said hi. Nivritti thought, ¡°what is wrong with these two?¡±

    ¡°Happy?¡± sneered Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Very!¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    After everyone greeted each other, Jae-Hwa and Dae moved towards the workstation but Nivritti kept looking around. Something was missing, rather someone was missing.

    ¡°Where is, MY?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Oh, he is runningte,¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°Today we all werete because of him,¡± pouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she inquired.

    ¡°Nothing! Don¡¯t listen to him,¡± Kyung-Soo smiled awkwardly. She found his reaction to be extremely strange.

    ¡°Is he alright?¡± she asked as she was not satisfied with his answer.

    ¡°He just didn¡¯t sleep wellst night so he overslept. We waited for him toe with us, but he kept sleeping. So, we left him at the house. I just called him a few minutes ago, he said he was on his way,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ohh!¡± eximed Nivritti.

    ¡°While hees, let us read some scripts,¡± said Jung-Hwa and wrapped his arms around Nivritti¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Come!¡± invited Nivritti and they both moved together towards the workstation. Kyung-Soo mumbled some curse at Jung-Hwa and softly hit him on the back of his head.

    Jung-Hwa turned his head around to look at Kyung-Soo and mouthed, ¡°what?¡± Kyung-Soo simply squinted his eyes and stared at him.

    Nivritti looked at Dae and Jae-Hwa who were sitting next to each other. Again, mischief crawled up n her mind. With swift movements, she reached near Jae-Hwa and sat next to her and made Jung-Hwa sit next to herself. That way neither Jeong-Eun was unable to sit next to Jae-Hwa nor Kyung-Soo was able to sit near Nivritti.

    Both Jeong-Eun and Kyung-Soo sat in front of Nivritti. One kept staring at Nivritti and the other kept staring at Jung-Hwa in anger. Nivritti kept smirking at Jeong-Eun to tease him whereas Jung-Hwa kept gulping with fear.

    All kept reading scripts for a few minutes when Young-Chul came running inside the room. Huffing and puffing, he started apologising profusely, ¡°sorry, sorry, sorry, I amte. I am here, let¡¯s start. Wait! Where is the dance crew?¡±

    ¡°Calm down, Young. Take a deep breath. It¡¯s just us seven today. No dance crews. We will take it easy today. First, we have to polish our dance moves that we learned yesterday then we can practice with our crew. Come sit down for a minute and then we will start,¡± Korain stood up and calmed him down. His honey-like voice could make people lose their minds.

    Young-Chul kept inhaling and exhaling loudly to calm himself down. Thae ran and brought him a bottle of water. Young-Chul took a few sips and rxed.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    He smiled at her and replied, ¡°Yes, I am fine. Thank you for asking.¡±

    Nivritti smiled back but her heart ached to see him like that. He was sweating profusely. His hair was all over the ce. He was still breathing heavily, and his beautiful face was all white. It appeared as if he had spent a lot of time in the cold, all the colour from his cheeks was missing. She knew how hard the boys worked and his overwork started to show on his face.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you guys take time off today? You don¡¯t even have to shoot for daily videos,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°What? No daily video?¡± shouted Young-Chul.

 Chapter 123

    123 The Conditions For Friendship

    Everyone looked at confused Young-Chul.

    ¡°I told everyone that we won¡¯t shoot today. A message will be posted on our official handle. I just thought that you would need to rest today,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But Hyung,¡± protested Young-Chul.

    ¡°No, she is right. You should leave and rest. Why didn¡¯t we think of this before? We have cancelled the daily video, we should not have called you. You, go back home. We will see you in the evening,¡± chimed in Korain.

    ¡°So, you guys would practice?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°A little bit,¡± replied Korain. ¡°Go home, Young, rest,¡± he ordered.

    ¡°If you want, I cane with you,¡± offered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, no, I will be fine. I just need a good night¡¯s sleep and I will be refreshed,¡± smiled Young-Chul but his smile didn¡¯t reach his eyes. They were tired and sleepy.

    ¡°Go, see you in the evening,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    .....

    Young-Chul stood up, looked at Nivritti, and mouthed, ¡°thanks.¡± She smiled at him sweetly and Yong-Chul left the room.

    ¡°You all should not overwork and take care of your health. Then only us ASDians would be happy,¡±mented Jae-Hwa.

    All looked at Jae-Hwa with open mouths. The girl who never spoke in front of ASD called herself ASDian. She spoke even though no one asked her any questions. It was something new for everyone. Everyone looked at her, shocked.

    Jae-Hwa looked at everyone, staring at her, and gulped hard. She realised that she opened her mouth in front of everyone. She nced at Nivritti who had her eyes widened and kept blinking, yet continuously staring at her with shock.

    ¡°You spoke?¡± teased Korain. Everyone startedughing loudly.

    ¡°We will keep that in mind, Jae-Hwa. Thank you for thinking good about us,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo politely at her.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and practice a little. We are alreadyte today,¡± suggested Him-Chan.

    ¡°He is right, let¡¯s go,¡± nodded Korain.

    Leaving the Rencontre team to work on scripts, the members of ASD stood up and went to the open area and yed the song. Him-Chan kept guiding everyone and they started their practice. Nivritti finally realised that even the choreographer was not present today. Only the boys and the Rencontre team were inside the room. She pondered as to why they were practising in thisrge room when they had no dance crew today. They could have practised inside the K&Q building in their own room.

    Maybe they had their own reason to do that. She didn¡¯t think any more about that and concentrated on her work. After hours and hours of sifting through the scripts and selecting among them, her eyes grew tired.

    She ced the back of her two cold fingers on her eyes to soothe them. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and Kyung-Soo was standing before her. She was taken aback. The sweat on his forehead was glistening like tiny pearls. He stood in front of her smiling sweetly. All the other members were slowly walking towards her. All were wiping their sweat with small towels.

    ¡°Looks like you guys are tired. Here, have some water,¡± Kyung-Soo ced three bottles of water in front of the Rencontre team.

    ¡°What do you want to eat?¡± Thae immediately jumped near Nivritti and sat next to her with a thud.

    ¡°Anything,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Wanna eat ck bean noodles?¡± asked Jeong-Eun, excited.

    ¡°Jajangmyeon!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa, excited.

    ¡°You like it?¡± inquired Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I love it,¡± she smiled at him.

    ¡°Control! Both of you. Your love for noodles is showing,¡± Nivritti teased both of them cryptically. Both Jeong-Eun and Jae-Hwa looked at her and smiled awkwardly.

    ¡°Do you like it, Ritti?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°I have never tried it,¡± she replied.

    ¡°What?¡± everyone shouted at once.

    ¡°I... have just never tried it,¡± she repeated herself.

    ¡°Then we have to get jajangmyeon,¡± announced Him-Chan. ¡°I will ce the order.¡±

    Dae kept rolling his eyes at the conversation. ¡°Everyone is assuming that I like ck noodles. Everyone¡¯s heart is as ck as those noodles. Can no one ask me what I want? If I say no then everyone will think that I am rude. But they are rude, assuming that I like jajangmyeon. What if I wanted chicken or beef? Or just a simple sandwich? What is wrong with these people? Am I invisible to them? Everyone just asked stupid Ritti, as if only she is present here.¡± His blood started boiling.

    ¡°What do you want, Seong-ssi?¡± Him-Chan interrupted his thoughts.

    ¡°Ohh... anything, Johan. Whatever you guys are getting would be fine for me,¡± he lied as politely as possible.

    While Him-Chan kept scrolling on his phone to ce an order, Thae asked Jae-Hwa, ¡°so, Jae-Hwa! You are an ASDian?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am. I have all your albums, all your merchandise. I have watched all your videos and have gone to every one of your concerts in Korea. Sometimes it¡¯s hard if your concert is out of Seoul but I try to attend every one of them except those you do overseas,¡± Jae-Hwa blurted out in one breath. She was too excited to talk about her being an ASDian.

    ¡°See!¡± Thae nudged Nivritti, angrily.

    ¡°Ha-ha-ha,¡±ughed Nivritti, sarcastically.

    ¡°What was that?¡± inquired Jung-Hwa, urgently.

    ¡°Oh, nothing!¡± shouted Jeong-Eun even before Nivritti could reply. ¡°She is a traitor. She is not our fan. She looked us up while preparing for her interview for this job. She has a total of eight songs of ours in her ylist,¡± he mocked.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa, shocked yet disappointed.

    ¡°I...¡± Nivritti had no idea how to exin her situation.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay!¡± Him-Chan put his phone down and chimed in.

    ¡°Hyung!¡± shouted Thae, Jeong-Eun, and Jung-Hwa in unison.

    ¡°Are we going to put conditions on our friends? We would be friends with you only if you are our fans?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°No!¡± all three maknaes lowered their head after Him-Chan¡¯s exnation.

    ¡°He is right. Even if she had no songs in her ylist, she would still be our friend,¡± nodded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°So, what she has only eight songs? So, what if she is not our fan? Did you ask her if she was your fan when you scolded her? Did you ask her if she was your fan when you tested her truth? Did it matter to you that she was not your fan when you stormed into that caf¨¦ to save her? Did it matter to you that she was not your fan when she saved you from that scandal?¡± inquired Korain.

    ¡°No!¡± said all three collectively.

 Chapter 124

    124 The Request

    Korain kept scolding the three maknaes for putting conditions on friendship. They were sitting with their faces down with shame. All the other members were staring at them with anger.

    ¡°Then stop asking stupid questions. Be happy that at least she knew who we were before joining the job. Many of our colleagues started researching about us after they joined the job. Remember how many times, we have to introduce ourselves to a single person multiple times in the beginning? At least she knew all our names and recognised us without any help,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Yeah, I remember those times when people used to mistake us for one another,¡± chimed in Him-Chan.

    ¡°Yeah, some people still mix One and Kat with each other,¡±ughed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to lecture us so harshly. We were just kidding,¡± sulked Thae.

    ¡°Stupids!¡± scolded Korain. He looked at Nivritti and said, ¡°don¡¯t mind them. They are fools.¡±

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s okay, SK. I don¡¯t mind. Sometimes I tease them, sometimes they tease me, that¡¯s what friendship is,¡± she smiled at the maknaes. Thae, Jeong-Eun, and Jung-Hwa too smiled at her.

    ¡°Learn from her, idiots,¡± Him-Chan pped at the back of their heads one by one.

    Suddenly a phone rang. All looked at their phones but found them to be nk. It was Jae-Hwa¡¯s phone. She looked at the screen, ¡°Oppa¡± disyed on the screen.

    .....

    ¡°Oh, Oppa!¡± she eximed. Nivritti looked at her. ¡°Yeah, this call is about you. I messaged him,¡± said Jae-Hwa. She ran out of the room and picked up the call.

    ¡°Oppa!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you know I am busy. Why did you call at this time?¡± he scolded her.

    ¡°Yaa! I have something important to discuss with you. It¡¯s not like I am free, I have work too,¡± she snapped back.

    ¡°Okay, fine, tell me. What do you want?¡± he asked.

    ¡°This is about Ritti,¡± she said.

    Her name piqued his interest. ¡°What about her?¡±

    ¡°Do you have any connection in your psychiatry department?¡± she inquired.

    ¡°Psychiatry department? What does Ritti want with the Psychiatry department?¡± he demanded.

    ¡°She is searching for a good therapist. Can you get an appointment for her?¡± she requested, sweetly.

    ¡°Woah! Suddenly sweet voice, why? Why?¡± teased Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oppaaa!!¡± sulked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, okay. I will see what I can do. I will call youter with details,¡± informed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Love you, Oppa!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± said Jae-Geun, stoically. ¡°You will definitely love me as I am doing your work.¡±

    ¡°Not my work, Ritti¡¯s work,¡± informed Jae-Hwa, sweetly.

    ¡°See, she is so responsible. She is asking for a therapist. I have asked you so many times to talk to one but you always refuse,¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, oh, what about you? You deal with trauma, why don¡¯t you go and talk to a professional?¡± snapped Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°We have mandatory sessions, stupid. I have told you hundreds of times,¡± informed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, yeah, I forgot,¡± replied Jae-Hwa, feeling guilty.

    ¡°Did you eat?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No, food has been ordered. It¡¯s on its way,¡± Informed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Eat well. I will call youter,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Bye, Oppa.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Jae-Geun disconnected the call and smiling, Jae-Hwa moved towards the room, but she halted in her path as the door was blocked by the delivery man and Him-Chan. The young delivery man was swooning over the idol. Him-Chan signed an autograph for him and tipped him heavily.

    Happily, the delivery boy handed the food and grinning from ear to ear walked away while continuously staring at the autographed paper. He ran towards the exit and in the corridor jumped high and clicked his heels with happiness. Him-Chan smiled gleefully after seeing that.

    ¡°Oh, Jae-Hwa!¡± Him-Chan noticed her standing near the door. ¡°Sorry for blocking the door.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine,¡± she bowed down to him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s eat, the food is here,¡± he lifted all the boxes to show her.

    ¡°Let me help,¡± she offered to pick some of the boxes from his hands.

    ¡°This is nothing, I am strong,¡± joked Him-Chan making Jae-Hwaugh out loud. All turned to look who wasughing and found Jae-Hwa and Him-Chan walking in together. Jeong-Eun looked at them ufortably.

    As soon as Nivritti heard Jae-Hwaughing, she looked at her and then immediately looked at Jeong-Eun for his reaction. Even though she could see only half his face, she could easily see his clenched fist. She tucked her lips and pressed them hard to avoid smiling orughing at Jeong-Eun¡¯s reaction.

    She got another chance to tease him. ¡°Are you okay, PJ?¡± she mocked him.

    He turned to look at her and smirked in a fake way. ¡°I am absolutely okay,¡± he gritted his teeth.

    ¡°Okay, if you say so,¡± teased Nivritti. Jeong-Eun stuck his tongue out at her making her grin.

    Nivritti then looked at Jae-Hwa. ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°He will ask around and call meter,¡± informed Jae-Hwa. She sat next to Nivritti and Him-Chan started cing all the packets in front of everyone. Jung-Hwa and Thae walked away and brought almost fifteen bottles of water with them.

    ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°I told you I am looking for a psychiatrist. She is helping me, rather her brother is helping me,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo abruptly shouted, ¡°why do you need anyone¡¯s help? Can¡¯t you find a professional nearby on your own?¡± His outburst made everyone look at him strangely. He realised that his voice was loud. He lowered his volume and softly continued, ¡°what I meant was why are you disturbing someone during their work time?¡±

    ¡°Oh no, King. It¡¯s okay. You know, doctors are always busy. Moreover, I didn¡¯t call him. I just left him a message and when he was free, he called me back,¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ohh!¡± smiled Kyung-Soo and immediately looked away. Nivritti kept looking at him trying to figure out the reason for his weird behaviour.

    Jung-Hwa shook his head in disbelief and pondered, ¡°one day Hyung is going to show the world his jealousy. Like a stupid person, he keeps showing his emotions. I need to talk to him. I need to tell him to behave like an adult.¡±

 Chapter 125

    125 The Head Bump

    After having lunch, ASD read a few scripts but this time they rejected every one of them. They evenined that the scripts they read yesterday were far better. The Rencontre team apologised to them and assured them that they will keep working harder.

    Again a few hours of dance practice and the evening approached fast. No one tried to call Young-Chul and asked him about his health as they wanted to give him appropriate time to rest.

    The office time was over, and Kyung-Soo sent every member back home and offered to drop the Rencontre team at their house. Dae and Jae-Hwa said that they had their cars in the office so he should drop them at the office. Nivritti said that her house was within walking distance from the office and as he was dropping two members at the office, she would get down at the office too.

    No matter how many times Kyung-Soo emphasised dropping her at her house, she refused his proposal every time. Dae kept rolling his eyes at every conversation. He felt like no one involved him in their chat. Everyone kept talking to each other, asking one another¡¯s opinions, teasing each other but no one paid any heed to him. He was as usual invisible to them.

    Kyung-Soo wanted to spend more time with Nivritti, but she made him drop everyone at the office and asked him to leave. Before leaving from office Nivritti inquired about the call from Jae-Geun but Jae-Hwa said that she had not received any call from her brother. She also assured that her brother would not leave her hanging and would definitely return the call with a reply. Jae-Hwa said that she would call her as soon as she would get a reply from her brother.

    After saying goodbye to Jae-Hwa, Nivritti walked towards her home. She exited the building and was walking on the pathway when a car honked behind her. At first, she ignored it. She thought that as she was walking on the pathway, that honk was not meant for her, she was so wrong. She moved a step forward and the car honked again.

    ¡°What is wrong?¡± she pondered and looked around. She almost lost her bnce with shock after looking at the car. A white Land Rover was following her. A tall man with a ck mask and blue shirt was looking at her. She knew that car. She knew that shirt. She knew the face behind the mask very well.

    ¡°What... what... are you doing?¡± she moved near the car and whispered to the driver.

    ¡°Get in,¡±manded Kyung-Soo. Nivritti could see the smile in his eyes.

    .....

    ¡°NK!¡± she kept stretching her neck to look in every direction like a meerkat.

    ¡°No one is recognising me. Get in before someone does,¡± he ordered.

    ¡°I can walk. Leave,¡± she pressured.

    ¡°I know you can walk but that does not mean you should,¡± contrasted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But, NK,¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°Get in or I will get out,¡± warned Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Fine, fine, don¡¯te out,¡± shouted Nivritti. She immediately stepped sideways and started opening the backdoor.

    ¡°Do I look like a driver to you?¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Nivritti was unable to understand his jibe.

    ¡°Get in front. This is not a taxi,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± eximed Nivritti and ran to the front of the car and opened the passenger side door. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you leave as I asked you to?¡± she asked while sitting on the seat. She ced all her bags in herp and looked at him.

    ¡°Keep these in the back seat and wear the seat belt,¡± ordered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I can hold these,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Why are you so stubborn?¡± said Kyung-Soo and grabbed her bags from herp.

    ¡°I am fine, NK,¡± she protested and tried grabbing the bags from him. But he was quick, he ced the bags in the back seat in one swift move. She too moved towards the back seat to stop Kyung-Soo. She moved towards the backseat, and he moved away from the back seat. Their heads met in between and banged.

    ¡°Ow!¡± both shouted at once. Nivritti caressed the left side of her head and Kyung-Soo caressed the right side of his head.

    ¡°I was keeping them safe. Why did you have to turn? You really are stubborn,¡± cried Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh, oh, yeah, you are the one to talk. I told you to go home yet you are still here,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°You gave me a concussion,¡± teased Kyung-Soo and turned away from her. He ced his hands over the steering wheel when without a single word, Nivritti extended her arms and grabbed Kyung-Soo¡¯s face. She made him look at her and pulled his head towards her. Leaning on him, with both her hands on either side of his face, softly she bumped his head with hers, again.

    Her face close to him made him forget how to breathe. He took a big gulp of air and stopped breathing. Her soft, warm hands on his face made him wish for time to stop. He always wanted her close to him. The closeness in such a confined space made his heart stop. He just kept blinking and staring at her.

    ¡°Sorry! Had to do that. There is a saying in India, that you have to bang the head twice otherwise both can forget their way home,¡± she exined and moved away from him.

    He just smiled at her. ¡°You can do that anytime,¡± he blurted out, absentmindedly.

    ¡°What? Give you a concussion?¡± she teased. He smiled at her and started the engine. Happily, he drove towards her house and dropped her off.

    ¡°See you tomorrow!¡± he said.

    She got down the car, opened the backseat door, grabbed her things and replied, ¡°bye!¡±

    ¡°Let me walk to your apartment,¡± he started opening his door. She ran up to him and shut his door immediately.

    ¡°Go home. I can walk to my apartment on my own. I don¡¯t want anyone to see you,¡± she requested.

    ¡°Or you don¡¯t want anyone to see a maning to your apartment?¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Shut up! Leave!¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, fine,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Take care of MY. Make sure he gets proper rest,¡± she demanded.

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Bye.¡±

    ¡°Bye.¡±

 Chapter 126

    126 The Onesie

    With arge smile on his face, Kyung-Soo drove away from Nivritti¡¯s building. Nivritti stood in her parking lot watching Kyung-Soo drive away. She kept staring at the car till it vanished before her eyes.

    She walked all the way up to her house and after punching in her code, she entered the living room. After cing her bags on the hook by the door, she went to her bedroom. She stood before the closet that arge mirror on the door and was shocked to look at her face.

    She was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Immediately she pressed her cheeks with both her hands and stopped smiling. ¡°What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you smiling that too like an idiot?¡± she scolded herself. She gasped loudly as she realised something. ¡°Was I smiling like this when I was with NK? No, no, no, no, no, no,¡± she kept repeating over and over again and turned away from the mirror.

    She hit her head with force and shouted, ¡°why do I act like an idiot in front of him? Why were you smiling, you stupid, stupid girl? Oh shit! I grabbed his face and bumped my head on his.¡± Screaming loudly, she covered her face with embarrassment. ¡°Oh, what would he think? I am a moron,¡± she cried and jumped over the bed. She hid her face with her pillow and screamed loudly.

    After a minute of tantrums, she raised her head from the pillow and smoothed her hair. ¡°Okay, from now on, be vignt. No stupid actions in front of him. No unconscious moves. Be stoic. Be indifferent. BE NORMAL.¡±

    She stood up from her bed and shook her head topose herself even more. ¡°No more stupidity! Be normal, be normal.¡± She gave herself a pep talk and opened the closet door. Taking out a fluffy yellow onesie, she went inside her bathroom. She needed thefort of the furry cloth after acting like an idiot in front of Kyung-Soo.

    She changed into the onesie and went into her kitchen. She opened her fridge and as usual, stared at the food inside the boxes. Finally, today she would be able to finish the food that the San family brought for her. After taking out the boxes, she left them on the kitchen counter to let them get warm.

    She took out herptop and her phone and started working on finding brilliant scripts. She was disappointed when ASD didn¡¯t like any of the scripts. She had to give them a nice one next time. For once she nced at the phone as she was waiting for Jae-Hwa to call but her phone was sitting on the table, silent.

    She fired up herptop and opened her server. She again went back to the oldest script she could find and started reading and slowly moving towards the newer scripts. Every day they were receiving hundreds of scripts. A single person would send them multiple scripts. The finance team was literally bathing in money. Every script was generating $20 each.

    .....

    Sitting in her warm, fuzzy onesie, her legs were extended on her table and theptop was in her legs. She was too focused on reading when her doorbell rang. She was surprised. She didn¡¯t order anything. She was not expecting anyone. She didn¡¯t even know anyone except a few people in Korea, then who came to her door?

    She gasped at the thought that Kyung-Soo might havee back. But it was hours since he left her, why would he return now? Did she forget anything in his car? She looked around, everything she took to the office was in her house. She didn¡¯t forget anything in his car. Then who rang her doorbell?

    She removed her hoodie that made her look like a cute yellow bunny and peeped through the peephole. A tall man with his back to the door was standing at her door. He had something white and metallic in his hands, she could not see clearly.

    ¡°Who is that?¡± she pondered. She twisted her lips to the left side and thought for a second about her next action.

    ¡°Yes?¡± she asked in Korean.

    ¡°Oh, Nivritti, it¡¯s me, Jae-Geun,¡± replied Jae-Geun from the other side of the door.

    ¡°Jae-Geun!!¡± she shouted and looked at herself. She was looking stupid in her onesie. ¡°Oh! Why did I have to wear this today?¡± she cried.

    ¡°Yes, Jae-Geun,¡± he replied. ¡°Sorry foring here unannounced but this is regarding what Jae-Hwa asked me to do.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what should I do? What should I do? I can¡¯t let him stand outside for long and run to change my clothes. This is how you act normal, idiot,¡± she facepalmed.

    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°Ahhh...¡± she pouted as she had no idea what to do. It would be rude to leave him standing outside for long so she decided to open the door dressed in a onesie. ¡°No, everything is fine,¡± she replied in a sad voice.

    Defeated and with her head hung low, she opened the door. Jae-Geun turned at the sound of the door and Nivritti appeared before him. The fluffy yellow dress made her look like a cute bunny but with a sad face.

    An amusing smile shed on Jae-Geun¡¯s face as he looked at her. He wanted to touch her red nose and tease her about her cheeks that kept turning redder and redder. He was about to open his mouth when Nivritti warned, ¡°don¡¯tugh.¡±

    Jae-Geun immediately stopped smiling and replied, ¡°I was not going to.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you call ahead?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°My phone stopped working as it fell down the stairs in the hospital, so couldn¡¯t call. Sorry!¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I would have changed if you would have called,¡± sulked Nivritti.

    ¡°Why this is fine? You don¡¯t like this dress, you are wearing? If you don¡¯t like it, why are you wearing it?¡± asked Jae-Geun, confused.

    ¡°Who said I don¡¯t like it? I like it that¡¯s why I am wearing it. But no one is supposed to see me in it,¡± pouted Nivritti.

 Chapter 127

    127 The Offense

    Jae-Geun looked around. Luckily, no other tenants were out of their houses.

    ¡°Are we going to have a full-fledged conversation right at the door?¡± teased Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Huh... ahh, sorry! Pleasee in,¡± Nivritti bowed down to him and apologised. He smiled at her cuteness. ¡°Please sit! I will get something for you.¡±

    She started moving towards the kitchen, but Jae-Geun grabbed her wrist and stopped her immediately. She looked at her hand, shocked and instantly pulled her hand from his grip. Jae-Geun could not believe that he touched her. The sensation of touching her soft skin was still lingering on his fingers.

    He clenched and unclenched his fists multiple times making sure that her touch would seep into his skin. ¡°No need. Please don¡¯t trouble yourself. I just came to give you a message.¡±

    ¡°Please sit!¡± she requested again.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I won¡¯t stay here for long,¡± he replied. Nivritti finally noticed that the white thing in his hand was his doctor¡¯s coat, and the metal thing was his stethoscope.

    ¡°Did youe here directly from the hospital?¡± questioned Nivritti, surprised.

    ¡°Yes, I had some time so I thought of getting my phone repaired,¡± he took out his phone and showed it to her. The whole screen was shattered into million pieces.

    .....

    ¡°What did you do? Step on it?¡± she teased.

    ¡°Ha-ha, no, I was talking on my phone when it slipped and fell down the stairs. The whole screen shattered, and everything turned ck. I can¡¯t even tell if this is switched on or off,¡± smiled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, so, what did you want to tell me?¡± she came straight to the point.

    ¡°Yes, right! I talked to my friend in the Psychiatry department. They have a slot empty, tomorrow evening at 7.30 pm. I wanted to ask you if I could book an appointment for you, but you know my phone,¡± he again shed his phone. ¡°so, I booked the appointment without asking you. Hope that is okay. You will have toe tomorrow to Seoul General at 7.30. Is that okay with you?¡±

    ¡°You could have called me from any phone at the hospital,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°How? I don¡¯t remember your number. And my screen is nk,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Right, sorry! But why did you have toe? You could have gone to your house and made Jae-Hwa call me,¡± advised Nivritti.

    ¡°I am not going back home. I have to return back to the hospital,¡± replied Jae-Geun. ¡°Why does it feel like you didn¡¯t want me toe? I thought I was helping you,¡± sulked Jae-Geun. He was so happy that he got to see Nivritti so soon. But here she was disappointed that he came.

    Nivritti realised that she was being rude. ¡°No, no, I didn¡¯t mean it like that. Sorry for the offensive words. I am very sorry. I just... I...¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t want anyone to see you in this dress,¡± Jae-Geun finally understood why she was behaving like that.

    ¡°Yes, sorry! I didn¡¯t mean to offend you. Thank you for making the appointment. Thank you for helping me. Thank you foring here to inform me. I am really, really sorry,¡± Nivritti hung her head low with shame and guilt.

    Jae-Geun smiled at her sweet reaction. She was already wearing a cute outfit and on top of that, her red nose and red cheeks were making her look cuter. When she lowered her head due to guilt he saw the hoodie of the outfit. It had cute eyes and two yellow bunny ears protruding from the dress. He could only imagine how much cuter she would look after wearing that hoodie.

    He made an angry face and with a fake angry voice, he said, ¡°Jae-Hwa asked me to help you, that¡¯s why I came here. But you...¡±

    ¡°I am extremely sorry. Please forgive me,¡± said Nivritti in a guilt-ridden tone.

    ¡°I can forgive you...¡±

    ¡°Really!!¡± shouted Nivritti and lifted her head up.

    ¡°Yeah, if you agree to treat me to dinner for getting you an appointment so soon,¡± said Jae-Geun with his nose up in the air.

    ¡°Now?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Jae-Geun. ¡°Not now, I told you I have to go back to the hospital. I just came out to get my phone repaired and also, my friend is waiting downstairs in the car. But you have to promise that you will take me to dinner, and I can order anything I want.¡±

    Hearing himugh, she rxed. She smiled, ¡°done. Anything you want. Just inform me when you are free.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I will do that.¡±

    ¡°You will have to pick the restaurant too. I am still making myself familiar with the surroundings so it would be better if you chose one,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°Then I will choose the most expensive one,¡± teased Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Hey! I work for idols, I am not an idol,¡± pouted Nivritti. Jae-Geun slouched his shoulder and tilted his head after looking at her cute expression. He wanted to grab her pouting lips. He scrunched his nose and smiled at her.

    ¡°Okay, then second expensive,¡± he smirked at her.

    She realised that he was teasing her. Her smile widened and she replied, ¡°okay, done.¡±

    Her smile was like a cupid¡¯s arrow to his heart. He stopped smiling abruptly and gasped for air. His heart skipped a beat when she smiled sweetly at him. He could not believe that he would spend time with her alone. The fine lines at the end of her eyes, while she was smiling, were like the tline of his heart. She could easily kill anyone with her cute smile.

    The twinkle in her eyes, the lift on the corner of her lips was enough to race even the toughest of hearts. Jae-Geun could only blink after looking at her beauty. He had no idea why this girl had such a pull on him.

    Since the day he met her, she was the only one in his mind. No matter where he went, or what he did, he could only think about her. Everywhere he went, he saw her, hallucinated her. He would find reasons to talk to Jae-Hwa and would wait for her to talk about Nivritti. He kept staring at the t-shirt that she gave him.

    He had no courage to wear that yet. He wanted to save the t-shirt for a special asion. That special asion would arrive soon, the day he would go on dinner with her. He was unable to control his excitement, but her sweet face was making him swoon more.

 Chapter 128 - 128 The Plagiarism

    128 The giarism

    Jae-Geun kept staring at her without speaking a single word. Nivritti, who was smiling, stopped smiling and looked at him, confused. It seemed that he was looking at her, but his mind was elsewhere.

    ¡°Jae-Geun!¡± Nivritti snapped before his face as it was long since he kept staring at her face.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± her snap brought him back to earth. ¡°Was thinking of a case,¡± he lied.

    ¡°Your work must be tough,¡± she smiled.

    ¡°Stop smiling, you will give me a heart attack,¡± he contemted. ¡°A little bit, but it is more rewarding,¡± he replied. ¡°I should leave. Don¡¯t forget your appointment.¡±

    ¡°Thank you and sorry again,¡± Nivritti bowed down to him.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± he smiled.

    He moved towards the door ready to leave when his eyes fell on the containers of food. He remembered those containers that Nivritti stored the food in. She even heated the food when he came to her house to get Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Have you still not finished Uhmma¡¯s food?¡± he halted in his path and asked.

    .....

    ¡°Uh¡­ ah¡­ you guys brought so much food for me,¡± sheined.

    ¡°It¡¯s been days. You cannot eat it now. Throw it away,¡± he scolded her. ¡°Why are you eating the food after so many days? You should have dumped it days ago.¡±

    ¡°It is good to eat. It was in the fridge. It¡¯s still eatable,¡± she protested.

    ¡°Nivritti! Are you the doctor?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Who is the doctor?¡±

    ¡°You are,¡± replied Nivritti, embarrassed.

    ¡°You must always eat fresh food. Don¡¯t feel obligated to finish my mother¡¯s food due to some false sense of loyalty. She is not going toe and check if you finished everything. I am sorry that she went overboard. You must not think about hurting her feelings, think about hurting your stomach,¡± he exined, sweetly.

    ¡°Okay! I will not eat that,¡± answered Nivritti, mortified.

    ¡°Um¡­ sorry that I stopped you from eating those. Now you will have to cook,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will order for tonight,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, good. And from now on never eat food that is days old, got it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Doctor,¡± teased Nivritti. Jae-Geun scoffed loudly and smiled at her.

    ¡°Eat well and sleep well. Will see you tomorrow,¡± greeted Jae-Geun and opened the door.

    ¡°Good night,¡± said Nivritti and waved him goodbye.

    Jae-Geun closed the door behind him and ran one flight of stairs. After he was sure that Nivritti would not hear him or see him, he leaned with his back over the wall and grabbed his chest.

    ¡°Huh,¡± he exhaled loudly and sighed with relief. ¡°She will kill me one day with her cuteness. Ohh, so cute!!¡± his mind shed back to her cute dress. ¡°I just wanted to pinch her cute, red cheeks. Her rosy red nose and her pink lips, ah¡­ they make my heart stop. What would happen when I would kiss her lips? Woah! Shut up! What are you thinking about, Jaegeuna? Have you lost your mind? Since when did you want to kiss a girl? Concentrate on your work, stop thinking about absurd things.¡± He struck his head with force and walked all the way to his car, shaking his head in disbelief.

    As soon as Jae-Geun left her apartment, she ran to the door and bolted it shut. She leaned on the door with her back and hid her face with her palms. ¡°Ahh¡­ why? Why?? Why??? Why do these things happen to me? Why can¡¯t I act normal? Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!¡± with every ¡®stupid¡¯ she kept banging her fist on her forehead.

    ¡°You had to wear this today!!¡± she shouted at the top of her lungs. She wanted to run into her bedroom and hide under her sheets but she had work to do. She pouted and while slouching walked to her couch. With a jerk, she flung her hoodie back in her head and brought it close to her eyes.

    She felt if she would hide her face, she would hide her humiliation, her embarrassment. She was thinking like an ostrich, stupid girl.

    Moving the hoodie, a bit to the side, she looked at her kitchen and stared at the containers of food. She had to throw them away. She then nced at her phone and opened a food-ordering app. She searched for the food that she wanted to eat. She needed somethingforting, something delicious. She looked for an Indian restaurant and ordered a butter chicken and butter naan.

    She then picked up herptop and waited for her food to arrive. Sifting through scripts, she too felt disappointed as the writings of people started to look alike. It seemed as if they read the type and genre of the stories first submitted and wrote along the same lines. It appeared as if she was reading fanfiction of fanfiction.

    Slowly, the scripts started to appear as giarised. The situation would be the same, the sentence structure would be the same, even the opening lines would be the same. They would just change the name of ASD member as per their Bias. That angered her.

    It was an insult to the real writer and also to the people who would read the scripts. What were they thinking before giarising? Did they think that they would not get caught and their scripts would get selected? She made another folder and shifted all the giarised scripts.

    She took out a yellow sticky note and wrote ¡°talk about giarised scripts with CH. Ask him to ban the writers from participating further.¡± She cursed herself for not thinking about this matter beforehand. She could have added a term about giarism in the rules.

    Well, if not then, she would have to do something about it now. And that would be the first point she would talk to Chung-Ho, tomorrow. For now, she again started sifting through scripts and read them one by one.

    After a while, her phone rang. She was sure that it would the delivery person. She looked at her phone, it was Jae-Hwa.

 Chapter 129 - 129 The Worry

    129 The Worry

    ¡°Oh!¡± she eximed. ¡°Jae!¡± she picked up the phone and greeted, ¡°Hello!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Ritti! Don¡¯t be sad or mad,¡± Jae-Hwa came straight to the point.

    ¡°What happened, Jae?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Um¡­ Oppa has not called me yet with any news. I have tried calling his phone, but I can¡¯t get through. I even called the hospital, but he is not there,¡± replied Jae-Hwa, guilt-ridden. One could hear the sadness in her voice.

    Nivrittiughed on phone after hearing Jae-Hwa, concerned voice. She was d that her friend worried about her.

    ¡°Why are youughing?¡± sulked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Because your brother was here,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, his phone fell and he broke his phone. He came out of the hospital to repair it and on his way, he came to my house to tell me that I have an appointment tomorrow. He will not be returning home today as he has some case in the hospital. I think after he gets his phone repaired, he will call you,¡± exined Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°Woah! You know more about him, more than I know about him. Are you, his girlfriend?¡± taunted Jae-Hwa, surprised.

    ¡°Jae! Shut up!¡± shouted Nivritti. She didn¡¯t like her teasing at all. She felt ufortable being called someone¡¯s girlfriend.

    ¡°I was just joking,¡± apologised Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like such jokes,¡± said Nivritti, angrily.

    ¡°Sorry! Please don¡¯t be angry,¡± pleaded Jae-Hwa. ¡°I will treat you to the world¡¯s best coffee.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, okay. But what is the world¡¯s best coffee?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°The coffee I make with my own hands,¡± replied, Jae-Hwa, yfully.

    Nivritti shook her head in disbelief, ¡°you are an idiot!¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha, I know,¡±ughed Jae-Hwa. She was d that Nivritti didn¡¯t get angry for long at her. She realised that she should control her tongue from now on.

    Suddenly Nivritti¡¯s doorbell rang. ¡°Oh! Looks like someone is at your door. I will talk to youter. Good night,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, goodnight!¡± greeted Nivritti and disconnected the call. She ran to the door and looked through the peephole. A delivery woman in a ck cap was standing at her door.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo!¡± the delivery person greeted as soon as Nivritti opened the door.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo,¡± replied Nivritti. She took the parcel from the girl who bowed down to her and left. Nivritti had paid for the food online.

    She ran to the kitchen and took out a te. She opened the lid of the parcel and took in the buttery, spicy, delicious smell of the chicken. She closed her eyes to enhance her sense of smell and sighed with happiness.

    cing the hot, buttery naan and steaming hot butter chicken on the te, she moved towards her couch. She switched on her television and enjoyed her food while watching a soap opera. She would moan after every bite.

    ¡°Ah, Heaven!¡± she moaned. She was not even drinking water as that would remove the delicious taste for a minute from the mouth. The tender, juicy chicken pieces would melt in her mouth. The slightly charred naan kept enhancing the already vourful vour.

    After licking the te clean, she just slid down on her couch forfort. Keeping her eyes closed, she kept halfying on the couch idly. When she felt the gravy drying on her fingers, she finally stood up and took her tes into the kitchen.

    She ced the te in the kitchen sink and rinsed her hands. She looked around at all the containers lying on the counter. One by one she started emptying them into the garbage. She had so many dishes to wash. How she wished for a dishwasher right now.

    First, she threw out the garbage and locked all the doors and windows. She cleaned her containers and tes and ced them on the drying rack to dry. Finally, she was feeling warm and content after having Indian food. Act after act of stupidity made her feel like an idiot but delicious foodforted her heart, and she was feeling a lot better.

    She decided to retire for the night. She closed herptop and ced it back in her bag. Grabbing her phone, she came to her bedroom and jumped on her bed. After getting inside the nket, she looked at her phone.

    Her mind went back to Young-Chul. He was not feeling well. Should she ask him how he was feeling now? Was she that close to him? Should she disturb him at this time? But he looked pale and tired, she wanted to know how he was feeling now.

    Crossing her fingers, she opened her messaging app and send a message to Young-Chul, ¡°Annyeonghaseyo! How are you feeling now? Rest well and get better soon.¡±

    She waited for a few minutes but there was no reply. She kept tapping on her phone with her fingernails. ¡°Should I ask him? No, not him. Maybe JJ,¡± she pondered.

    The next message she sent to was to Jung-Hwa. ¡°Hi, JJ! How is MY doing? Is he feeling okay now?¡±

    She again waited for a reply, but her phone never chimed. ¡°Has everyone retired for the night? Why is no one replying? Did something happen to MY? Is he not, okay? No, no, what am I thinking about? Everything is okay. Everything is fine. They are just sleeping. It¡¯ste. They need their rest,¡± she kept talking to herself.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ what should I do? Stop being nosy, Ritti. Go to sleep. You don¡¯t want to bete again, do you?¡± She switched off the light and covered herself with the nket. For a few minutes, she kept staring out her window in the darkness.

    ¡°Shit!!¡± she shouted and sat up. ¡°I can¡¯t even sleep now. I only have one final path to walk on. NK. Oh, why? Why? Why only him? Why can¡¯t JJ or MY reply to my messages? Now I will have to message NK,¡± she shouted and banged her hand hard on her mattress.

    ¡°If he won¡¯t reply, I am going to lose my mind,¡± she screamed. She opened her phone again and sent a message to Kyung-Soo. ¡°Hi! Sorry for messaging you sote. I just wanted to ask about MY. How is he doing? Is he alright?¡±

    Message sent. Shey back down but kept staring at her phone screen. Continuously looking at her phone screen, she slept while waiting for a reply but that reply never came. Her phone never chimed. There was not a single notification.

 Chapter 130 - 130 The Frustration

    130 The Frustration

    Chirp! Chirp!

    The rm tone chirped loudly. Nivritti sat up with a jolt and urgently searched for her phone. She forgot that she slept with her phone in hand. So, the first ce she looked was her side table. But her phone was not there. She then looked on her pillow, the phone was still elusive.

    Chirp! Chirp!

    The rm tone kept chirping.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ where are you?¡± she groaned with frustration. She inserted her hands below her pillow, and there it was, her phone, tucked between her two pillows. Immediately she shut the rm off. The first thing she noticed on her phone was the notifications. She dragged the notification bar and looked around.

    All were marketing notifications from various apps. She was disappointed as there was no reply to any of her messages. Neither Young-Chul, Jung-Hwa nor Kyung-Soo, replied to her back. She exhaled loudly and slouched her shoulder with disappointment.

    ¡°What is wrong? Why haven¡¯t they replied yet? Are they still sleeping?¡± she sulked. Abruptly she sat up with her back straight. ¡°Am I being too nosy? Should I give them space? Maybe they don¡¯t want to discuss the matter with me. Oh shit! I am being too nosy. Why did I message three people? I should have waited for MY¡¯s reply.¡± She again slouched her shoulder.

    Gloomy and discontent, she threw the corner of the nket away and got up from the bed. She did everything with a disappointed face and an arched shoulder. She came out of the bathroom and sat in front of the mirror to get ready.

    As she washed her hair, it would take her a long time to blow dry it. She grabbed her hair dryer and without looking in the mirror kept drying her hair, disinterested. Once she nced at her pouting face and immediately looked away.

    .....

    She banged the hair dryer hard on the dressing table and shouted, ¡°ahh¡­ why do they call me their friend when they can¡¯t even reply to a single message? They may be idols who are busy, I too am not sitting idle sending them messages. How can they leave me hanging? How rude! Ugh¡­ rich people!¡±

    She grabbed the hair dryer back and sulked, ¡°I am not going to talk to them for the full day. Huh¡­¡±

    She chose a white blouse and a grey pencil skirt for the day. She picked a white overcoat to pair with the dress and got ready. Leaving the overcoat on the couch, she went to the kitchen and prepared breakfast for herself.

    Finally, she was ready to leave the house. She wore the overcoat and grabbed her bags. She was in a foul mood the whole way. Even a simple honk of the car would irk her. The whole way she kept sneering at the drivers.

    ¡°What? Can¡¯t you see I am walking? Are you stupid? Are you blind?¡± and many morements came out of her mouth. It was almost like she came out of the house ready to fight.

    Ultimately, she reached the office and without greeting the guard, just moved in. The guard too was surprised. Every morning she used to greet him, so what happened today? She chose a lift that waspletely empty and rode it alone to the 11th floor.

    She didn¡¯t want to talk to anyone but had to greet everyone on her way to her seat. She was angry but she was not rude, unlike ASD. She kept her phone clenched in his fist inside her coat pocket. Every time the phone would vibrate, she would instantly take it out to see what was the notification. And every time she would be disappointed that there was no reply from ASD.

    ¡°Should I message other members? Everyone will think I am weird. Let one of theme, then I will ask,¡± she pondered.

    ¡°Hey!¡± whispered Jae-Hwa

    ¡°What?¡± replied Nivritti. She didn¡¯t hear what Jae-Hwa said as she was too busy in her thoughts.

    ¡°I just said hi,¡± answered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, sorry. Good morning!¡± she then looked at Dae and greeted him, ¡°Good morning, Mr. Seong.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, good morning!¡± without looking at her, he replied.

    ¡°You okay!¡± asked Jae-Hwa after Nivritti sat in her seat.

    ¡°Yes, why do you ask?¡± questioned Nivritti.

    ¡°You look like you were thinking seriously about something. Did something happen?¡± she asked.

    ¡°No, no, I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Sorry aboutst night¡¯s tease,¡± said Jae-Hwa, guilt-ridden.

    Nivritti exhaled and replied, ¡°it¡¯s okay.¡±

    ¡°So, when is your appointment?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Evening, 7.30 pm,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Yaaa¡­ you girls always keep chatting and talking. Concentrate on your work,¡± scolded Dae.

    ¡°Sorry, Seong-ssi. Sorry Mr. Seong,¡± both girls apologised together. They looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. They both immediately went back to their work.

    Nivritti didn¡¯t even have the time to start her system. As the Rencontre team mostly worked on theirptops, it was days since Nivritti switched on her desktop. She ced herptop next to her desktop and turned both on. There were a few emails on her desktop that she had already checked on herptop.

    As she was not in the daily mail loop, her inbox was filled with only read emails. After seeing that there was nothing new on her desktop, she closed it and opened her server on herptop.

    She tried reading a script, but her focus was on Young-Chul and the non-reply to her messages. She had no idea how to react. They treated her well, took care of her, and talked to her sweetly, then why were they ignoring her?

    ¡°Why are they not replying?¡± she constantly kept checking her phone.

    For an hour, she only checked two things, her phone for messages and the clock on her screen. ¡°They must have woken up. Didn¡¯t they check their message? Wait! Did they receive my message?¡± she opened every message that she send and checked again. That made her angrier. The screen said ¡®read¡¯ after every message except Young-Chul¡¯s.

    ¡°How can they leave my message on read and not reply? Ahh¡­ seriously!¡± she kept grinding her teeth with anger and frustration.

    She again checked the clock and was shocked. ¡°It iste. Why is no oneing to pick us up?¡± she pondered.

    ¡°Rencontre team!¡± shouted Chung-Ho after a few minutes.

 Chapter 131 - 131 The Solution to Plagiarism

    131 The Solution to giarism

    All three members of the Rencontre team stood up and looked at him. Chung-Ho was seated on his chair but turned the same to face the Rencontre team.

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Today you will work here. King is too busy to read scripts today, so he asked to inform you guys. It is possible that you won¡¯t see him tomorrow too. Keep reading the scripts and save them for him. Okay?¡± informed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti, absentmindedly. She wanted to see the boys and ask them about Young-Chul but her n failed. No one was replying to her message, nor she was going to see them.

    ¡°What? Are you okay?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    Nivritti realised that her ¡®what¡¯ was too loud and out of character. She gulped and replied, ¡°I am fine Mr. Choi. I was just thinking about Mr. Man. He was a bit under the weather yesterday. Is he okay?¡±

    ¡°Oh! Sorry, King didn¡¯t say anything about that. Moreover, I didn¡¯t talk to King himself, his manager informed him. It seems King was too busy to call me himself,¡± informed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Right!¡± Nivritti just nodded.

    ¡°You can ask Young yourself. You have their numbers, don¡¯t you?¡± asked Chung-Ho. Hisment made all the people sitting in the department lift their heads up and stare at Nivritti. They were shocked to hear that a new girl had the personal number of ASD. In all the years of their careers, only a few had Kyung-Soo¡¯s number but not every member of ASD.

    .....

    She looked around at every prying face and replied, ¡°it¡¯s okay. I will ask them next time I meet them.¡± She bowed down to Chung-Ho and sat down in her seat.

    ¡°Woah! This department is something else,¡± she mumbled. ¡°They are acting as if getting a number of ASD is a crime. As if I only have their number. Why are they acting like I ammitting a crime when every employee in the script department had ASD¡¯s number?¡±

    She was wrong. She was so, wrong.

    Sulking she looked at herptop when a rustling sound made her look behind herptop. Her eyes fell on the yellow sticky note stuck to herptop.

    ¡°Right! Let¡¯s do some work,¡± she motivated herself. She again stood up and called after Chung-Ho. ¡°Mr. Choi!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± he replied without looking at her.

    ¡°Could you pleasee to my seat? I have a question about the scripts. Mr. Seong, Jae-Hwa, you too shoulde here,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°What is the matter?¡± asked Dae, unconcerned. He just rolled his eyes at her. ¡°What new nonsense she came up with? She thinks that aftering up with an idea, she owns everyone,¡± muttered Dae to himself.

    ¡°If she is asking you to go, go and see what is bothering her. You are her senior, you should help her, Seong-ssi. Why are you grouchy? Didn¡¯t you have your morning coffee?¡± mocked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± with a fakeugh, Dae looked at Chung-Ho. ¡°You are too yful, Choi-ssi.¡±

    ¡°Come on!¡± he wrapped his arm around Dae¡¯s shoulder and pulled him with him to Nivritti¡¯s desk.

    ¡°What, Nivritti?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Please read these two,¡± said Nivritti. She had two different windows open on her screen.

    Dae, Chung-Ho, and Jae-Hwa looked at the screen and started reading. The usernames of the readers were different. The scripts written for the members were different. The dates submitted were different but the scripts were the same. There were a few changes here and there, but it was clear that one was a copy of the other.

    Chung-Ho was the first to speak, ¡°Wah! How can someone submit this? Do they think we are a fool?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, how can someone think that we would not notice this?¡± shouted Dae, frustrated.

    ¡°Sorry guys! This increased your workload. Now you don¡¯t only have to read the scripts but have to be on the lookout for giarism,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Can¡¯t we do anything about this?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, we have always written every script in-house, so never had to deal with giarism before,¡± answered Chung-Ho.

    ¡°He is right. Ahh¡­ this will increase the workload. Moreover, we will have to remember every script we read,¡± nodded Dae, annoyed.

    ¡°I am sorry for not thinking about this issue beforehand. If we would have said something about this in our rules, maybe people would have not done this,¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, why didn¡¯t you think that before?¡± scolded Dae.

    ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡± shouted Chung-Ho. ¡°First of all, Seong-ssi, why is everything her responsibility? We are her senior, why could we think about this? And you,¡± he looked at Nivritti, ¡°stop talking nonsense. No one can anticipate everything. We never thought that anything like this could happen. Now we know about it, we can start working on solutions.¡±

    Chung-Ho again looked at the screen and asked, ¡°is this the only one?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ no,¡± Nivritti moved forward and opened the folder that she made yesterday for the giarised scripts. There was a long list of scripts inside it.

    ¡°What? All these scripts are giarised?¡± shouted Chung-Ho.

    ¡°No, half is original, and half is the copy,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Wow! People are cheaters!¡± shouted Chung-Ho. ¡°All of you think about how to deal with this,¡± he announced in the department.

    ¡°Give us some time,¡± requested Dae.

    ¡°Um¡­ CH, I mean Choi-ssi, there are lots of giarism checker softwares in the market. Why can¡¯t we get one embedded in our server? IT can work on it if you, HOD would approve,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°Woah! That simple?¡± asked Chung-Ho, impressed.

    ¡°Yes, there are lots of giarism checkers that work as an extension on your browser tab. We can get something like that,¡± rmended Nivritti.

    ¡°So smart!¡± praised Chung-Ho and patted Nivritti¡¯s head, adoringly.

    Dae Gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in anger. Here he was asking for more time but this girl had to speak up. She had to show how intelligent she was, how tech-savvy she was. Of course, she was tech-savvy, she was Indian after all. They are known for working in call centres. So, what a few of them go and be software engineers? If she had an idea already why didn¡¯t she speak before? Why did she wait for Chung-Ho to announce and then answer him? What was she trying to prove?

    ¡°I will talk to Hu-ssi and then IT. Any new software, he will have to approve,¡± informed Chung-Ho. ¡°Good work, very good work,¡± he could not stop himself from praising her.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, CH. You are overdoing it,¡± she replied humbly and embarrassed.

    Chung-Ho smiled at her. ¡°Learn to takepliments.¡±

 Chapter 132 - 132 The Presentation

    132 The Presentation

    Jae-Hwa looked at Nivritti and smile brightly. Nivritti could not control her happiness. She tucked her lips in to avoid smiling but could not help it. Shyly, she smiled at her. Jae-Hwa extended her fist at her, and Nivritti happily bumped it.

    Dae rolled his eyes at her. ¡°Ah¡­ she is so annoying. Only she cane up with good ideas. Our ideas are all wrong. Learn to takepliments. Seriously? She is getting unbearable every day.¡±

    Nivritti sat down to work again. Her anger was gone for now. Now, she could concentrate on her work. She opened the server and started reading the scripts. A few more copied scripts, that she found, she transferred them into the new folder. Now she had to wait for approval from the CEO for the new software.

    After around an hour, Chung-Ho again called for the Rencontre team, ¡°Rencontre team!¡±

    All three again stood up and looked at him. Dae was unconsciously chewing on a pencil, but when Chung-Ho called him, he took it out of his mouth and grabbed it in his wrist. ¡°Did you find any more copied scripts?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I have,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Not till now. But I am on the lookout,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Me too,¡± answered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, then, Nivritti, get ready for another presentation in front of Hu-ssi,¡± informed Chung-Ho. Immediately the pencil in Dae¡¯s hand snapped into two.

    .....

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°What? You already have given a presentation before him and then you had that talk before him. Why are you scared now?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Scared? Who is scared? I am not scared,¡± scoffed Nivritti and startedughing. But it looked like she was hyperventting.

    ¡°Yeah, right. I can see that,¡± teased Chung-Ho. ¡°He will be here in half an hour. I want you three inside the conference room.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi. Yes, Mr. Choi,¡± all three nodded simultaneously.

    The whole department started working diligently after hearing that the CEO was soon going to visit. After half an hour Chung-Ho¡¯s phone rang. He picked it up and nodded for a few seconds. After talking on the phone he turned around and spoke loudly, ¡°guys! Get in. He is arriving in minutes. Ritti! IT team is alsoing. You can tell them what you want. Software, extent, whatever.¡±

    ¡°Extension, Mr. Choi,¡± she corrected him.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, that,¡± smiled Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be rude,¡± scolded Dae.

    ¡°How is she rude?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°It¡¯s not nice to correct someone, Choi-ssi,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Since when is correcting someone, rude? She is teaching me something. We old fossils should learn from youngsters. Then only we can speak at their level. Do you know what is GOAT, Bae, TTYT? Kids tell us these things,¡± exined Chung-Ho.

    ¡°GOAT, Bae, TTYT?¡± muttered Dae. Jae-Hwa and Nivritti startedughing. Nivritti grabbed herptop and moved to the conference room. She hooked theptop to the projector and opened the folder that had the giarised scripts.

    The Rencontre team was waiting inside the conference room, all ready. The door of the room opened, and Chung-Ho entered first. He stood at the door and weed Hu Bong inside. He was followed by a young woman and a middle-aged man.

    ¡°Ah, Indian!¡± instantly the middle-aged man shouted. She looked at him and saw that he was Indian too. She smiled at him.

    All three bowed down to the Rencontre team and the Rencontre team returned the greeting.

    ¡°Hu-ssi, you remember Seong Dae, he is the script editor. This is Jae-Hwa and¡­¡± said Chung-Ho.

    Before Chung-Ho could introduce Nivritti, Hu Bong looked at her and asked, ¡°how are you, Nivritti?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Nivritti was taken aback that he remembered her name. ¡°I am good, sir. Thank you for asking,¡± she bowed down to her.

    Dae felt a gut punch as soon as Hu Bong recognised Nivritti. ¡°I have been working here for ages and he still needs my introduction. This girl came here just days ago, and he remembers her. Who is she? Is she rted to him? That must be it. It is impossible that he remembers her just because she made a good impression,¡± sulked Dae.

    He was so wrong. Of course, he remembered her after she made an impression on him. He just remembered her face after she gave the idea for Rencontre. But after the day she saved K&Q from scandal, he remembered her name. The longsting impression was made after Bong noticed Kyung-Soo staring at her.

    ¡°Rencontre team, this is Alice Yang and Ravi Kumar from IT,¡± introduced Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo,¡± all said to each other.

    ¡°Wah! Indian! Choi-ssi, you never informed me that you hired an Indian,¡± Ravi moved forward and joined his hands in namaste and greeted Nivritti.

    ¡°Namaste!¡± she greeted him too.

    ¡°When did you join?¡± asked Ravi.

    ¡°A few weeks ago,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, you can have a get-togetherter. Should we do what we are here for?¡± said Bong.

    All were seated in their seats and Nivritti shut down the lights. The presentation started.

    ¡°These are a few of the scripts that I have found. First, it started with simr storylines or simr scenarios, and then scripts started having the same words. For example, look at this script. It was submitted on the 7th. As this was received first, we can assume that this is the original script.¡± She gave a few minutes time to everyone toplete reading the script.

    After they were done, they nodded at her. ¡°Now, look at this,¡± she opened the copied script. ¡°It was received on the 13th. I think the writer thought that they could copy an old script, and none will be wiser. The gap was just a few weeks, so it was easy to spot. Think about what would happen in months. Definitely, we will forget about the old scripts we read.¡± She again gave them a few minutes to read.

    ¡°Woah! That is word by word,¡± noted Alice, shocked.

    ¡°This is only one script.¡± Nivritti showed them the folder that had the giarised scripts. ¡°Half of these are originals and half are copies.¡±

    ¡°So many!¡± said Bong.

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±

 Chapter 133 - 133 The True Businessman

    133 The True Businessman

    Hu Bong looked at everyone and then thought for a few minutes. ¡°So, what do you want to do?¡± asked Hu Bong.

    ¡°I want Rencontre¡¯s official handle to give out a statement regarding the same. That we have found a lot of copied scripts and further giarism will not be tolerated. If a person is found to do the same, all his or her scripts will be rejected no matter if it is giarised or original. That will lead to banning. No matter how many usernames they change, their identification card would be the same. Then I want IT to reconfigure the servers so that we can monitor if the culprit tries to submit the scripts through a new username. And I want a giarism checker to make our work easy,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ IT team?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°Getting a giarism checker is easy. We can get you an extension,¡± replied Alice.

    ¡°Woah! That¡¯s what she said,¡± praised Chung-Ho and pointed at Nivritti making her blush.

    ¡°Um¡­ how will the extension work?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°It will be an added function in your browser. The moment you will open your browser, the checker will automatically start. You don¡¯t have to do anything. It will automatically read the scripts and underline the lines that it thinks are giarised. Once it reads the scripts, it will remember it and if the scripts get repeated, it will underline the whole script, that way you can tell which is original and which is the copy,¡± exined Alice.

    ¡°Regarding your request for the scanning of the Identification Card, that will take some time. We will have to add a new function to our already existing software. That will take us days to code and then add the said code to the servers. But there is a catch. They can use different ID cards. So you will have to tag their username for giarism and then their ID card will be tagged. You cannot anticipate the number of ID card one individual possess. They might use their guardian¡¯s ID card too,¡± exined Ravi.

    ¡°Can we ask participants to use only passports? They need one to get in Korea if they are selected,¡± suggested Dae.

    .....

    ¡°Good suggestion, Seong-ssi,¡± praised Chung-Ho.

    ¡°But Sir!¡± interrupted Nivritti. Dae saw red at that moment. It was his moment of glory, but she had to step on it. He clenched his fists tightly otherwise he would have strangled her. ¡°That would mean that arge number of people can¡¯t participate. Every participant has five months to get a passport. We should not deny them the chance to participate just because they don¡¯t have a passport. They can keep writing and applying for passports at the same time,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°She is right. Moreover, if we add this rule that only people with passports can participate, just think about how much we will lose. Now everyone is writing at least 3-4 scripts which means $20 for each script. If we add the passport use, our daily profit will be lost. So, let them write. Everyone knows that they would need a passport to fly to Korea to receive their grand prize. That¡¯smon knowledge,mon sense. If they won¡¯t have a passport, they will have to forfeit their prize and the next person will be announced as the winner,¡± said Bong.

    ¡°Spoken like a true businessman, Sir,¡± praised Dae. But Bong was too concerned with the expression on Nivritti¡¯s face.

    ¡°I know what I said was almost capitalism. Trust me, I care for every fan. If not for them, K&Q would not exist. But I have apany to run too. My employees alwayse first. If we won¡¯t make money, how will I pay them?¡± exined Bong.

    Nivritti just looked at him and nodded. Dae grabbed the fabric of his trousers and crumpled it with anger.

    ¡°So, anything else you want to discuss?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°Ritti?¡± pressured Chung-Ho. Dae clenched his fists so tight that his knuckles turned white. Everyone kept looking at her, asking her questions, as if he didn¡¯t matter at all. Bong even ignored him. His despise for Nivritti climbed a notch up.

    ¡°No, I think we covered everything. Sorry, I didn¡¯t think about this issue beforehand. We could have added a rule in the beginning and avoided all this drama,¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°One learns on the job,¡±mented Bong with a smile. ¡°So, IT team, get working. Choi-ssi, give a write-up to them and they will add this giarism rule on the server and highlight it. I will talk to the PR team to release a statement and Nivritti, good job.¡±

    Nivritti again bowed down to him with respect.

    ¡°Then, we should leave,¡± signalled Bong and the IT team stood up to leave. Bong was at the door when he stopped and looked back. ¡°In about two weeks we willplete a month of receiving scripts. I will need an update after that. We can n another meeting then,¡± hemanded.

    ¡°Yes, Hu-ssi. We will have a meeting after a month,¡± nodded Chung-Ho.

    Hu Bong and the IT team left, and the Rencontre team looked at each other in horror.

    ¡°What does he mean by an update?¡± asked Jae-Hwa. ¡°I cannot speak in front of him,¡± she shouted with fear.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think the meeting will only be with him,¡± sighed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°What?¡± the Rencontre team shouted.

    ¡°I think he will get everyone, the PR team, the finance team, IT, ASD, production. I think he will talk about the future, how to proceed with the scripts,¡± exined Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Will we have to make a summary?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Summary? What summary?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Um¡­ about how many scripts we read, what were the concepts, how many Mr. Nam approved, etc. Etc,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Really? Now, I will have to count how many scripts I read?¡± shouted Dae.

    ¡°Calm down! I will ask him what kind of update he wants. In the meantime, it would be better to be prepared,¡±forted Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Aishhh¡­¡± shouted Dae with frustration.

    ¡°I cannot talk in front of him,¡± mumbled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Team! Pull yourself together,¡± assured Chung-Ho. ¡°That is the future you¡¯s problem. Present you, must concentrate on reading as many scripts they can find. Go back to your seats. Fighting!¡±

    ¡°Fighting?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s what Koreans say to motivate,¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh! Then fighting!¡± replied Nivritti.

    All three came out and started working on theirptops.

 Chapter 134 - 134 The Accident

    134 The ident

    ¡°Rencontre scripts judges have found cases of giarism. Please note that such tactics to win the contest will not be tolerated in any case. From now on, the judges will run the scripts through a giarism checker and if the giarised words are more than 40%, then the script will be rejected and the username will be banned from posting any more scripts.

    We know the punishment is harsh but so is copying/stealing someone else¡¯s work. There will be a few chances in servers so please don¡¯t be disheartened if you could not log in or the server hangs. The proper time for maintenance of the site will be postedter.

    Again, we would like to emphasise that you are wee to post as many scripts as you want just don¡¯t copy someone¡¯s hard work. We know how much hard work and creativity go into the writing process. So, let¡¯s be kind to one another and appreciate each other¡¯s work. All the best to everyone participating.¡±

    By evening this message was all over the world. The media was buzzing with the Rencontre news. Many analysts startedparing the scripts on live television and started bashing the usernames. It was a good thing that Rencontre sites only disyed the user name and not the real name. Meanments started trolling the people who giarised the scripts.

    Panelists were called on the news channels to discuss the issue of giarism and the way it affects the writer¡¯smunity. The spokesperson of K&Q addressed the media and asked everyone to be fair and abide by the rules of thepetition. The Rencontre was the trending topic for the day.

    After focusing on her work, Nivritti forgot about Young-Chul. A meeting with Hu Bong made her forget about her anger. Now she kept thinking about the summary she would have to prepare for the monthly meeting.

    ¡°Oh, what information he would ask in the meeting? Will he ask for every detail or just the gist? Should I make an excel sheet or just note down a few things on a Wordpad? Ahhh¡­ why couldn¡¯t he say what he required?¡± she kept pondering.

    The clock struck 6. Nivritti immediately said goodbye to everyone and ran from the office as she had an appointment to keep. Jae-Hwa ordered her to call after she would be done with the meeting.

    Walking briskly, Nivritti reached her house, freshened up, and changed into casual clothes from formal ones. She wore a navy-blue t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans and paired them with a blue woollen long shrug.

    .....

    While ordering a cab on her phone, she grabbed her purse and came out of her house. By the time she reached downstairs to the front of the building, her cab had arrived.

    ¡°Seoul General Hospital, please,¡± she gave the address to the cabby. The cab driver just nodded and turned the steering wheel to get into ane. After about half an hour, she reached the hospital. She paid the fare online and got out of the car.

    The big white building with arge plus sign at the front weed her. The cab left her in front of the emergency gate. The whole area was chaotic. Doctors and nurses were running around. Some were talking to the patients, some were listening to patients¡¯ hearts, some were drawing blood, and some were standing with puke bowls near patients.

    Everyone was busy. She had no one she could ask where to go. The cab driver left her at the wrong gate. She wanted to go to the main gate, but this was the emergency ward. A nurse crossed before her. She tried to stop her but was gone in a sh.

    ¡°Please make way,¡± a voice shouted from behind her. She looked around, two health service people were moving in her direction with a patient on a stretcher. Her eyes widened as she saw the bloody face of the man lying on the stretcher. Health service personnel were wheeling him in for emergency care.

    It seemed that the man was in a bad ident. His whole face was oozing blood. One health service personnel had a whole bundle of cotton rags pressed against his face to stop the bleeding but the blood loss was way too fast for him to stop.

    She looked carefully. The other health service personnel was pressing down at the elbow of the man. His whole neck to his shoulder till his elbow was red. It seemed as if someone spilled a whole pint of blood on that man. It seemed weird to her that his whole body was red but his hand below his elbow was white.

    Why was it white? And then it dawned on her. She gasped with fear. Before she could react, another health service personnel came running inside the hospital with a severed arm in his hands.

    Nivritti screamed loudly, hid her face in her palms, and turned away but she bumped into a wall. She was sure that the area behind her was open then how did she bump into a wall?

    ¡°Ritti!¡± a familiar voice called her.

    She looked up and saw Jae-Geun standing before her with his arms over her shoulder.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked.

    Nivritti looked around again and the severed hand appeared before her. She again screamed and looked away. In her fear, she grabbed Jae-Geun¡¯s coat and closed her eyes tightly. Jae-Geun acted on impulse and pulled her closer in his arms. He held her tightly as he knew that physical touch could help with fear and anxiety. It gives a sense offort.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move away from here,¡± he said.

    ¡°Yes, please,¡± she pleaded. He wrapped his arms around her shoulder and walked her away from the emergency room. He took her to a secluded room and made her sit on a bunk bed. She kept fidgeting with her fingers and breathing heavily.

    He grabbed a water bottle kept on the table in that room, broke the seal for her, and knelt down before her.

    ¡°Drink this,¡± he ordered.

    Nivritti was on the verge of crying. Jae-Geun ced the bottle on the floor and grabbed her hands with his both hands. he was shocked to feel the cold fingers of Nivritti. He carefully looked at her face. Even though her eyes were slightly red, her whole face was white.

    Her heavy breathing wasnding on his hair making his hair move. To make her feel better, he had to make her warm. He pulled her wrist closer to his mouth and started blowing his breath on her hand. She kept shivering and he knew why. She was shocked to her core after seeing a severed hand.

    For him, that was a daily routine. Blood, vomit, tissues, severed limbs, he had seen all. It was nothing for a doctor but amon person would be shocked to see such a thing. Moreover, the blood kept oozing out of his head. The whole scene of the entrance of that man was dramatic.

    Even after blowing air on her hand, it was cold. He stood up and sat next to her. He grabbed her hand and made her turn towards him. He lifted his coat and pulled her arms under it. He wrapped his hand around her whole body and held her tightly.

    Softly, she rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his warm body. Her heart close to his made him realise how fast it was beating. It was a good thing that she didn¡¯t faint at the sight of the blood.

    Slowly her breathing kept slowing down. Her shivering too dies down. Jae-Geun too rxed after seeing that she was calming down. While taking care of her, he almost forgot that he was hugging her. The girl who made his heart jump out of his chest was close to him. He could feel her heartbeat.

    He was too afraid to let her go. He thought she might again start to hyperventte.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked again.

    ¡°That was horrible, it was so horrible,¡± she sobbed.

    ¡°I know, I know,¡± heforted her. Tenderly, he loosened his grip and moved his hands up and down stroking her back, trying to calm her down.

    For minutes, they remained in the same position. Jae-Geun savoured every second of it. He kept inhaling the sweetvender smell from her head. She was in his arms, which he never even dreamed of. He had no idea that a girl could affect him to that extent, but here she was, making his heart beat like crazy just being close to him.

    He kept praying to God that she would not observe the same.

    Nivritti finally felt hot after being too close to Jae-Geun for long. She realised that she was hugging him tightly. With embarrassment, she broke the embrace and immediately stood up. She kept avoiding looking at Jae-Geun with shyness.

    ¡°Sorry! Sorry for the trouble!¡± she bowed down to him.

    ¡°Why sorry?¡± Jae-Geun stood up, confused and frustrated. He wanted to hold her longer but she abruptly broke the embrace.

    ¡°You were there to work, in the emergency room, but because of me, you had toe here,¡± replied Nivritti.

    He scoffed, ¡°Ritti! I had no work there. I was just passing by, and I saw you. To tell you the truth, I was expecting a call, not a scream.¡± He teased.

    ¡°Do you¡­ do you guys see things like that every day?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Um¡­ not every day. But idents happen frequently, and we get bloody cases,¡± replied Jae-Geun. ¡°Say, are you afraid of blood?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No, I am not. I never felt like this before in my life,¡± replied Nivritti, ashamed and afraid.

    ¡°Maybe it was the hand,¡± said Jae-Geun. After the mention of the hand, Nivritti visibly shivered with fear. ¡°Hmm¡­ it was the hand,¡± he observed. He again picked up the water bottle and gave it to Nivritti, ¡°drink this. You will feel better.¡±

    Nivritti took the bottle and drank the whole bottle in a single sip.

    ¡°Woah!¡± eximed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Shit! My appointment! I amte!¡± shouted Nivritti.

 Chapter 135 - 135 The Psychiatrist

    135 The Psychiatrist

    Jae-Geun looked at Nivritti andforted, ¡°don¡¯t think about that. I will handle it. Just tell me are you alright now?¡±

    Nivritti took a deep breath and replied, ¡°much better now. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°If you want you can sit for some time and take deep breaths. You will feel much better,¡± suggested Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I am fine now. Thank you, Jae-Geun,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Stop saying sorry and thank you,¡± shouted Jae-Geun and stood up in anger.

    ¡°But I just wanted to appreciate the fact that you took care of me,¡± said Nivritti, sadly.

    ¡°Oh, um¡­ I just meant that we are friends, you don¡¯t need to make everything so formal. Sorry for shouting,¡± replied Jae-Geun and lowered his head with shame.

    ¡°Friends don¡¯t shout at each other,¡± she pouted.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell Jaehwa. She will kill me for shouting at you,¡± he replied, pleadingly.

    .....

    That made Nivritti smile. She looked at him and smirked, ¡°you are afraid of her?¡±

    Jae-Geun gasped at the sudden appearance of brightness on her face. The pale white face was full of colour. His heart leapt out of his chest due to her cuteness. ¡°Oh, you have no idea how wild she is. She always jumps on me, pulls my hair, keeps punching me, ah¡­ you have no idea how difficult my life is.¡± While talking he lifted his head up and stared at the roof dramatically.

    Nivritti tucked her lips inside, trying to avoidughing but a loud chuckle escaped her mouth, and she startedughing loudly. Looking at herughing, Jae-Geun sighed with relief. Finally, she was herself. She forgot about the bloody hand and was enjoying the moment.

    ¡°Okay, I will not say anything to her. I don¡¯t want you to get hurt,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Then, let me take you to my good friend, Tan Hei-Ran,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Tan Hei-Ran?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, your therapist,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    Nivritti smiled at him and moved towards the door. While she opened the door and went outside, Jae-Geun smiled and recalled, ¡°she doesn¡¯t want me to get hurt. Aww¡­ cute!¡±

    ¡°Are youing?¡± she asked from outside.

    ¡°Ah¡­ uh¡­ yeah, yeah, I aming,¡± he shouted and facepalmed. Picking the empty water bottle, he ran out of the room. ¡°This way,¡± he signalled.

    Nivritti followed him and they both stood before an elevator.

    ¡°We have to go to a different floor?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Uh¡­ yeah. Our psychiatric facility is housed on the 11th to the 13th floor,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Three floors?¡± questioned Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Yeah, our facility gives extensive mental care. We even house patients who need the utmost care. s! Mental health is still treated as if it is not necessary,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    The lift dinged and the door opened in Jae-Geun¡¯s face. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Jae-Geun and gestured for Nivritti to get in. The moment they stepped in Jae-Geun¡¯s phone started ringing.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± he politely stood behind her and picked up the call. ¡°Yeah, Heirana! Sorry, we arete. We are on our way.¡±

    Nivritti looked behind at him. ¡°Yeah, yeah, just two minutes, we will be there,¡± he said on the phone. He disconnected the phone and raised his eyebrows, ¡°ohh! She is angry that we arete.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± said Nivritti, worried.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will talk to her,¡± he assured her.

    Smiling she turned back and stared at the lift door. ¡°Please climb fast, please climb fast,¡± she kept muttering.

    The lift stopped at the 12th floor and Jae-Geun asked her to get down. Walking briskly, they reached outside a door that read, ¡°Dr. Tan Hei-Ran, Senior Psychiatrist.¡±

    Jae-Geun took a deep breath and knocked at the door. ¡°Come in! Said an authoritative voice.¡± He slightly opened the door and peeped in. ¡°Heirana!¡± he said sweetly.

    ¡°Just get in, you fool,¡± shouted Hei-Ran in Korean.

    Jae-Geun opened the door and signalled Nivritti to follow him. ¡°Heirana!¡± he again said sweetly.

    ¡°Why are youte? Exin yourself. I have other appointments to keep,¡± she shouted at him in Korean.

    ¡°There was a problem, that¡¯s why we arete,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? What? You had to bring her directly to my office. Did you stop mid-way to admire her beauty?¡± shouted Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted both Jae-Geun and Nivritti, together.

    ¡°Oh no! Does she understand Korean?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yes, I do,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Aisshh¡­ why do women around me act like this? This will traumatise me for my life,¡± facepalmed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Sorry! I was angry. So just blurted out,¡± pouted Hei-Ran.

    ¡°And she is a senior psychiatrist. If you cannot control your emotions, how will you treat people?¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°We help them to express their emotions not suppress them, you idiot. Now, why are youte?¡± reprimanded Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Well, she came through the emergency door,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh no! Really! That¡¯s bad,¡± Hei-Ran replied. Nivritti was shocked that with only one sentence she understood everything. ¡°So, what did she see?¡±

    ¡°A bloody, severed hand,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Ew!! Sorry you had to see that,¡± said Hei-Ran to Nivritti. ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°I am fine now,¡± replied Nivritti, slightly angry. Hei-Ran immediately noticed that.

    ¡°You, get out. I need to talk to her. We have already wasted so much precious time,¡± said Hei-Ran and ordered Jae-Geun to get out. Bowing to both of them, he left the room for the two women to talk.

    ¡°I am sorry for that inappropriate statement,¡± Hei-ran apologised again. ¡°I was just teasing Jaegeuna. Sorry if that was offensive,¡± she said, embarrassed.

    Nivritti took a deep breath, thought for a minute and replied, ¡°well, I can forgive you. After all, you called me pretty.¡±

    Hei-Ran who was feeling guilty and had her head lowered with shame immediately looked at Nivritti who was smirking at her.

    ¡°Ah! You are sweet,¡± said Hei-Ran. ¡°Sorry, again.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you can rx. I am sorry to bete,¡± Nivritti bowed down to her.

    ¡°Please be seated. Will you befortable in talking in Korean or English?¡± inquired Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Whatever you want, I am fine with both,¡± replied Nivritti and sat on the chair in front of Hei-Ran¡¯s table.

    ¡°I think we should carry with English. As I am going to use English terms. It would be better if we have the whole conversation in English. Jumping between Korean and English would be awkward,¡± exined Hei-Ran.

    ¡°That too is fine, Doctor,¡± replied Nivritti. And the conversation shifted to Korean.

    ¡°So, let¡¯s start with basics. This is just getting to know session. I will ask some questions to you and then decide how to help you. You too can decide if you want to continue with me or want someone else,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°One more question before we start. Have you done this before?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°You mean therapy? Yes, I have.¡±

    ¡°Okay, then you should know how it starts. Please start by telling me your name,¡± inquired Hei-Ran.

    ¡°My name is Nivritti Rathod.¡±

    ¡°Age?¡±

    ¡°34.¡±

    ¡°What made you book an appointment?¡±

    ¡°My fear and my nightmares,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Which one bothers you the most? Your fear or your nightmare?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t know. All I can say is that my fear came back first and then the nightmare started,¡± Nivritti replied, thoughtfully.

    ¡°May I know what fear that is?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Um¡­ cynophobia,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Have you been diagnosed, or it is a self-diagnosis?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°No, my doctors diagnosed it when I was little,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°So, you have been working on it?¡±

    ¡°I almost overcame it. But it again came back after I arrived in Korea, about a few weeks back,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, so anyone else in your family has a psychiatric history?¡± questioned Hei-Ran.

    ¡°No, no one before me,¡± answered Nivritti. ¡°But my parents took counselling with me.¡±

    ¡°Have anyone of you been hospitalised for mental health reasons?¡±

    .....

    Nivritti gulped at her question. She clenched her fists as all the sad memories came flooding back into her mind. Hei-Ran who kept a close eye on her noticed the sudden change in Nivritti¡¯s behaviour.

    ¡°Take your time and answer. If you feel anxious, just a deep breath, rx and then answer,¡±forted Hei-Ran.

    Nivritti exhaled loudly but her breath shuddered. ¡°I have been hospitalised once,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Any medication?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Same doctor, who treated your cynophobia?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ were they helpful?¡±

    ¡°Yes, very much. I stopped talking to everyone. I was almost like a dead body after a traumatic experience and he helped me a lot. He brought me back to life,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Were there any side effects from the medicine he prescribed?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°Well, I would need his number for your history. Better if you talk to him and tell him that I would be calling him,¡± suggested Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Of course,¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°May I ask why my fear came back?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ I cannot say for sure. I would be able to help you better after I make myself familiar with your history. All I can say is that there are a number of factors, a new ce, new experience, new job, stress, excitement, anything can trigger emotions in us and emotions can take any shape. The same things go for your nightmares. All I can do is prescribe you mild sleeping pills to help you sleep better. After I get your history, I would be able to help you better,¡± exined Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ okay. I will talk to my doctor. In the meantime, this is his number,¡± she opened her phone and showed the number to Hei-Ran. Hei-Ran took the phone from her and noted the phone number on the piece of paper on which she kept jotting down bullet points about Nivritti.

    ¡°Your number too,¡± asked Hei-Ran. Nivritti recited her number and Hei-Ran noted it down. ¡°Here is my number,¡± Hei-Ran handed her visiting card to Nivritti. ¡°Call me after you talk to him. I will review your history and will inform you about your next appointment, that is if you want one.¡±

    ¡°So, you are ready to take me on as your patient?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Of course! I have to make for the offensivement,¡± teased Hei-Ran. Nivritti smiled at her tease.

 Chapter 136 - 136 The Man in Maroon

    136 The Man in Maroon

    ¡°Well, Jaegeuna have never asked for a favour. For the first time, he asked for you,¡± informed Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± Nivritti was taken aback.

    ¡°He told me what you did for Jaehwa. She is like my little sister. Thank you,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Ohh! Please, I did nothing. Everyone needs to stop saying ¡®Thank you¡¯,¡± smiled Nivritti. ¡°You should counsel her too. That was a traumatic experience for her.¡±

    ¡°Jaegeuna suggested that, but she rejected the offer saying that she was fine,¡± replied Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Stupid girl!¡± Nivritti shook her head in disbelief. ¡°Let me try. I will talk to her.¡±

    ¡°Jaegeun tried to help her that night. She kept crying on his shoulder,¡± informed Hei-Ran.

    ¡°But he is not a professional like you. He can only help her as her brother not her doctor,¡± said Nivritti.

    Hei-Ran scoffed at Nivritti¡¯s statement, ¡°it is clear that you have experience of therapy.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Ha-ha, so much that I, myself, can be a therapist,¡± joked Nivritti.

    Hei-Ranughed out loud. ¡°Making jokes to hide the pain, clich¨¦ but nice,¡± smiled Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I think I should leave. I will call my doctor and then inform you. Nice meeting you doctor,¡± Nivritti stood up and bowed down to her.

    ¡°Nice meeting you too,¡± Hei-Ran extended her arm.

    After shaking hands with Hei-Ran, Nivritti left her office. Now she had to find Jae-Geun to say thank you to him. But first, she decided to call her doctor who took care of her in India. Her phone was already in her hands. She shifted her purse and her overcoat in one hand and looked at the phone.

    While walking towards the lift, she dialled her doctor¡¯s number. The lift opened and she entered in. After a few seconds, her doctor picked up the call.

    ¡°Hello, Doctor Sharma. How are you?¡± she greeted him.

    ¡°Oh, Nivritti! You are calling after so long. I hope everything is okay,¡± said Doctor Sharma.

    ¡°Um¡­ not everything is fine,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Hello! Hello! Nivritti! Are you there?¡± asked Doctor Sharma.

    ¡°Yes, Dr. Sharma, I am here. Can you hear me? Hello!¡± she shouted on phone.

    ¡°Nivritti! Hello!¡± said Doctor Sharma, again.

    The lift kept going down.

    ¡°Jae-Geun was getting reception. He talked to Dr. Tan. Why is it creating a problem for me?¡± she pondered. ¡°Hello! Dr. Sharma. Can you hear me now? Hello! Um¡­ let me step out of the lift,¡± she said on the phone and pressed the button for the next all floors. She just wanted the lift to stop so she could get down and talk to her doctor.

    The lift door opened on the fifth floor. A doctor with a stern expression was standing before her. She immediately got out of the lift and the doctor entered in.

    ¡°Hello! Dr. Sharma. Can you hear me now?¡± she asked again.

    ¡°Yes, now your voice is clear,¡± replied Doctor Sharma.

    ¡°Sorry, I was inside a lift,¡± informed Nivritti.

    ¡°No worries. Tell me how I can help you?¡± questioned Doctor Sharma.

    She didn¡¯t want to tell anyone that she was in Korea but had to inform everything to her doctor. And she knew that he was bound with patient-doctor confidentiality and would never reveal any secret about her.

    ¡°Um¡­ so, the thing is I shifted from India to South Korea,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh!¡± eximed Doctor Sharma.

    ¡°And the day of my joining, I saw a dog¡­¡± her voice trailed off. She kept walking and talking in the empty corridor. Not a single soul was on the floor.

    ¡°Your cynophobia came back?¡± asked Doctor Sharma.

    ¡°Woah! How did you¡­ how did you know?¡± asked Nivritti, impressed.

    ¡°Because that happens sometimes. New ce, new experience, stress of first day on your job, anything could have triggered it. Do you want sessions over the phone?¡± asked Doctor Sharma. Before she could reply he continued, ¡°it would be better to talk to a therapist one on one. Why don¡¯t you find one in Korea, and I will help them learn about your history?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I called you. I just met with¡­ NK!!¡± she shouted. A man in a maroon high-neck and ck overcoat suddenly appeared in the empty corridor and went inside one of the rooms. He had a ck cap and a ck mask on. It was impossible to tell who he was, but Nivritti suddenly thought about Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°NK?¡± asked Doctor Sharma, confused.

    ¡°Uh¡­ I mean I just met with a psychiatrist. I gave her your number. She will call you regarding my history. Could you help her with that? Give her my¡­plete¡­ history,¡± atst her words quivered.

    ¡°Is he back in your life?¡± inquired Doctor Sharma.

    ¡°No, he has not been able to contact me since I changed my number. But¡­ I had a nightmare. I am a little scared,¡± informed Nivritti.

    ¡°Listen to me, Nivritti. You are nowhere wrong. Him, constantly trying to contact you is wrong. Stop feeling ashamed and scared. I still think that you should haveined about him. I understand that you don¡¯t want to burden his wife, his family but you are enduring a lot. Well, I will say this it is a good thing that you left the country. Now he will not be able to contact you and you will get peace of mind. I will help your new doctor with everything she will need, rest assured. You know you can call me anytime you feel down, right?¡± assured Doctor Sharma.

    ¡°Yes, Doctor Sharma. Thank you for everything you did,¡± she said with gratitude.

    ¡°No need to thank me. I just did my job. I am d that I was able to help you,¡± replied Doctor Sharma.

    ¡°Thank you, thank you so much, doctor. I will tell her to call you.¡±

    ¡°I will wait for the call,¡± replied Doctor Sharma and Nivritti disconnected the call.

    She immediately dialled Hei-Ran¡¯s number and waited for her to pick up the call. While waiting she looked ahead the corridor and saw the same maning out of the room. He had a phone near his ears and was talking in a hush-hush tone. He vanished to the other side of the corridor, away from her.

    ¡°Is he¡­? No, can¡¯t be. Why would NK be in a hospital?¡± she deliberated.

    ¡°Yeah, hi, Nivritti!¡± Hei-Ran¡¯s voice streamed in from the phone. Nivritti remembered that she dialled her number. But she was too distracted by the tall man. She knew in her heart that he was Kyung-Soo but was confused as to why he would be here?

    Everyone said that he was too busy to read the scripts that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t call the Rencontre team. But what if the real reason was, he was not feeling well and visited the hospital?

    ¡°Um¡­ Dr. Tan. I have talked with Dr. Sharma and told him everything. He would be waiting for your call. You can discuss everything with him,¡± Nivritti¡¯s eyes were staring at the point where that man vanished and she kept talking over the phone. Half her brain was in the conversation and the other half was contemting about Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay. I will talk with him, review your history and my office will inform you about our meeting sessions. As you had your fear triggered, I think it would be better if we start with four sessions a week and then gradually decrease it,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Okay,¡± replied Nivritti. The man came back and nced at Nivritti. She immediately averted her eyes. The man again entered the room and closed the door behind him.

    She disconnected the call and again looked near the spot he entered the room. Taking a deep breath, she looked at her phone. She still had not received any message from any member of ASD. She kept tapping her phone over her other palm and kept thinking if she should find who that man was.

    She was near the lift area. She once looked at the lift and then at the room¡¯s door that the man entered.

    ¡°Ahhh¡­ why haven¡¯t they messaged me yet? Was that man, NK? What should I do? Should I go this way or that way? Curiosity killed the cat, Ritti! Shit! Shit! Shit! I know what you are going to do. Don¡¯t be Apeksha. Don¡¯t be a detective. Go home,¡± she kept talking to herself and scolding herself.

    Taking small steps she moved towards the room that the man disappeared in. Hesitantly, she softly knocked at the door. Within minutes, a woman opened the door.

    ¡°Yes,¡± said the woman.

    Nivritti was taken aback. She peeped inside to look for the man but there was only a patient lying on the bed. She realised that she knocked at the wrong door.

    ¡°Joesonghamnida!!¡± Nivritti apologised immediately and bowed down to the woman. ¡°Wrong room.¡±

    The woman closed the door and Nivritti moved away from the door. She moved to the next door. ¡°Should I knock? Should I not?¡± She kept walking to and fro between two doors. She was not sure which door the man went in.

    She was about to knock at the door when the next door opened up. A hand came out of the room, grabbed her upper arm and pulled her inside the room.

    She was about to shout but one hand wrapped around her waist and another shut her mouth, tenderly. She looked up to see the man. He was not wearing his cap or his mask. A faint yelp escaped her mouth as her mouth was covered with his hand. Her eyes widened after looking at the man standing before her.

 Chapter 137 - 137 The Depression

    137 The Depression

    Nivritti was pondering upon if she should knock at the second door. She was sure that the man in the maroon went inside the room that she knocked but she was wrong. He entered a room in that vicinity, but she was wrong about which door she should enter.

    She bit her fingernails and with determination was about to knock at the second door. If a stranger would answer that door then thest option would be the right one. She wanted to know who that man was. And if that was Kyung-Soo, why didn¡¯t he return her message?

    The moment her hand was about to touch the door, a hand from the next door pulled her towards itself. She threw her head backward with the force of the pull. The door locked itself the moment she was in.

    Her purse and her overcoat fell to the ground. She was about to shout as she had no idea who grabbed her. But before she could shout, the man in maroon moved his hand to her waist to support her bnce and ced his other hand over her mouth.

    With physics acting all around Nivritti, when she was pulled, her t-shirt lifted itself due to the centrifugal force. The man just wanted to support her weight, but his fingersnded inside her t-shirt. Nivritti let out a yelp when his cold fingers touched her warm back but it was muffled as he had his hands over her mouth.

    Everything happened so fast that she had no time to look at the face of the man. Finally, she looked at who was holding her. She gulped, her eyes widened, she almost stopped breathing as it was none other than Nam Kyung-Soo who was standing before her. She was right, the man in the maroon was Kyung-Soo.

    What was he doing here? Why was he hiding his face? Why didn¡¯t he reply to her message? How was Young-Chul doing? She had so many questions in her mind.

    But for now, she was feeling nervous as she was so close to him. His hand was over her face touching her cheeks, her lips. A constant chill ran through her spine. She gulped and looked at him. Why did it always happen that shended in his arms? If she could meet fate, that would be the first question, she would ask.

    Suddenly she realised why she was feeling cold. His icy fingers were wrapped around her back, her bare back.

    .....

    ¡°What? Oh no! First, he kissed me. Then we saw each other without any clothes on. Now, he is touching my bare back. Why am I moving so fast with him? I am not even dating him. Dating him? What are you thinking about, Ritti? You can never date him. Repeat after me, you will never date him,¡± she scolded herself.

    Feeling embarrassed, she pushed Kyung-Soo away and stood away from him gulping awkwardly, trying to avoid looking at him.

    ¡°Why¡­?¡± she shouted but Kyung-Soo again pulled her by her waist and brought her close to his chest, again covering her mouth with his hand.

    Nivritti gasped and held her breath. She forgot how to breathe. The bright maroon high-neck against his mesmerizing skin was making his skin glitter in the room¡¯s bright light. It was difficult to remove one¡¯s eyes from Kyung-Soo¡¯s beauty. Nivritti¡¯s heart was ready to leap out of her chest. Anyone would have grabbed their heart and ced it on Kyung-Soo¡¯s feet due to his handsomeness.

    But Nivritti had to be strong. She could not waiver. She was determined that she had no feelings for Kyung-Soo, nor she will ever get them. She again tried to push him away but his grip this time was strong. He was not ready to let her go.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ mmm¡­¡± she tried talking.

    ¡°I will remove my hand but we have to whisper,¡± informed Kyung-Soo.

    Blinking her eyes, she looked at him strangely. ¡°What is he talking about? Why do we have to whisper?¡±

    ¡°Deal?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, again. Nivritti nodded at him.

    Tenderly, he let her go. She straightened her t-shirt and looked at him. Without saying another word, he walked past her and picked up her purse and overcoat for her. He came to face her and handed her things to her. She kept looking at his face searching for even a faint smile but he looked sad.

    ¡°What are you doing here? And knocking at every door, do you have any idea how much you have disturbed others?¡± whispering, he scolded her.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± she lowered her head. ¡°I just wanted to know if I was right. I saw you and thought that it was you.¡±

    ¡°Oh! You saw me. I thought you didn¡¯t,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But what are you doing here? And why didn¡¯t you reply to my message?¡±ined Nivritti. ¡°I even messaged MY and JJ, but they too didn¡¯t reply.¡± Her voice suddenly increased.

    ¡°Shh, shh, shh,¡± Kyung-Soo ced his forefinger over her lips and shushed her. Nivritti¡¯s eyes widened again. He was again touching her. Blinking fast, she took a step back, away from his finger. ¡°Sorry!¡± he immediately apologised for touching her. ¡°I know you are worried about MY and we are sorry that we couldn¡¯t tell you anything about him.¡±

    ¡°So, you guys deliberately didn¡¯t message me?¡± asked Nivritti, disappointed.

    ¡°Sorry again! We could not tell you anything over the phone. You know we have this issue of being hacked,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti nodded at his sentence. ¡°But what are you doing here?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°You wanted to know about Young. I am here because of him,¡± replied Kyung-Soo and gestured towards the other side of the room. The other side was dark. No lights were on. A hospital bed with a night table and two chairs near the bed was ced on that side of the room. The bed waspletely covered with curtains from all sides.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti, confused.

    ¡°I wanted to tell you about him. I was just waiting to meet face-to-face. Now that you are here,e,¡± he grabbed her wrist and pulled her along with him. He walked up to the bed and slightly moved the curtain.

    The face of the patient lying on the bed was revealed to Nivritti. She gasped with shock. Young-Chul was sleeping peacefully on the bed. His face was white as snow. Even his lips had no colour in them. An IV was hooked into his arm.

    ¡°What happened to him?¡± asked Nivritti, sadly. She didn¡¯t like the fact that Young-Chul was looking extremely weak. It was just yesterday that she saw him, then how did hend in the hospital today?

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t been sleeping well for the past few months. He lost his focus. Recently heined about pain all over his body and for the past few days, he had problems with his stomach, vomiting, diarrhoea, and whatnot,¡± informed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? How? How did it go so bad?¡± asked Nivritti. She ced her coat and bag over a chair and sat on the other one that was near Young-Chul¡¯s head.

    ¡°He has been pulling away from us recently. He would get angry at small things. He lost interest in almost everything except cooking and his music. He would avoid spending time with us. If it was something official, he would be there else, he would be locked in his room. He would not eat well and started losing weight. Most of all, he alwaysined that JJ never let him sleep peacefully. We have been hearing thisint for so many months now. Every day he would wake up and say that he didn¡¯t sleep well. When heined about headaches and stomach aches, we thought it was the stress of Rencontre or it was due to hisck of sleep.

    ¡°Butst night, after I dropped you home, I went home and found that everyone was busy with their work but MY was in his room. We all thought he was resting like he said he would. Korain Hyung noticed that he had not eaten anything as there were no dirty tes in the sink or drying rack or even the dishwasher. Nor any packets of food were in the dustbin. So, it was clear that neither he cooked nor he ordered from outside. He just came home and slept in his room.

    ¡°After cooking dinner, JJ went to wake him up. The moment he entered his room, he shouted loudly and called every one of us. We went running after hearing his scream. When we reached, we found that JJ was trying to pick up MY from the floor. We had no idea but the moment My reached home and entered the house, he fainted on his floor and was lying there in the cold all day. We all cursed ourselves for not checking up on him the moment we reached home.

    ¡°We rushed him to the hospital. Doctors did all kinds of check-ups but could not find any physical problem with him. They treated the physical symptoms and did a mental health analysis. They found that¡­¡±

    ¡°He is depressed,¡± Nivrittipleted his sentence for him.

 Chapter 138 - 138 The Positive Reinforcement

    138 The Positive Reinforcement

    Kyung-Soo narrated everything to Nivritti. Everything that he knew about Young-Chul¡¯s condition and everything that doctors told him. He was on the verge of telling him the diagnosis when Nivritti blurted out, ¡°he is depressed.¡±

    ¡°How¡­ how did you know?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, shocked.

    She kept staring at Young-Chul¡¯s peaceful face. She sighed and replied, ¡°I very well know every symptom you just described.¡±

    ¡°Right! Sorry. If all this is triggering bad memories, you can leave,¡± offered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, I am fine,¡± she smiled at him. ¡°What did the doctor suggest?¡±

    ¡°For now, all the rest in the world for him. They need to treat his physical symptoms first and then they will shift to the real cause,¡± sighed Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti looked at Young-Chul and her mind wandered back to when she was admitted to the psychiatric ward. When doctors and nurses would sit around her trying to take care of her, asking her questions but she would never reply. She lost the power of speech after that night.

    For weeks she never spoke a single word. All she wanted to do was sleep. Sleep without eating, sleep without drinking, sleep without talking to anyone. She wanted to be left alone to ponder upon her mistakes. But her family, her doctors, her nurses, they never left her alone.

    She wanted to scream, shout, cry, wail, but she could do nothing of that sort. She was an emotionless dead body. She remembered how she used to feel empty every day, every hour, every minute, every second.

    .....

    She would receive messages from her friends asking about her whereabouts. Her boss send her a message thanking her for the good job she did and how they were sorry to lose such a good employee. She would read the messages, turn to the other side, and ignore every positive word.

    But her doctors never wavered. Her parents never wavered. Her sister never wavered. They would keep talking to her, scolding her, showering her with love, just so she would talk one day. Doctors made a point that whenever her family woulde to visit, they would shower her with physical love.

    Every time her family would visit, they would hug her, kiss her, and tell her about their daily routine, trying to make herugh. With medicine, with words of encouragement from her doctors, with great care from her nurses, with shower of love from her family, she finally started talking. Her ck, sad heart slowly became white. With the passage of time, it was turning pink. Still, she had a long way to change the colourpletely to red.

    Without thinking twice, she moved her chair near Young-Chul¡¯s bed and slid her palms into his, and squeezed his hands tightly.

    ¡°What¡­ what are you doing?¡± asked Kyung-Soo confused.

    Nivritti kept staring at Young-Chul and a drop of tear fell from her eyes. ¡°People who suffer from depression need love, care, they need someone to talk to them. The best way to show your love is physical love. A sweet handshake, a tender hug, a kiss on the forehead, all these things go a long way.¡±

    ¡°I should tell you Young hates physical touch. He loves his personal space,¡± informed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°It does not matter. He needs assurance that he is loved. No matter what, he is loved,¡± replied Nivritti sweetly.

    She wrapped Young-Chul¡¯s hand in both her hands and looked at him. ¡°MY! I don¡¯t know if you can hear me. But I am angry with you. I message you and you didn¡¯t reply to me. Do you have any idea how worried I was? I was the one who sent you home alone, I am sorry,¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± whispered Kyung-Soo. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡±

    ¡°I think a little bit is my fault. I talked about mental health and all, and he must have realised that something was wrong with him. That pushed him over the wall andnded him in the hospital,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What nonsense?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Shhh¡­¡± shushed Nivritti. ¡°He is sleeping. In this condition, all you want to do is sleep, but sleep too is elusive because you will keep thinking about one and only one thing that bothers you. It¡¯s a good thing that he is sedated. He will get the necessary rest he needed,¡± she sniffled.

    She turned to look back at Young-Chul and started talking to him, ¡°MY! You won¡¯t believe but trust me I know what you are going through. And rest assured I will always be there if you need someone to talk to. No matter what you want to talk about, you can tell me. I will keep it a secret. I know you feel that everything is lost, you won¡¯t feel good about yourself, but that is not true. You are the best, most loved, most talented person I have ever met. The songs you produce, the way you sing, and the way you y guitar and piano, it¡¯s mesmerising. No one is better than you at producing songs, that¡¯s why the whole music industry wants to work with you.¡±

    Kyung-Soo silently kept hearing her every word. He smiled when he realised what Nivritti was doing. She was giving positive reinforcement to Young-Chul. No matter if he could not hear any of it, she was trying. Her own experience and years of therapy told her what to do.

    She scoffed, smiled, and continued, ¡°don¡¯t take this in any other way, I may sound like a crazy fan, but you are handsome too. Ahh¡­ how can someone be so talented and good-looking, that is crazy. God is so partial. He gave every talent, every skill he can think about to you and left us with nothing. That is so bad. If I meet God, I will surelyin about this. How can you make you, you and not spent any time on me? Now as we are friends, can you please take my side? We both can fight with God together.¡±

    Kyung-Soo too scoffed at her tease. She wanted to make Young-Chul smile with her funny monologue. s! Young-Chul was sleeping.

    Nivritti caressed Young-Chul¡¯s hand and continued, ¡°I know this is hard. You don¡¯t want to talk about this with anyone. But let me tell you, there are things that you cannot fight alone. You need a vige for that. And you have six beautiful friends who care for you immensely and a bigpany that loves you. Even if physical touch is not yournguage, please let them help you.

    ¡°Otherwise, what will your fans say? That we didn¡¯t take good care of you. Is that what you want, people to look down upon us? Oh my! That is your n. You want everyone to despise us and only love you so that you can be the ruler of the world. Nice n! But you won¡¯t seed. We will drown you in love and care, then your fans will love us too. Your n will fail. We will make sure of that, right NK?¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°From now on, no one will leave you alone, no matter how much you beg. I will keep calling you and pestering you every day. Well, until the day you get bored of me and change your phone number. I will drag you to drink coffee with me, watch movies¡­ oh no, no movies. What if someone recognises you? Your fans will kill me thinking that you are dating me. No, no, no movies. We will do things that do not require going in public,¡± Nivritti kept rambling on.

    Kyung-Soo kept scoffing and smiling andughing and smirking at herments.

    ¡°MY! Just gather the courage and try to talk about what is bothering you. We will be here to hear everything without any judgement, I promise. You have to promise that you will take care of yourself. No matter how down you feel, angry you feel, frustrated, irritated, sad, or disappointed you feel, just talk to us, please. Just be patient, this gloominess, that you are feeling will subside, I promise. And next time you leave me hanging and do not reply to my message, I will hit you on your head. Do you understand?¡± she scolded Young-Chul. She then looked at Kyung-Soo and snapped, ¡°that goes for you too.¡±

    ¡°Sorry! It was something I could not tell you on the phone,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± she red at Kyung-Soo with squinted eyes. ¡°And that stupid JJ too.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, again!¡± Kyung-Soo lowered his head with shame.

    ¡°Anything would have done. A single word saying that you will tell me face to face. Do you have any idea how worried I was? I could not concentrate on my work the whole day. On top of that, I had to give a presentation before our CEO. How stressful my day was, thanks to you,¡± she stuck her tongue out at Kyung-Soo.

    Kyung-Soo who was supposed to feel sad after getting a scolding ended upughing at her.

    ¡°I am leaving,¡± she said angrily. ¡°Take good care of him.¡± She stood up and started moving away from Young-Chul when she was abruptly stopped. A loud gasp escaped her mouth. Both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti turned to look at her hand. Young-Chul was still sleeping but he held her hand tightly, not letting her leave.

 Chapter 139 - 139 The Grip

    139 The Grip

    Nivritti scolded Kyung-Soo for not replying back to her. She informed him how vexing her day was. She kept worrying about Young-Chul the whole day and then she had to appear before the CEO. In anger, she stuck her tongue out but he ended upughing at her cuteness.

    ¡°What? Why did youugh?¡± she snapped.

    ¡°You have no idea how cute you are, do you?¡± heughed.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡±

    ¡°Who sticks their tongue out after scolding someone?¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hey!¡± she shouted. ¡°I am still angry.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± he immediately apologised but could not stopughing at her.

    ¡°Keepughing. I am leaving,¡± she stood up. ¡°Take good care of him,¡± she started to move away from Young-Chul but abruptly her legs stopped moving. ¡°Huh¡­¡± an involuntary sound escaped her mouth.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    .....

    Without saying a single word, Nivritti just looked at her hand that was somehow stuck. Her eyes widened as she noticed that Young-Chul had grabbed her palm tightly in his hand stopping her from leaving.

    Kyung-Soo saw her stopping suddenly and stared at her face. He too followed her hand and saw that Young-Chul had her hand gripped tightly in his.

    ¡°Is he¡­?¡± asked Nivritti shocked, not knowing how toplete her sentence.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He is sedated,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Then how is his grip so tight?¡± inquired Nivritti. ¡°Do you think he¡­ he heard everything?¡±

    ¡°Let me help you, you can leave,¡± suggested Kyung-Soo and moved forward to get her hand out of Young-Chul¡¯s grip.

    ¡°No!¡± she shouted. ¡°Let it be. He needs it.¡± She sweetly blinked at Kyung-Soo. After dragging her chair closer to Young-Chul, she too tightened her grip and sat next to him. ¡°Rest assured, I am not going anywhere. Sleep well, MY.¡± She ced her other hand over his and caressed adoringly.

    Kyung-Soo could not help himself, he smiled yet a drop of tear fell from his eyes. This girl who they met just weeks ago was so caring, so lovingly towards them. She had no business taking care of them yet she would go out of her way to do so.

    Before Nivritti could see him, he wiped his tears and smilingly looked at Nivritti, ¡°Ritti!¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± she looked at him.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± said Kyung-Soo with all the gratitude he could muster.

    ¡°What? What are you talking about? Why, thank you?¡± she was astonished at his expression.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have toe here and take care of him. You didn¡¯t have to sit with him. You didn¡¯t have tofort him, but you are here. Thank you for that,¡± Kyung-Soo stood up and bowed down to her with all his heart.

    ¡°If he would have let my hands go, I would have really kicked your ass,¡± snapped Nivritti, angrily.

    ¡°What? What did I do?¡±ined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Is he not my friend? Am I not his friend? Do friends not care about each other? Ahh¡­ seriously!! I came here¡­¡± growled Nivritti.

    But Kyung-Soo interrupted her mid-sentence. ¡°Sorry! Sorry about everything. Not informing you before, about him and now saying thank you being here for him. Wait! No one told you that he was here, then how did you find him?¡± Kyung-Soo scratched his head.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I was about to tell you. I had an appointment in the psychiatric ward. I came here from my meeting,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What? The doctor was not about to tell anyone about Young,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Shhh¡­¡± she shushed him. ¡°He is sleeping remember?¡±

    ¡°What sleeping? He has your hand in his grip as if his life depends on it,¡± he shouted. ¡°When I cannot even touch you,¡± he thought to himself. Even though he liked that Nivritti was helping Young-Chul, he didn¡¯t like the fact the Young-Chul was holding her hands in open when he was not allowed to do that.

    ¡°What nonsense!! NK? Are you jealous?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Why would I be jealous? You said nothing can happen between us. I stopped thinking about you after that,¡± said Kyung-Soo with his nose up in the air.

    A faint gasp escaped from Nivritti¡¯s mouth. ¡°He stopped thinking about me?¡± she exhaled painfully. She felt as if someone gripped her heart and crushed it brutally. It was getting difficult for her to breathe. But then sudden realisation made her feel normal. ¡°Maybe this is for the best. I was trying to get away from him. Finally, he threw me out of his heart. It¡¯s a good thing we are just friends now,¡± she pondered.

    Stealthily, Kyung-Soo nced at her face with side-eyes. Although her face was extremely expressive, now all he could see was her slightly sad eyes deep in thought. He wanted to know what she was thinking about or who she was thinking about. Did she feel anything after he told her that he stopped pursuing her?

    No one talked for about a minute. Kyung-Soo wanted her to fight with him, but she said nothing. His heart dropped. Maybe she really felt nothing for him. But he had so many feelings for her. He wanted to tell her everything.

    Finally, Nivritti spoke, ¡°by the way doctor told me nothing about MY. We never talked about him.¡±

    ¡°Then, how¡­ how are you here?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, shocked.

    ¡°I had an important call to make to India but the reception in the lift was bad. This was the floor that the lift¡¯s door opened on so I climbed out. And while talking I saw you. I had to find out if that was you or not,¡± replied Nivirtti.

    ¡°See, even fate wants us to be together. Why are you resisting?¡± he mumbled to himself.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You said something,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°I saw your lips move,¡± she protested.

    ¡°You did not,¡± said Kyung-Soo firmly.

    ¡°But I did,¡± pouted Nivritti and stamped her foot on the floor. Kyung-Soo tucked his lips inside his mouth, trying hard not to smile orugh, or else he would have gotten another scolding.

    ¡°So cute!¡± he contemted and smiled in the back of his head. ¡°Believe me, I said nothing. I was just thinking about¡­ about¡­ yeah, about Young,¡± he lied.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± she scoffed and turned back to look at Young-Chul. ¡°By the way, why this secrecy?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Why not tell your fans that he is ill? You cancelled your daily variety show for two days in a row. And seeing that he is here, I don¡¯t think you will do your daily show for days. So why not tell people that he is not well?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°You know why?¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Because this is a mental health issue and not a physical health issue?¡± asked Nivritti, condescendingly.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so judgemental. It¡¯s easy for you to seek therapy. But if you are an idol, it is hard,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You mean to say that I am no one, so it¡¯s easy for me to seek help. And because you are basically music god, you don¡¯t need any help?¡± snapped Nivritti at his irritating words.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± he dragged his chair closer to her. ¡°You know what I mean,¡± said Kyung-Soo pleadingly.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. Believe me, if he would let my hand go, I would storm out of this room, this very instant,¡± retorted Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo exhaled and calmly tried to make her understand. ¡°I know how great you feel about therapy as it had helped you a great deal. But for us all, who live before the public eye 24¡Á7, talking about our mental health is a heavy topic. I know some will be happy for us, they will stand behind us. But a lot of people will say that we are weak, hence seeking therapy. And if you get weak in this industry, you lose everything. Seeking therapy would be another scandal. No matter what happens, no matter how hard your schedule is, we can neverin.¡±

    ¡°Do you hear yourself? I have heard you are well-read, intelligent, smart, but now, you are talking like a moron,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡±

    ¡°What is wrong with appearing weak, NK? And why is seeking therapy, weak? You told me once that acknowledging that you need help, is the highest form of bravery or did you forget? Does that apply only to me? Or are you a hypocrite? If no one will start the conversation, then who will?¡± snapped Nivritti. ¡°Wow! All those words from my mouth about mental health fell on deaf ears,¡± said Nivritti, disappointed.

    ¡°It¡¯s not our decision but ourpany¡¯s decision,¡± said Kyung-Soo with his head lowered.

    ¡°Tell me the truth, NK. If it would have been your decision, would you have told your fans? Don¡¯t you want your fans to see the real you with all your talent, your skill, your achievements, your failures, your ws? Do you really want to keep them in dark? Are you guys so scared of scandal that you are going to hide another fact from your fans, all your life? Don¡¯t you trust your fans? At least give them a chance, maybe they will surprise you.¡±

 Chapter 140 - 140 The Physical Touch

    140 The Physical Touch

    Kyung-Soo was listening to Nivritti¡¯s opinion silently. He had forgotten about the fact that her hand was still in Young-Chul¡¯s grip. He smiled at the fact that she was such an active advocate for mental health problems.

    ¡°You think people will understand his plight?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You have no idea how many people are affected by such issues. Some know that something is wrong with them, some ignore them. Now you guys know all the symptoms and the diagnosis, it will be easier to understand and make others understand. I know that does not make you an expert but at least you can care about that,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°And what if Young does not want to talk about that?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    She sighed, thought for a moment, and then replied, ¡°then it should be his decision, not yours, not yourpany¡¯s. He should decide if he wants to talk about his condition with fans. It should depend on whether he feelsfortable doing so. This is about his problem, his diagnosis, his health, I don¡¯t understand why thepany is involved in that.¡±

    ¡°Because they are paying for it,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°As they should. Apany should take care of the health insurance of an employee and mental healthes under that. You work day and night for thatpany, why won¡¯t they pay for your health issues? Suppose it was an ident. Would you guys have hidden that too?¡± chided Nivritti.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°He fainted because he could not sleep well. What if he would have fainted near the stairs or any other ce more dangerous? Don¡¯t you think he would have gotten help sooner, he would have avoided all these?¡± questioned Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°I understand what you are saying, and every word is right. But we have many seniors talking about mental health and their fans bashing them, calling them weak and slowly they faded away I know the climate has slightly changed and you are sitting here in front of me because of therapy,¡± sighed Kyung-Soo. He looked at her and continued, ¡°believe me, Ritti, I want to champion every single cause there is in the world, whether its mental health issues, LGBTQ rights, environmental rights, human rights, but not everything is possible.¡± He lowered his head, ashamed and sad.

    Nivritti patted his hand and reassured, ¡°NK! I know you guys do great work. You guys donate to every cause thates across you. All I am saying is, you need to stop thinking about others, think about yourself. Hiding things, keeping secrets to make others happy, to avoid scandal, I think that will take a much bigger toll. Won¡¯t it be easy to talk these things over with executives of thepany ande out with the truth? You have helped so many fans with your music, your words, your beautiful lyrics, why don¡¯t you trust them for once?¡±

    Before Kyung-Soo could reply, there was a knock at the door. Nivritti immediately removed her hand from Kyung-Soo¡¯s hand. She even tried to pull her hands from Young-Chul¡¯s grip but it seemed as if he was drowning and her hand was thest straw he could find.

    ¡°Pleasee in,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    The door opened and a doctor came inside. Both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti stood up and bowed down to him. The doctor froze in his path after looking at Nivritti. There was an unknown girl standing before him. He was given the instructions to not let anyone get in and there she was standing in the room in front of Kyung-Soo.

    Wait! She was standing before Kyung-Soo and he was not saying a word to her. Who was she? Why didn¡¯t it bother to Kyung-Soo that a stranger was inside? He carefully looked at her and saw that one of her hands was ced on the bed. He clearly looked and his jaw dropped as he saw her hand in Young-Chul¡¯s hand.

    ¡°What¡­? Who¡­?¡± the doctor forgot how to form sentences.

    ¡°Doctor Oh! What is it?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    His voice brought the doctor back to thend of the living. ¡°Um¡­ nothing, just his hourly check-up.¡± He gulped and moved forward. He stopped near Kyung-Soo and whispered in his ear, ¡°who is she?¡±

    Kyung-Soo jumped in surprise and let out a soft yelp at his sudden question. The wind in his ear tickled him and he immediately rubbed his ear. ¡°She is Nivritti. She is our friend,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti instantly stared at Kyung-Soo and gasped at his answer. She was shocked with happiness as he didn¡¯t introduce her as someone he worked with but introduced her as his friend, no, their friend. He called her ¡®our friend¡¯. Nivritti¡¯s heart was filled with warmth after his reply.

    ¡°Okay, but is she allowed inside?¡± asked Doctor Oh.

    ¡°What do you think? Nivritti, meet doctor Oh Dak-Ho, Doctor, Nivritti,¡± introduced Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Wait! She can understand Korean?¡± asked Doctor Oh, surprised.

    ¡°Yes, Doctor.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± said Doctor Oh.

    ¡°Nice to meet you too, Doctor,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°By the way why don¡¯t you let his hand go and sitfortably,¡± said the doctor.

    ¡°Look carefully doctor, she is not holding his hand, he is grabbing her hand,¡± informed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? That is impossible. He is sedated,¡± shouted the doctor in shock. He ran to Young-Chul and first looked at the monitor disying his vitals. ¡°His heart rate and BP are normal. He looks like he is calm now. So, the sedative is working but how is he holding your hands?¡±

    ¡°You are the doctor, you tell me,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Some are resistant to certain sedatives. He looks like he is under, but he might be conscious, just too tired to open his eyes,¡± spected Doctor Oh. ¡°We will have to do a further test to determine what is causing it. But looks like your physical touch is calming him down which happens with depressed patients quite frequently. His system was all haywire when I checked him an hour ago. Hope he remains the same. I wille to check on himter.¡± He looked up to check the IV and said, ¡°I will send someone to get another IV. He needs nutrients. King, when he wakes up, make sure he eats something.¡±

    ¡°Yes, doctor,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°See you guyster. I will keep you posted,¡± said Doctor Oh and left the room.

    Nivritti immediately hit Kyung-Soo on his arm and shouted, ¡°see I told you, physical touch does wonders.¡±

    ¡°Ow! Okay, okay, chill!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and smiled at her. ¡°So, you think he heard everything we talked about?¡±

    ¡°No idea. All I know is he is in control of his muscles. Whether his hearing is working, I have no idea,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    They both sat back down and exhaled together. No one said another word for some time. The whole room was peacefully quiet. All one could hear was three people breathing and machines beeping.

    The silence broke when Kyung-Soo¡¯s phone rang. He looked at Nivritti and said, ¡°Korain Hyung! Calling for an update. I will be back.¡± She just nodded at him. He grabbed his mask and his cap and went out of the room to talk with his team member and give them an update about Young-Chul.

    Nivritti exhaled loudly and ced her other hand back on Young-Chul¡¯s hand. ¡°See, all are worried about you. I won¡¯t tell you to get better soon. No, take your time, all I ask is you recover fully and never get ill. Take care of your health and make your family and friends happy with your sweet smile. Do you hear me?¡±

    Nivritti kept talking to him sweetly and kept patting his hand tenderly. Kyung-Soo gave the update to Korain and was back within a second. He stood at the door and heard almost every word that Nivritti said. He smiled at her after seeing how good she was with Young-Chul. Being a big sister to her sister, made her experienced on how to take care of someone.

    ¡°Sir!¡± said a voice outside the room. He turned and saw a nurse standing behind him.

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I am here to change his IV,¡± replied the nurse.

    ¡°What? Are you allowed here?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I have signed the confidential agreement. No one will know that I treated a member of ASD,¡± she whispered and winked at him. Kyung-Soo was taken aback at her wink.

    He instantly ran inside the room and stood near Nivritti. ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Nothing!¡± replied Kyung-Soo. He didn¡¯t want to tell her that he was signalling to the nurse that he was interested in only one girl.

    The nurse came inside and looked shockingly at Nivritti. ¡°Oh, I had no idea someone came to visit,¡± she bowed down to Nivritti. Nivritti too returned the gesture. ¡°Have you signed an NDA too?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Nothing! Nothing!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and removed his mask and cap. He knew how she felt about hiding the pain of Young-Chul and if she knew thatpany was making everyone sign an NDA, she would again snap at him. ¡°You, please do your work.¡±

    ¡°What did she say?¡± whispered Nivritti.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that,¡±ughed Kyung-Soo awkwardly.

    The nurse kept changing the IV and kept ncing at Kyung-Soo. He was visibly ufortable. Nivritti noticed both of them. She squinted her eyes at the nurse and stood directly in front of Kyung-Soo trying his hide his gigantic body with her tiny one. But the nurse understood what she did and lowered her head with shame.

    Kyung-Soo beamed with happiness at her gesture.

 Chapter 141 - 141 The Threatening

    141 The Threatening

    The nurse changed the IV and tried to adjust Young-Chul¡¯s nket. It was at that moment she noticed Nivritti¡¯s hand in Young-Chul¡¯s grip. Her hands immediately covered her mouth and she gasped. The nurse looked at Nivritti and then lowered her gaze.

    Nivritti looked at Kyung-Soo, worriedly and bit her lips. The nurse was surely thinking wrong. Anyone who would see her hands in a man¡¯s grip would think that they were in a rtionship. Nivritti had to work fast. She kept thinking about how to handle the nurse.

    She closed her eyes and exhaled a big puff of air. ¡°You have signed an NDA, right?¡± she asked in an authoritative tone. Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes widened. He thought that Nivritti didn¡¯t hear about that, but he was wrong.

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am,¡± the nurse bowed down.

    ¡°You know what that means?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am. That I cannot speak a word about this to anyone,¡± replied the nurse.

    ¡°About what?¡±

    ¡°About the condition of idol Man Young-Chul,¡± the nurse answered.

    ¡°Then you didn¡¯t read the NDApletely before signing,¡±mented Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± the nurse looked at her, puzzled.

    ¡°It said that if you speak a single word about what you saw in this room and thepany will make sure you never get a job anywhere in the world and they will sue you to kingdome,¡± threatened Nivritti.

    ¡°It did not¡­¡± the nurse began to contrast Nivritti but stopped mid-sentence. ¡°Rest assured, Ma¡¯am. I am good at keeping secrets, that¡¯s why Dr. Oh chose me,¡± she bowed down.

    ¡°Good!¡±

    The nurse was now afraid to look at both Nivritti and Kyung-Soo. She ced her hand in her pocket and took out a prescription note. Without looking at them, she said, ¡°this is the name of a medicine Dr. Oh wants you to get. We don¡¯t have stock in our hospital. Sorry!¡±

    ¡°What is this?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°A different sedative, it will help him in his sleep,¡± replied the nurse and looked at Kyung-Soo but instantly averted her eyes. With both her hands, she presented the note to Kyung-Soo. Before He could take her from her hand, Nivritti snatched the paper out of her hand.

    ¡°Please inform Dr. Oh when you return with the sedative. I will take your leave now,¡± gulped the nurse with fear.

    She rushed to the door, when Nivritti warned again, ¡°remember!¡±

    The nurse turned back and bowed down to Nivritti, ¡°yes, Ma¡¯am, not a word. I remember.¡± And she ran away from the room.

    Nivritti kept staring at the door with squinted eyes. ¡°Why did she keep staring at NK? Hasn¡¯t she seen a handsome man before? And the way she was looking at my hand,¡± she scoffed. She just raised her hand and waved the paper before Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes.

    He stopped hiding behind her and came in front of her. ¡°Woah! You are sometimes very scary. This is how you intimidated the restaurant owner?¡± he asked, impressed.

    ¡°I had two options. Ask her nicely or threaten her. The thing ismon people like us are afraid of any kind ofwsuit, so I thought bullying her would work better. If I had asked her nicely not to tell anyone that a girl was holding hands with Young-Chul, she would have thought I was a pushover and could betray me. But now she knows that I have power over her, she won¡¯t say a word to anyone,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°So, you heard everything about NDA?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes, I did, and it was obvious too. K&Q went to such lengths to hide the fact that MY was in a hospital. It means they will definitely get an NDA,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you are a hypocrite?¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti chuckled at his tease. ¡°I know what you are going to say. When it was about MY, I was very vocal that you should not hide things and when it is about me, I am trying to hide things. But Mr. Nam Kyung-Soo, in the case of MY, I am asking you to tell the truth. Whereas in my case, MY and I are not in a rtionship. I am holding his hands as a friend. If this hand-holding gets out in the wild, you all will have to deal with another scandal, which would be an absolute lie, yet tongues won¡¯t stop wagging.¡±

    ¡°So, if you would have been in a rtionship with him, would you have told the whole world about your rtionship?¡± Kyung-Soo eagerly wanted the answer to his question. Her answer would tell him about his future with her.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ first of all, I would never get into a rtionship with any celebrity,¡± replied Nivritti. Kyung-Soo¡¯s face fell with disappointment. ¡°And if somehow, I enter a rtionship with someone famous, I would discuss with him about what he wants tod o and how he would like to proceed and if he would befortable, I will definitely tell everyone about my rtionship. I have experienced first-hand, what happens when you hide something,¡± exined Nivritti. Her answer made Kyung-Soo smile at his brightest.

    ¡°So, you are an advocate for truth too,¡± smirked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Kyung-Soo tilted his head and looked at her mischievously. One step after another he moved towards her.

    ¡°What?¡± she looked up and down at him, confused.

    But he just kept moving closer to her with a smirk on his face. She gulped and stepped backwards. He would take one step forward and Nivritti would move in the opposite direction. Her legs stopped when suddenly the bed crept behind her.

    She was about to stumble on Young-Chul when Kyung-Soo grabbed her by her waist and pulled her closer to his chest.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± she hyperventted.

    ¡°You tell the truth, right?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    He moved his lips near her ears and whispered, ¡°then how many people have you informed that you kissed me.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ o¡­ we¡­¡± being this close to Kyung-Soo again fried her brain. One of her hands was on his chest trying to keep her bnce. His husky whisper sent a chill down her spine. Every single hair on her body stood up. She kept blinking frantically. Even though she took gulp after gulp, her throat was as dry as dust. Unconsciously she again licked her lips.

    Kyung-Soo closed his eyes and let go of her in frustration. ¡°Aishh¡­ why? Why? Why do you do that?¡± he grunted in annoyance. He turned away from her, clenched his fists and exhaled several times to calm himself down.

    ¡°What? What did I do?¡± asked Nivritti, gasping and gulping.

    Kyung-Soo suddenly turned around and went in her face. She bent backwards to get away from her face. Without warning he ced both his hands on the bed, enclosing her in his arms, even without touching her.

    She kept breathing heavily and kept moving her head as far away from him as she could.

    Kyung-Soo chuckled, ¡°you were all ruthless and threatening a few seconds ago. Now, look at you. Listen to me, you need to stop licking your lips. Next time I see you lick your lips, I will kiss you.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡± she gasped loudly.

    ¡°You are lucky MY is here. You are very lucky,¡± warned Kyung-Soo with a devilish smile on his face. She just gulped and kept breathing heavily. she wanted to run away from there, but her hand was in a tight grip. Young-Chul was not letting her leave.

    ¡°I will be back with medicine and food. See you then,¡± he winked at her and lifted his arms from the bed, breaking the enclosure. But Nivritti was afraid to move. She remained frozen in her position.

    Kyung-Soo smiled diabolically at her and walked out of the room with his cap and his mask. The moment the door closed behind him, Nivritti let out a sigh of relief. Her breath shuddered and she sat on the chair as her knees started to give in.

    ¡°Shit! Shit! Oh, shit!¡± she spent some time catching her breath. ¡°Stop pursuing me, my foot! Why does he have to act like that? Oh, my heart, oh my heart. Oh, I am getting a heart attack. It¡¯s a good thing I am in a hospital. Shit!! If I die I will sue his ass for murder,¡± she kept exhaling and inhaling and muttering things to herself.

    ¡°Yaaa! Keep sleeping like a log. Can¡¯t even see my plight. This is how your Hyung treats me and here I am helping you. Huh¡­¡± she scolded Young-Chul.

    She kept cursing Kyung-Soo under her breath when her phone rang. She picked up her phone and saw that Jae-Geun was calling her.

    ¡°Oh shit! Ipletely forgot about him,¡± she mumbled. She picked up the phone and greeted, ¡°Hello! Jae-Geun.¡±

    ¡°Where are you? Your session is still going on?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti closed her eyes and shook her in shame. She didn¡¯t want to lie to Jae-Geun but she would have to. ¡°I am sorry. My meeting was over a long time ago. I left the hospital. I am almost at home,¡± she lied.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Jae-Geun was taken aback.

    ¡°Sorry for not saying goodbye. But I wanted to get away from the hospital as soon as possible,¡± she lied again with a guilty expression on her face.

    ¡°Oh, no worries. It¡¯s okay. Rest well and I will see youter,¡± responded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Sorry, Jae-Geun!¡± apologised Nivritti. Jae-Geun disconnected the call. Nivritti pursed her lips and tapped her phone on her forehead.

    She looked at Young-Chul and said, ¡°see now I have to lie for you too. Now, if you won¡¯t get better, I will kill you. Do you hear me?¡±

 Chapter 142 - 142 The Everything

    142 The Everything

    With a big grin on his face, Kyung-Soo went out of the room. He immediately covered himself with his cap and mask and walked to the lift. He kept thinking about Nivritti all the way and had a bounce in his steps.

    He was also happy that Young-Chul was doing better. He was way calmer. His blood pressure and his heartbeat were normal. He just had to take proper rest. Even Korain was relieved after he heard the news. He knew that boys must be very happy after hearing that news.

    He sat in his Land Rover and looked at the prescription. The doctors had mentioned a fake name on the prescription. They were trying their best to hide the fact that Young-Chul was in a hospital. Kyung-Soo sighed loudly and pondered if Nivritti was right.

    Should they tell their fans about their pain and tribtions? She was right that their fans needed to see them as human beings and not as some perfect god. They made sure to entertain their fans and now they needed to show them some truth no matter how bitter it was.

    He inserted the key into the ignition and the engine roared. cing his hand on the gear shift, he pumped the gas and the car moved on. He was on his way to get the drug when his phone rang loudly.

    He pressed the answer button on his steering wheel and Jung-Hwa¡¯s voice streamed in, ¡°Hyung! It¡¯s my turn to stay the night. I will have dinner and arrive at the hospital. Is that okay with you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, it¡¯s fine,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°We will leave food for you,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°No need, I am outside, so I will get takeout. Don¡¯t worry about me,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    .....

    ¡°You are out? Why?¡± asked Jung-Hwa, concerned.

    ¡°Oh, the doctors needed some medicine, it was not avable in the hospital pharmacy,¡± answered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh, okay. I will see you tonight. Take care of MY Hyung,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, see you then. Now, disconnect the call, I am driving,¡± ordered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Bye, Hyung.¡±

    ¡°Bye, JJ.¡± He disconnected the call and smiled as he called him JJ. The name Nivritti gave them now became a part of their life.

    Kyung-Soo first bought the medicine and then drove his car through a drive-through fast food restaurant. He ordered burgers, pizza, fries, and cold drinks. After getting the food, he drove towards the hospital.

    Grabbing every packet out of his car, he walked towards the lift and climbed all the way to the 5th floor. He opened the door, ¡°I am bac¡­¡± he immediately stopped talking.

    He froze in his path and softly closed the door behind him. He made sure that there was no noise from the packets he was carrying.

    Smiling, he stared at Nivritti. Her hand was softly ced on Young-Chul¡¯s hand but now it was out of his grip. He finally let go of her hand. Her head was awkwardly ced on her upper arm and she was fast asleep. It would have been hard to sleep in that position as Young-Chul was not letting her hand go out of his grip.

    Kyung-Soo stealthily ced the packets on the table and moved near Young-Chul and Nivritti. He softly touched their hands with his finger. Both their hands were cold. He covered both hands with the nket. After looking at his vitals on the monitor and sighing with relief, he shifted his attention to Nivritti.

    A lock of her hair was ying on her lips. Her lip gloss made that strand of hair stuck to her lips. He smiled at her and moved near her. With his middle finger, he tenderly moved the lock of the hair and tucked it behind her ears.

    After touching her he realised that she was cold. He looked around and saw her overcoat on the chair. He grabbed the coat and covered her to keep her warm. He brought his chair closer to her and sat in front of her.

    She looked soft and sweet while sleeping. Her kind, angelic face made a sweet smile appear on his face. Involuntarily, his arms extended to her face, and with the back of his palm, he carefully caressed her cheek.

    She groaned and adjusted her head on her arm making his thumb touch the corner of her lips. Kyung-Soo gasped and removed his hand immediately. He exhaled and then again moved his hands towards her.

    He was on the verge of touching her lips when a voice whispered loudly, ¡°okay, stop!¡±

    Kyung-Soo stood up guiltily and looked at the person who shouted. Jung-Hwa was standing at the door with his hands on his hips.

    ¡°What? What are you doing here so early?¡± muttered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I gobbled¡­¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Shh, shh,¡± shushed Kyung-Soo and pointed at Both Young-Chul and Nivritti.

    ¡°I gobbled my food and came running here so that you can go home and rest. This is what you have been doing? Ahh¡­ real life k-drama, oh, Hyung, that¡¯s just sad,¡±mented Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Shut up! I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± Kyung-Soo lied with ease.

    ¡°I saw everything. I was behind you. I even called after you but you walked into a lift. I saw everything,¡± scolded Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes widened with shock. ¡°What do you mean everything?¡±

    Jung-Hwa moved in his face and enunciated, ¡°ev¡­ ery¡­ thi¡­ ng!¡±

    Kyung-Soo gulped. He had no idea how to react to that or how to look Jung-Hwa in his eyes.

    ¡°Just tell her you are in love with her,¡± suggested Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What? Love? Who said anything about love? Shut up!¡± Kyung-Soo shouted in a whispering tone. He was actively trying to avoid looking at Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°By the way, you said not to contact her, then what is she doing here?¡± retorted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°She just found her way here. I never told her anything,¡± protested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Fine, don¡¯t tell me. I will ask her myself,¡± said Jung-Hwa. He moved towards Nivritti but Kyung-Soo stopped him mid-way.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t wake her up,¡± pleaded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh, so concerned for her?¡± pouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Not for her, for you,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°She was extremely angry that none of us replied to her. She even said that she will hit us on our heads if we don¡¯t reply to her message from now on. You know how she gets when she is angry, remember the chiding Thae received?¡± informed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she chewed my ears off,¡± pouted Kyung-Soo.

    Immediately Jung-Hwa traced his steps back and raised his hands in defeat. ¡°Then let her sleep.¡± he looked at Young-Chul and asked, ¡°how is he doing?¡±

    ¡°For now, he is good. Everything is back to normal,¡± replied Kyung-Soo and looked at Young-Chul.

    ¡°But how did she find him out when you didn¡¯t tell her? Is she a spy?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo scoffed and replied, ¡°no, she found him by luck. She had an appointment with her new therapist and somehow, shended on this floor. She saw me entering the room. She was so angry that we didn¡¯t reply to her that she knocked at strangers¡¯ doors to make sure that the man she saw was me. It was fate, I think. She was sent to help Young.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°We were taking care of Young-Chul from afar but she just came in and grabbed his hands. What happened next was out of this world, he too grabbed her hand, not letting her leave, even though he was sedated,¡± recalled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. Instantly Kyung-Soo covered his mouth with his hand.

    ¡°Shhh!!!¡± he shushed loudly and removed his hand.

    ¡°Will you both shut up? We both are trying to sleep,¡± moaned Young-Chul.

    ¡°Hyung! Hyung! Hyung!¡± Jung-Hwa kept tapping Kyung-Soo¡¯s chest.

    ¡°Ow! Stop it!¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Young, are you awake?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Not by choice,¡± replied Young-Chul, condescendingly.

    ¡°Oh, you are awake,¡± Kyung-Soo raised his voice slightly with happiness. Jung-Hwa happily threw himself on Young-Chul and hugged him.

    ¡°Shut up, both of you. She is trying to sleep. She could not sleep at allst night because we didn¡¯t reply to her message. And for the whole day, she kept thinking about us. Kyungsoona Hyung, take her home. She too needs rest,¡± mumbled Young-Chul.

    ¡°When did you wake up, Young?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, afraid. He was worried that he might have heard everything about him and Nivritti.

    ¡°I woke up for a few minutes and she kept mumbling to herself. Then I went back to sleep. Now, I woke up just a minute ago and I heard you two talking like idiots,¡± groaned Young-Chul.

    ¡°Um¡­ Young! Do you remember holding her hand?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± moaned Young-Chul.

    ¡°You grabbed her hand and would not let her leave,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You know I don¡¯t like touching anyone, Hyung. Why would I grab her hand and that too when I was sleeping?¡± snapped Young-Chul.

    ¡°Okay, I will take her home. JJ, take care of him. Oh, yeah, this is the medicine, the doctors ask me to bring. Call Doctor Oh and tell him the medicine is here,¡± Kyung-Soo grabbed the packet of medicine from the table and gave it to Jung-Hwa.

    He then moved towards Nivritti to wake her up.

 Chapter 143 - 143 The Bull

    143 The Bull

    ¡°You know I don¡¯t like touching anyone, Hyung. Why would I grab her hand and that too when I was sleeping?¡± snapped Young-Chul.

    ¡°Really!¡± Kyung-Soo tilted his head and widened his eyes at Young-Chul. Annoyed, he moved the nket from Nivritti¡¯s and Young-Chul¡¯s hands and pointed at them. Young-Chul raised his head and nced at his hand that was below Nivritti¡¯s palm.

    The warmth of her hand was soothing. That¡¯s why he never felt any awkwardness because of that. Now that he saw his hands in hers, he immediately snatched his hands away.

    ¡°What? I would never,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°She is in this room for hours, just because you won¡¯t let her go. Doctor Oh and a nurse saw that. You can ask them if you don¡¯t believe me,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Stop teasing, Hyung!¡±ined Young-Chul.

    ¡°I just gave you the proof,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What I saw only proved that she grabbed my hand, I didn¡¯t do anything. I was unconscious, I could not stop her from doing that,¡± protested Young-Chul and avoided looking at everyone.

    ¡°Aisshh¡­ this idiot! Just acknowledge that you loved that she was here for you. You loved that someone invaded your space,¡± Kyung-Soo lifted his hand to hit him but stopped himself.

    .....

    ¡°Okay, we can have this conversationter on. She is sleeping ufortably. Ahh¡­ my neck hurts just by looking at her,¡± interrupted Jung-Hwa. He looked at Nivritti and rubbed his neck to soothe the pain even though he had no pain. He was just mirroring her.

    ¡°Okay, I will take her home. JJ, take care of him. Oh, yeah, this is the medicine, the doctors ask me to bring. Call Doctor Oh and tell him the medicine is here,¡± Kyung-Soo grabbed the packet of medicine from the table and gave it to Jung-Hwa.

    Jung-Hwa nodded at his Hyung and pocketed the medicine. Kyung-Soo moved near Nivritti and lowered himself.

    ¡°Ritti! Ritti!¡± he called her name but there was no reaction. He wanted to touch her, but Young-Chul and Jung-Hwa were staring at him. He looked at them, smiled awkwardly, and then softly tapped on her shoulder.

    ¡°Ritti! Wake up!¡± he said softly and again tapped at her shoulder.

    ¡°Five minutes, Mom,¡± she groaned.

    Kyung-Soo stood straight in shock and looked at Young-Chul and Jung-Hwa who were sniggering at him. ¡°Does my voice sound feminine?¡± asked Kyung-Soo confused.

    ¡°No, no,¡± instantly both the boys replied and startedughing at him.

    ¡°Shut up! Both of you!¡± scolded Kyung-Soo. Young-Chul and Jung-Hwa pursed their lips and stoppedughing at once. ¡°I am finishing this once and for all. She is going home,¡± vowed Kyung-Soo. He lowered himself and ced his arms under her upper thighs and around her back.

    Carefully, he lifted her in his arms. He thought she might wake up after he moved her but she was in deep sleep. She just adjusted her head and softly nudged his chest. Her overcoat was awkwardly hanging between Kyung-Soo and her body.

    ¡°Oh, shit, my mask! JJ, cover me and then follow me. Young, he will be back,¡± Kyung-Soo ordered around.

    ¡°Hyung! What about your food?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Grab that too,¡± replied Kyung-Soo. Jung-Hwa moved forward, ced the mask over Kyung-Soo¡¯s face, and lowered his cap to his forehead. Jung-Hwa grabbed his mask and the food Kyung-Soo brought and both started walking out of the room.

    Kyung-Soo abruptly halted in his path and looked at Young-Chul, ¡°Young!¡±. Young-Chul looked at him. ¡°It was nice to hear yourugh,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Just leave,¡± said Young-Chul, annoyed.

    Smiling, Kyung-Soo left the room and Jung-Hwa followed him. Jung-Hwa kept pressing the buttons of the lifts and they reached the parking lot. Jung-Hwa unlocked the car and opened the doors for Kyung-Soo.

    As soon as Jung-Hwa ced the food in the backseat, he was ready to leave, ¡°I will go upstairs. MY Hyung is alone. He also needs this medicine,¡± he patted his pocket.

    ¡°Okay, see you tomorrow,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°ce her in the car. I know you love touching her, carrying her, kissing her, but just let her befortable for once,¡± teased Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Hey! Run, before I hit you on your head,¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°How? She is in your arms,¡± he ran away shouting andughing. Kyung-Soo scoffed at his tease and smiled brightly. ¡°So naughty!¡± he shook his head in disbelief and kept staring at Jung-Hwa who vanished inside a lift.

    Jung-Hwa had left the car door open making it easy for Kyung-Soo to put Nivritti inside. Softly he ced Nivritti on the passenger seat and leaned inside the car to put the seatbelt on. Little did he know that someone was charging at him like a bull.

    Jae-Geun kept thinking about Nivritti and her meeting with Hei-Ran. It was about an hour but neither Hei-Ran nor Nivritti called him. He thought Nivritti might call him to say bye. He thought of calling her when a casended on hisp.

    The consultation took a lot of time and his mind forgot about Nivritti for time being. But after he was done with his patient, his mind raced back to her. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Involuntarily he touched his chest trying to bring back the memories of when she kept her face buried in his chest.

    She was in his arms and he liked that feeling. He was happy that he was able to help her, soothe her, calm her down when she needed him. He kept staring into oblivion and smiling like a fool. He was dying to hear her voice and it had been hours since her meeting.

    He dialled her number and asked her about her whereabouts. She told him that her meeting finished, and she left the hospital already. His heart stopped and a crack appeared. He wanted to see her. But then he realised that it would have been difficult for her to stay in the hospital after the trauma she felt.

    Anyone would have been distraught after seeing the severed hand. ¡°Well, she was practically shivering. Oh! How scared she was. Should I go and see if she is alright? No, going to her home thiste at night, would not be good. I can ask Jaehwa to call her. Yes, that would be good and less inconspicuous.¡±

    He still had a few patients to see. Hepleted his work and went down to the parking lot. He threw his bag in the passenger seat and sat inside the car. He sighed again and Nivritti was on his mind. He could not wait to reach home and Jaehwa to call Nivritti.

    He inserted the keys in the ignition. Before he could turn the key, a lift dinged and two men in masks appeared before him. One of them was carrying a girl in his arms. Either she was in deep sleep or unconscious. Were they helping her or something sinister was about to happen? No doctor would have allowed a patient to leave in such a condition. What was about to happen, he pondered.

    He kept a close eye on both men. One of them walked back inside the hospital whereas the other one ced the girl in the car. The moment the girl was on the seat, her face became visible to Jae-Geun. His jaw dropped the moment he realised that the girl was Nivritti.

    ¡°What? She said she went home. What is she doing here at this time? Was she coerced into lying? Why did she lie? Is that man forcing her?¡± Jae-Geun grabbed the steering wheel tighter with anger turning his knuckles white.

    He jumped out of his car instantly and shut the car door with a bang. He charged at the car with the speed of light. The masked man got off the passenger side and was about to move to the driver¡¯s side when Jae-Geun grabbed his upper arm and threw him at the nearest pir.

    Before the masked man can make any move, Jae-Geun towered over him and grabbed his neck. ¡°What do you think you are doing? Where are you taking her? Who are you?¡± shouted Jae-Geun at the top of his lungs.

    Kyung-Soo was not expecting anyone to attack him. He was taken aback for a minute. He gathered his thoughts and karate chopped elbow pit of Jae-Geun, making him lose his grip on Kyung-Soo¡¯s neck.

    The moment the grip was eased, Kyung-Soo pushed Jae-Geun away from himself and started coughing loudly. ¡°What¡­ the¡­ hell¡­ is wrong¡­ with you?¡± coughed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Answer me, where are you taking her?¡± shouted Jae-Geun and charged at Kyung-Soo

    But this time Kyung-Soo was ready. ¡°What is it to you?¡± he shouted. Both kept staring at each other and mirroring each other moves. If Kyung-Soo would turn left, Jae-Geun would follow suit. While in a staring match, they kept moving in a circle.

    ¡°If you have sinister ns for her, you will have to go through me,¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    Kyung-Soo who was crouched slightly stood up straight. ¡°Sini¡­ ster? Sinister? You think I have sinister ns for her. Are you out of your mind?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    Both charged at each other at the same time and grabbed each other palms. Awkwardly they tried to kick each other as no one could move their hands.

    ¡°Enough!¡± amanding voice made them stop and look at the owner of the voice.

 Chapter 144 - 144 The Fistfight

    144 The Fistfight

    Nivritti kept mumbling about her day to Young-Chul. Without realising, she woke him up, but he kept silent and listened to her. Slowly, he went back to sleep again. She kept waiting for Kyung-Soo to arrive, but he was taking his sweet time.

    When she had exhausted every topic, she grabbed her phone and scrolled for a long time. Yawn after yawn signalled her that she was too tired.

    ¡°You are sleeping, NK iste, I have exhausted every topic to talk to you. Well, you are not talking, I am just babbling about. I think I will rest my head for a bit. I am not sleeping just resting,¡± yawned Nivritti and she put her head down on her upper arm.

    Within minutes she was in deep sleep. She was already tired after not sleeping wellst night and the whole day for her was hectic. She was worried for Young-Chul, then angry that no one replied to her messages, and on top of that she was nervous that she had to give a presentation to the CEO again.

    Suddenly she heard someone calling her name. Her mind went back to India. She was back in her own bed. It was early morning and her mother was waking her up to go to school.

    ¡°Five minutes, Mom,¡± she groaned. Her mother smiled and moved away from there.

    The scene shifted and she was floating in clouds. She could feel moving across the sky, but she was not flying. It appeared as if someone was carrying her in their arms. On one side of her face she could feel the cold air, on the other side there was a sweet warmth that she was unable to exin. There was a big clock in the clouds that was going ¡°lub, dub¡± instead of ¡°tick, tock.¡±

    ¡°What strange clock?¡± she thought.

    She was enjoying floating in the clouds when suddenly she stopped. Everything turned ck. She was fixed in a position unable to move. Suddenly she felt something heavy, slithering over her shoulder. She could not see what was on her body, but it was constricting. She wriggled hard but was unable to get free.

    .....

    Slowly, the slithering thing reached her breasts. She tried touching it but all she could feel was a rubbery feel. Slithering even further, it reached around her waist and tightened it around her body. She tried to grab it so that she could get away from the bondage. She screamed loudly when she realised that the slithering thing around her body was arge, ck snake.

    Immediately she started shaking it off her body, but it refused to budge. No matter how hard she tried, it kept her stationary. Slowly it started constricting her lungs, making it harder for her to breathe. Suddenly she heard a few voices around her. She tried shouting for help, but no sound came out of her mouth.

    Gasping for air and trying to shout to help, she woke up with a jerk but the seat belt, pushed her back in the seat.

    ¡°Snake! Snake! Get off! Get off!¡± she tried getting the seat belt off, but it just stretched and came back up.

    Immediately she looked around, it appeared as if she was in a constrictive space. ¡°What is this? She groaned and pulled on the seat belt urgently. She shook her head vigorously to wake uppletely and opened her eyes fully. She sighed with relief to see that she was in a car and it was a seat belt around her and not a snake. She was just dreaming.

    ¡°Aishh¡­ what stupid dream! I am just in a car,¡± she exhaled loudly. Her exhale stopped mid-way when she realised that SHE WAS IN A CAR. ¡°How¡­ how am I in a car? I... I¡­ was in¡­ MY¡¯s room. What the hell is this?¡± Her brain was working overtime trying to figure out how shended in a car.

    But it was difficult to think as two men kept shouting near the car. ¡°Ahh¡­ who are these idiots!¡± she turned around to look where these men were and why were they shouting.

    Her eyes widened and her heart raced fast after she saw that Jae-Geun and Kyung-Soo were in a fistfight. She immediately opened the car door and tried to move out of the car, but the seat belt pushed her back in the seat.

    ¡°Ah! Shit!¡± frustrated, she opened the seat belt and jumped out of the car. By then Kyung-Soo and Jae-Geun had each other hands locked and were trying to kick each other. Kyung-Soo would kick Jae-Geun on his buttocks and Jae-Geun would scream ¡®ow¡¯. Then Jae-Geun would kick Kyung-Soo on his bum and he would scream ¡®ow¡¯. It happened on repeat.

    Nivritti tilted her head, yawned, and looked at them confused. ¡°What are they even doing? Ugh¡­ men!¡± she looked at their stupid disy of dominance for a minute and then shouted, ¡°enough.¡±

    Both men stopped immediately and turned around. Both their eyes widened as they looked at her. They immediately let go of each other¡¯s hands and lowered their head with shame. Slowly they lifted their head and looked at Nivritti, who tried to look tough but ended up yawning. Both men stifled theirughter at her. They realised that they bothughed, so they looked at each other and immediately averted their eyes, ufortably.

    Nivritti¡¯s anger climbed a notch up as theyughed at her. She reached near them and pulled their ears simultaneously. They both cried with pain. With their ears in her grab, she pulled them together and brought them to the front of the car.

    ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow!¡± they kept crying out loud.

    She let go of their ears and they immediately caressed their ears to soothe the pain.

    ¡°Care to exin what you are both doing?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°You know him?¡± inquired Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yes, I do. And you know him too,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°What? No, I don¡¯t,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°You have not met him before, but you know him,¡± replied Nivritti and looked awkwardly at Kyung-Soo. She knew he helped him choose the shirt for Chung-Ho.

    ¡°What are you talking about? And why did you lie that you left for home when you were in the hospital?¡± pouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°You lied?¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    She pointed her forefinger and chided, ¡°you¡­¡±

    Kyung-Soo immediately backed up with fear.

    She continued, ¡°I had to lie for him,¡± and she pointed at Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°For him? What do you mean?¡± asked Jae-Geun. Everything was confusing for him. ¡°Who is he?¡±

    Nivritti signalled him to remove his mask. Clumsily, Kyung-Soo took off his cap and removed his mask. Nivritti ced her palm under his chin to highlight his face. Kyung-Soo kept taming his hair which was dishevelled due to the cap.

    Jae-Geun just kept staring at him. He was even more confused.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ seriously! You saw him that day in the caf¨¦ on the news,¡± screamed Nivritti, frustrated.

    ¡°Oh! ASD?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Finally!¡± eximed Nivritti.

    ¡°San Jae-Geun meet Nam Kyung-Soo, Nam Kyung-Soo meet San Jae-Geun, Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother,¡± introduced Nivritti.

    ¡°Hi! Hi,¡± both awkwardly said hi to each other.

    ¡°Sorry! I didn¡¯t recognise you. I am not that into k-pop,¡± apologised Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I am sorry too for not recognising you,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti widened her eyes and started patting Kyung-Soo¡¯s cheeks. Thest pat was more of a p. Without realising, Kyung-Soo had blurted out about his encounter with Jae-Geun. Nivritti knew that he had seen Jae-Geun that day when they all went shopping.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Jae-Geun, puzzled.

    ¡°Mosquito! Mosquito! There was a mosquito on his cheek,¡± scoffed Nivritti. She squinted her eyes and stared at Kyung-Soo for his blunder.

    ¡°By the way why would you recognise me? Have you seen me before?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Kyung-Soo nced at her and understood that she hit him for this blunder. Now he had to do some damage control and fast.

    ¡°Uh¡­ Jae-Hwa showed me your picture once,¡± lied Kyung-Soo. Nivritti immediately shook her in no signalling that this lie won¡¯t fly with Jae-Geun. He would have to work harder. ¡°I¡­ I mean¡­ I mean she didn¡¯t¡­ showed me¡­ I just saw¡­ one in¡­ one of her folders. You guys looked simr so I thought you must be brother and sister.¡±

    Kyung-Soo immediately nced at Nivritti for approval. She slightly nodded her head and Kyung-Soo sighed with relief.

    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why you had to lie,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Because the presence of ASD is a secret in your hospital. One of the members is being treated and I can¡¯t divulge more than that. I was with them when you called so I had to lie. Sorry!¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°ASD is in our hospital?¡± screamed Jae-Geun. Both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti jumped at him and covered his mouth.

    ¡°Shh!¡± both shushed him together.

    ¡°It¡¯s a secret. No one can know,¡± whispered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ mmm¡­¡± mumbled Jae-Geun. Both Nivritti and Kyung-Soo removed their hands from his mouth.

    ¡°You cannot even tell Jae-Hwa. Do you understand?¡± questioned Nivritti.

    ¡°I understand but why the cloak and dagger?¡± asked Jae-Geun. Kyung-Soo facepalmed. Jae-Geun couldn¡¯t understand his reaction. Why did he facepalm?

    ¡°Oh¡­ don¡¯t get me started on that,¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°It¡¯s their decision. I will respect that.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± mouthed Jae-Geun. Kyung-Soo just shook his head in no gesturing for him to stop asking questions.

    ¡°I am going home,¡± announced Nivritti.

 Chapter 145 - 145 The Cute Lioness

    145 The Cute Lioness

    Nivritti looked at both the men with anger and started walking away. ¡°Woah! Woah!¡± Kyung-Soo grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards the car. ¡°Where do you think you are going?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Home! I just said that,¡± shouted Nivritti and jerked his hand away.

    ¡°How? Will you fly?¡± taunted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°We don¡¯t live in the stone Age. I can book a cab,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Get in my car. I will drop you,¡±manded Kyung-Soo and pointed at hisnd rover. Nivritti realised that she was sitting in his car when she woke up.

    Now the million-dor question popped up in her mind. She was asleep in Young-Chul¡¯s room. So, how did she end up in Kyung-Soo¡¯s car?

    ¡°How was I in the car, NK?¡± she asked angrily.

    Kyung-Soo gulped with fear. Jae-Geun smiled and answered, ¡°I saw him carrying you in his arms.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°Thank you for that,¡± mumbled Kyung-Soo and stared at Jae-Geun. He looked at Nivritti and exined, ¡°I tried to wake you up, but you called me mom and went back to sleep. You-know-who needed rest so I had to take you out of the room. Even after I carried you all the way to the parking lot, you never woke up once.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ called¡­ you¡­ mom?¡± stammered Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, you did,¡± sulked Kyung-Soo. Jae-Geun sniggered loudly but one angry look at him and he stifled hisughter.

    ¡°Really?¡± she asked again. Kyung-Soo just nodded. ¡°Sorry for that. Bye.¡± She again started walking away from them.

    ¡°I said I will drop you,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. Nivritti squinted her eyes and looked at Kyung-Soo. He immediately lowered his voice and said softly, ¡°please sit in the car.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to go with him. I can drop you,¡± interrupted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°She was already in my car, she will go with me,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t want to go with you. I will drop her,¡± screamed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Did you hear what I said? She will go with me,¡± yelled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You angered her, it¡¯s better she goes with me,¡± shrieked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh yeah! You want to go again,¡± warned Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Bring it on,¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    They both took the fighting stance again when the ding of the lift made them look in that direction. Their jaws dropped when they realised that Nivritti was in that lift and the lift doors were closing while she kept angrily staring at them.

    The lift door closed and both Jae-Geun and Kyung-Soo stood straight.

    ¡°When do you think we lost her?¡± asked Jae-Geun, still looking at the elevator area.

    ¡°I think we lost her from the beginning,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Right!¡± said Jae-Geun.

    They both stood there for a few more seconds staring at the lift door.

    ¡°Well! I should leave. Nice meeting you. Sorry for kicking your ass,¡± Jae-Geun extended his arm towards Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Likewise! Sorry for kicking your ass too,¡± replied Kyung-Soo and shook his hand.

    ¡°Hope your friend gets well soon,¡± wished Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°You think she will be angry at us when she would meet us next time?¡± inquired Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Can¡¯t say. If she squints her eyes, she is angry, if not, you are in the clear zone,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Good to know. One thing is for sure. She is crazy,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I know. I say the same thing. Why¡­ why do you say that?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Well, when ites to her, she curls herself into a ball and keeps crying but if it is about someone else, something happens to her. It appears as if some ghost possesses her every time. One minute she is innocent as amb and the next she gets scary as a wounded lioness,¡± exined Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Right, right! Thank God! I am not the only one,¡±ughed Kyung-Soo. ¡°Wait! When did you see her curled up in a ball?¡±

    ¡°Oh, when she came in for her meeting, by mistake she took the emergency entrance instead of the main entrance. There was an ident and she saw a severed hand and a lot of blood,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What?¡± said Kyung-Soo concerned and disgusted at the same time.

    ¡°Yeah, she kept shivering and crying, and I had to hold her for a long time to calm her down,¡± said Jae-Geun absentmindedly. He was back in the room where he held her close to himself.

    ¡°You¡­ held her?¡± asked Kyung-Soo and chuckled awkwardly.

    ¡°Yeah, why?¡± asked Jae-Geun, confused.

    Kyung-Soo threw himself on Jae-Geun and hugged him tightly. ¡°Thank you for taking care of her.¡±

    ¡°She was not kidding. You guys are good friends,¡± noted Jae-Geun and patted Kyung-Soo¡¯s back.

    Kyung-Soo didn¡¯t want to imagine Nivritti in anyone¡¯s arms. He had no idea why he was happy that Jae-Geun took care of her instead of getting angry at the fact that he held her.

    They both broke the embrace and looked at each other gawkily.

    ¡°Okay, bye,¡± shouted Jae-Geun and ran to his car.

    ¡°Bye,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo so that Jae-Geun could hear him.

    Kyung-Soo opened his car door and jumped in his seat. He exhaled and started the engine. But the disy of the car shed the door ajar warning light. He sighed as the warning light was for the passenger door.

    He turned off the engine and walked out of the car to the passenger door. He shook his head in disbelief when he saw Nivritti¡¯s overcoat on the ground. When she would have left the car half asleep, she would not have noticed the coat, thought Kyung-Soo.

    He picked up the overcoat and locked the doorpletely. He came back to his seat and ced the overcoat neatly on the passenger seat.

    ¡°Ah¡­ this girl! It is getting colder day by day and she forgot her coat.¡± He looked back at the backseat and saw that the food he got for her was still lying there. ¡°Should I go to her house? Naa¡­ she ran away to get away from me. On top of that, she is angry. Jae-Geun is right, in anger she looks like a lioness, a cute lioness,¡±ughed Kyung-Soo.

    Finally, he started the engine and pondering upon whether he should return her coat tonight or some other day, he got out of the basement parking lot. The moment he was on the road, his phone started ringing.

    He saw the disy of his car, it was Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, JJ,¡± Kyung-Soo picked up the call.

    ¡°Do you know how long I have been trying to call you? Where were you? You were out of coverage and Ritti left her phone and her purse here. Where are you guys?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo immediately swerved the car to the roadside and hit the brakes.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah, we picked everything of us and forgot everything of hers,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Meet me at the main entrance in five minutes,¡± ordered Kyung-Soo and pressed the gas pedal. He drove as fast as he could. He had to cover a lot of distance and then take a U-turn to get to the hospital.

    His car screeched loudly when he applied the brake in urgency. Jung-Hwa was standing at the entrance with her phone and her purse.

    ¡°Where is she?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°She got angry and ran away,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? Where is she?¡± screamed Jung-Hwa with worry.

    ¡°She said she would get a cab and go home,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°How? How will she call a cab when we have her phone,¡± yelled Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°JJ! One can get a cab without a phone. Moreover, this is not a time to waste. Go search for her in the hospital. I will try her home. Go, go, run,¡± ordered Kyung-Soo. Jung-Hwa dumped her purse and her phone in the passenger seat and ran back into the hospital.

    ¡°Please let her be safe, please let her be safe,¡± he kept muttering and turned the car back around to go to her house.

    His heart was racing as fast as his car. He kept cursing himself for not paying enough attention to her. If he would have kept his eyes on her, she would not have run away. He kept thinking about why he didn¡¯t grab her again and stooped her from going. If only he would not have fought with Jae-Geun, she would be safe in his car.

    ¡°Oh! I am an idiot,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and pped his steering wheel in anger. ¡°Did she get a cab? Where is she?¡± he kept exhaling loudly to calm himself down as he had to concentrate on driving.

    Navigating through traffic and constantly ncing at her things on the passenger side, he kept driving as fast as he could.

    ¡°Oh! Even if she got a cab, how will she pay for it? Her phone, her wallet, everything is here. At least she can go home, she only needs her code. Luckily, she doesn¡¯t need a house key. What if she never got a cab? Where is she? Stupid, Jungie has not called yet,¡± with every thought his breathing kept getting heavy. He was on the verge of hyperventting.

    He was close to her house when he saw a white cab parked near her building and a man and woman in a heated conversation. The woman kept rubbing her palms and blowing her warm breath over them.

    He immediately pressed the brakes of his car and jumped out. He ran, he ran as fast as he could, as fast as his feet could take him. The moment he reached near the woman, without speaking a single word, he spread his overcoat and enclosed the womanpletely in his arms.

 Chapter 146 - 146 The Cab Driver

    146 The Cab Driver

    Kyung-Soo kept insisting that Nivritti should get in his car. But Jae-Geun interrupted him. A moment ago they were in a fistfight that she had to break up and now again they were having a verbal fight. She had enough of the ¡°she will go with me, she will go with me¡± fight.

    Nivritti sighed loudly and rolled her eyes at the back of her head. She tilted her head, ced her arms on her waist and for a second, stared at both men. None of them was ready to back down. She closed her eyes in frustration and without saying a single word, walked away from them.

    She was not thinking about how she will reach her home or where her things were, she just wanted to get away from those fools. She pressed the call button for the lift and instantly the lift opened. She climbed and looked at both the men.

    They kept staring at her like morons. She just stared at them with fierce eyes and the door closed.

    ¡°Stupid idiots!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    She came to the ground floor and in anger went to the main entrance of the hospital. The warm air, the smell of antiseptic, the chaos of people, nothing bothered her, she just walked out of the main door. The first thing she felt besides anger was the cold. The moment she walked out chilly air hit her hard.

    She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her chest. She made sure to rub the arms to warm them up. Before she could think about her coat or her phone, a cab arrived before her, and a pregnantdy and a man got off the cab. Thedy was moaning and groaning and exhaling loudly.

    Without thinking twice, Nivritti jumped inside the cab and gave her address to the driver. The warm car felt good. Sheid her head on the head rest and the driver turned the car around.

    ¡°Ah, the miracle of birth,¡±mented the driver.

    .....

    Nivritti kept her eyes closed and clenched her jaw when she heard his male voice. She was despising the whole men n at that moment.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t they act like mature people? Why do they have to fight about everything, can¡¯t they talk things out?¡± muttered Nivritti.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think childbirth is a celebratory moment?¡± asked the driver, again, excited. ¡°Today I became a part of their life. When their childes into the world, they will remember me too as I drove them to the hospital, isn¡¯t it neat?¡±

    ¡°Neat? It¡¯s neat? Yeah, yeah, baby being born is neat, they remembering you is neat, that baby being a boy is neat, that boy growing into a moron is so, so neat,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Woah!¡± eximed the driver, looked in his rearview mirror, saw her angry and frustrated expression and concentrated on his driving. ¡°She looks angry. Must have a fight with her boyfriend,¡± he thought.

    ¡°You speak good Korean,¡± said the driver.

    Nivritti didn¡¯t want to talk to anyone she just wanted a moment of peace. She looked at the driver and just rolled her eyes at him.

    ¡°It¡¯s cold outside, why are you not wearing any coat or jacket? You should take care of your health,¡± said the driver politely. But she was not ready to take any advice.

    She was frustrated as sincest night, she was not having a great day. She was worried, concerned, nervous, angry, confused and then Kyung-Soo had to say things about kissing her and then he carried her in his arms. Emotion after emotion made her cranky. Also, she woke up abruptly from a good sleep.

    ¡°Ahjussi! Can I have some quiet and peace?¡± asked Nivritti, rudely.

    The driver was sad and he stopped talking after that. But his curious mind and fast mouth betrayed him. Within minutes, he again started grilling her. ¡°Did you have a fight with your boyfriend?¡±

    Nivritti shook her head in disbelief and lifted her head up. She looked at him through the rearview mirror and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have a boyfriend.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then your husband?¡± smiled the driver.

    ¡°No, husband, no boyfriend. Please just concentrate on driving, thank you,¡± Nivritti gritted her teeth.

    ¡°Oh, now I understood, the doctors made you angry. Yeah, they charge a lot nowadays. They will just take a look at you, write something on theirputer and charge a thousand. I know,¡± said the driver.

    Nivritti just lowered her head and rubbed her temple with her thumb and middle finger. She exhaled loudly trying to calm herself down. She didn¡¯t want to shout at the driver when it was not even his fault. She was angry at Kyung-Soo and Jae-Geun for acting like idiots.

    Both were well-educated, career-oriented, well-established in their career, mature men yet they acted like stupid kids.

    ¡°Ahjussi!¡± she spoke softly. ¡°Will you shut up?¡± he shouted abruptly making the driver look at her in shock. ¡°Eyes on the road,¡± she ordered.

    The driver kept muttering about her rude behaviour under his breath the whole way. ¡°Huh¡­ youngsters!¡±

    ¡°Could you¡­ could you pay the money now? Your house is nearby. I am gettingte, my wife is waiting for me at my house. It¡¯s our anniversary,¡± the driver spoke with fear.

    ¡°Yes, sure,¡± she said and turned to her side to grab her purse. Lightning struck her instantly when she realised that there was no purse near her. She looked around on the seat and in the crevices of the seat for her phone but that too was not there.

    ¡°Shit!¡± she shouted loudly and pped her forehead, hard.

    ¡°What happened?¡± asked the driver.

    She closed her eyes and sucked her teeth. Now she regretted being rude to the driver. ¡°Ahjussi!¡± her voice as soft as possible. ¡°I forgot my purse. Could you wait for me near my building, and I will get the money from home?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± shouted the driver and immediately parked the car on the roadside. ¡°You don¡¯t have money?¡± he shouted. Now it was his turn to be rude. He stopped the car andmanded, ¡°get out.¡±

    ¡°Ahjussi! I will get you your money,¡± she pleaded.

    ¡°Get out,¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Ahjussi!¡± begged Nivritti but he was not ready to hear another word. He opened his door and walked up to her door. He opened the door and gestured for her to get out.

    ¡°You came all the way to your home and now you remember that you don¡¯t have your money,¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Wait for a minute and I will get you your money,¡± she begged.

    ¡°What is the guarantee that you won¡¯t run away? What is the guarantee that you wille back?¡± shouted the driver and zipped his jacket.

    The speed of cars passing on the road was blowing wind at a greater speed. Nivritti slouched her shoulder and sucked her teeth due to the cold. She folded her hand and tried rubbing them to get warm. When that didn¡¯t work she blew some warm air through her mouth.

    ¡°I will be back, I promise you. Just keep looking at the watch. Give me five minutes, if I don¡¯te back, you can report me to the police,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know your name,dy,¡± said the driver, condescendingly.

    ¡°My name is¡­¡±

    ¡°Ritti!¡± Someonepleted her sentence for her. She turned to look at who that was. Her eyes widened with shock as she saw Kyung-Soo running towards her. She kept staring at him with an open mouth.

    He urgently ran towards her. She could see his car parked nearby with the parking lights on. Kyung-Soo had worry and guilt written all over his face. Before Nivritti could react, he parted his coat and engulfed Nivritti in his arms.

    ¡°NK!¡± eximed Nivritti with shock.

    Kyung-Soo tightened his grip and kept breathing heavily. ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Um¡­ yeah!¡± replied Nivritti, confused.

    He broke the embrace and took off his coat. He immediately wrapped his coat around Nivritti and scolded her, ¡°who runs away like that? Do you have any idea how worried I was? You left your phone, your wallet, your coat, everything in the hospital. Do you want to get sick? How did you get a cab? Why did you get in the cab with no means of contact? What if he was a serial killer?¡±

    ¡°Se¡­ serial, serial killer?¡± stammered the driver.

    Nivritti had no idea how to react to the outburst of Kyung-Soo. ¡°Well, say something!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? What should I say? That you idiots need to grow up. And why are you shouting at me when it should be me shouting at you guys? If you would not have made me angry, I would not have jumped in his cab without any money,¡± she shouted back.

    ¡°How dare you call me a serial killer? I work hard. I earn honest money,¡± shouted the driver.

    Both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti who were busy in a shouting matchpletely forgot about the driver. But his scream made them look at him.

    ¡°Who is he?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°My driver,¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°He is not a serial killer.¡±

    ¡°Then why was he freezing you to your death?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo and stared at the driver.

    ¡°She had no money to give me,¡± the driver replied. ¡°Who are you? She said she has no boyfriend, no husband, then who are you? Well¡­ you look slightly familiar,¡±mented the driver.

    Both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti looked at each other with fear. What would happen if the driver would recognise him?

 Chapter 147 - 147 The Sugar Momma

    147 The Sugar Momma

    The driver stared at Kyung-Soo with squinted eyes and moved towards him to take a better look at him. Nivritti looked at Kyung-Soo with fear not knowing what to do or how to help him. As usual, Kyung-Soo jumped behind Nivritti and tried to hide his tall stature behind her.

    Nivritti flusteredly looked at the driver. He too was confused as to why a man that tall was trying to hide behind such a tiny girl. She kept bringing her hand near her forehead and taking it away at thest moment. But she could not control it further and facepalmed, hard.

    ¡°What do you think you are doing?¡± she muttered to Kyung-Soo in English hoping that the driver won¡¯t understand what they were talking about. ¡°Get in front!¡±

    ¡°Ahjussi! Please wait here for five minutes. I will get your money,¡± she again pleaded with the driver and started moving away from him.

    But the driver was not having any of it. He immediately grabbed her hand and stopped her. ¡°You thief!¡± the driver shouted.

    Kyung-Soo huffed and puffed like a bull and gripped the driver¡¯s palm in anger. ¡°Let her go,¡± he gritted his teeth. ¡°She said she is getting your money. What part of that you are unable to understand?¡± He towered over the driver and stared hard at him.

    ¡°What is it to you? Who is she to you? And who do you think you are?¡± shouted the driver. Nivritti widened her eyes and looked Kyung-Soo and shook her head in no. It looked as if he was going to tell the driver his identity.

    ¡°He is no one, no one, talk to me, ahjussi,¡± begged Nivritti.

    ¡°Let her go!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    .....

    ¡°NK! Calm down!¡± she softly pleaded to him.

    ¡°Not until he lets your hand go,¡± gritted Kyung-Soo and sneered at the driver. The driver backed a little after his sneer but didn¡¯t let go of her hand. ¡°Okay, you want to know who I am. Then I will tell you who I am,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°NK, stop!¡±

    ¡°My name is NK, and she is my sugar momma,¡± said Kyung-Soo, condescendingly.

    ¡°Huh?¡± screamed Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Mwo (what)?¡± the driver almost lost his voice. Involuntarily, he let go of her hand.

    Kyung-Soo hid his smile at both their reaction. He wrapped his arm around Nivritti¡¯s shoulder and pulled her in for a side hug and kissed her on her cheeks. Even though he had his mask on, she felt his lips. Her eyes widened with shock, and she frozepletely.

    ¡°See, I am her sugar baby. We thought she got pregnant she we went to get it checked,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo devilishly.

    Nivritti had never been so flustered in her life. Kyung-Soo kept giving her shock after shock. She removed his hand from her shoulder and shouted, ¡°what? What?? what are you talking about?¡±

    Kyung-Soo again pulled her in a side hug and tightened his grip. ¡°Darling! Don¡¯t get angry. I will wear a condom the next time we have sex. Don¡¯t stop all the money you give me to love you, please sweetie,¡± Kyung-Soo batted his eyes. Nivritti had no idea how to react. She just looked at him with an open mouth. Her jaw was almost to the ground.

    ¡°You¡­ you pay him the money for loving you?¡± stammered the driver. ¡°But you said you don¡¯t have a boyfriend.¡±

    ¡°Ahjussi! I am not her boyfriend, I am her sugar baby. Right, darling!¡± chuckled Kyung-Soo and started kissing Nivritti¡¯s head non-stop.

    ¡°Okay, okay, stop!¡± shouted the driver. He was visibly ufortable with the public disy of affection. He was more flustered after hearing that Kyung-Soo was a sugar baby.

    ¡°What are you doing, NK?¡± snapped Nivritti.

    ¡°Ah¡­ sweetie, call me baby. Why are you calling me NK?¡± pouted Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti¡¯s tongue involuntarily moved towards her upper mr teeth, and she closed her eyes in anger. She clenched her fists and stared at Kyung-Soo with a fake smile on her face. ¡°Baby! Why are you telling everything to this man?¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, darling. I will be back. You, don¡¯t touch her, she is mine,¡± ordered Kyung-Soo and ran to his car.

    ¡°Did he just say ¡®she is mine¡¯?¡± muttered Nivritti and turned immediately to look at Kyung-Soo.

    He first smiled at her and then stared at the driver with squinted eyes before opening the car door. He took out her things from the car and walked towards her in the most stylish way possible.

    ¡°What is he doing?¡± thought Nivritti. With his every move, Nivritti¡¯s palm kept rising towards her eyes to cover them whereas the driver¡¯s eyes kept widening. She shook her head in disbelief at his stupid acting.

    ¡°Darling! Here you go, pay this man, and let¡¯s go home. The doctor gave me a bunch of condoms,¡± he winked at Nivritti. Both Nivritti and the driver started coughing loudly.

    ¡°You really are her sugar baby? She pays for everything?¡± asked the driver.

    ¡°What do you think? If I had money, wouldn¡¯t I have paid you? You see that car, that is hers,¡± said Kyung-Soo making Nivritti facepalm again.

    She took out her wallet and paid the driver. The driver looked at both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti and blinked for a while. ¡°Aishh¡­ youngsters these days!¡± he shouted and immediately jumped in his car.

    Kyung-Soo startedughing like a maniac after seeing the speed of the cab, the driver sped off in. Nivritti just raised her eyebrows and kept shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Kyung-Soo and again startedughing. He grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards his car.

    Nivritti jerked his hand away and shouted in anger, ¡°what the hell was that?¡±

    Kyung-Soo looked at her and said, ¡°do you want to discuss everything on the roadside where anyone can recognise me or my car?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± replied Nivritti and looked away from him.

    ¡°Then get in the car,¡± suggested Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti stomped her feet on the ground and walked towards his car. With a scrunched nose and squinted eyes, she kept staring at him till they reached her home. Kyung-Soo parked the car and Nivritti growled, ¡°follow me.¡±

    Kyung-Soo gulped and took off his seat belt as slowly as possible. Meanwhile, Nivritti was already out of the car and was standing in front of the car directly staring at him. He could feel the heat of anger emanating from her eyes.

    He got out of his seat, opened the back door, grabbed the food he bought and walked behind Nivritti keeping his head low. Nivritti kept muttering curses under her breath and kept walking towards her apartment.

    He knew he was going to get an extreme scolding after he gets inside her house. His mouth went dry with fear. She punched her code into the keypad and the door unlocked. She immediately grabbed his cor and pulled him inside her house and locked the door.

    Kyung-Soo removed his shoes with the speed of lightning and jerking her hands away, he ran to the kitchen. He threw the food on the b, opened the fridge and took out a water bottle. He kept gulping the water until the bottle was empty.

    He threw the bottle in the trash can and said softly, ¡°now you can scold me.¡±

    Nivritti who kept staring at him in shock at his action sighed loudly. She threw both the coats, her purse and her phone on the couch and marched towards Kyung-Soo. Without warning, she rained punches on his upper arm.

    ¡°What the hell was that? Pregnant? Sex? Condom? SUGAR MOMMA!!??¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow! Sorry!¡± Kyung-Soo just shed his teeth.

    ¡°What the hell were you thinking?¡± she threw a final punch. But before her punch couldnd, Kyung-Soo grabbed her arm and pulled her closer.

    ¡°Stop hitting,¡± he said seriously. And then yfully added, ¡°darling.¡± She immediately threw a punch with the other hand.

    Laughing, Kyung-Soo let her go and smiled at her, naughtily.

    ¡°Oh! I will kill you,¡± she shouted and again moved to hit him but Kyung-Soo ran away from the kitchen. ¡°Get back here,¡± she screamed.

    ¡°I was trying to help you and hide my identity,¡± screamed Kyung-Soo while running round and round her couch while she kept chasing him.

    ¡°And that¡¯s what you came up with?¡± she yelled, and they took another turn around the couch.

    ¡°You are the intelligent one, why didn¡¯t youe up with one then?¡± taunted Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti huffed and instead of going around the couch, she jumped on the couch and jumped over the headrest and caught Kyung-Soo. She again started punching him all over and he kept crying with pain.

    Finally, after a tiring one-sided match, they both sat on the couch with a thud and breathed heavily. Nivritti let her head fall on the headrest and tried controlling her breath. Kyung-Soo nced at her and stood up to get some water. He brought two more bottles and handed one to Nivritti.

    She snatched the bottle from him and drank the whole bottle at once.

 Chapter 148 - 148 The Bad Hyung

    148 The Bad Hyung

    Both Nivritti and Kyung-Soo had their head ced on the headrest. Nivritti sighed, pped his chest, and groaned, ¡°you are an idiot.¡±

    ¡°Ow! I know,¡± he replied, tired after running so much.

    Nivritti sat straight and scolded him, ¡°what would he think about me?¡±

    ¡°Why would he only think about you?¡± he asked, confused.

    ¡°Because he only saw my face. Your face was hidden,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°That is true!¡± he nodded, sweetly.

    ¡°Oh! I need tea,¡± sighed Nivritti. ¡°But first I need to change my clothes,¡± she groaned and slowly stood up.

    ¡°Um¡­ I can help,¡± suggested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    .....

    ¡°I will start the tea, you go change your clothes,¡± proposed Kyung-Soo. Nivritti looked at him for a second deep in her thoughts. ¡°I will heat up the food too,¡± he said.

    ¡°Food?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I brought food for us but when I reached the hospital room you were already asleep. So, I brought the food here,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh! Sorry for sleeping! I had to take care of MY but I fell asleep, sorry. I didn¡¯t sleep well yesterday, so¡­¡± she lowered her face with shame.

    ¡°What are you talking about? MY was sleeping. There was not much to do. You don¡¯t have to be sorry,¡± assured Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Well, any news? How is he doing?¡± asked Nivritti.

    At that very moment, his phone rang loudly. He took out his phone and saw the caller ID. It was Jung-Hwa. He showed the phone to her and said, ¡°it¡¯s him. Let me ask.¡± Nivritti nodded enthusiastically.

    Kyung-Soo hit the answer button and said, ¡°Yeah, JJ! What¡¯s the news?¡±

    ¡°Hyung, Hyung, I can¡¯t find her. She is not here,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Kyung-Soo confused. Hepletely forgot that Jung-Hwa was still looking for Nivritti all over the hospital.

    ¡°Ritti! I can¡¯t find her,¡± he exined.

    ¡°Oh, right! Don¡¯t worry I found her. We are in her home,¡± replied Kyung-Soo casually.

    ¡°What? What?? What??? Why didn¡¯t you inform me before? Do you have any idea how worried I was?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. Kyung-Soo immediately removed the phone from his ears, closed one eye and scratched his ear vigorously.

    Jung-Hwa kept screaming on the phone. Even Nivritti could hear his voice.

    ¡°What did you do to break him?¡± she asked. ¡°Why is he shouting?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ he was looking for you in the whole hospital,¡± said Kyung-Soo, embarrassed.

    ¡°Looking for me? Why?¡±

    ¡°Because we left your purse and your phone in the room after we carried you to the car and I told him that you ran away from me,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°And you didn¡¯t inform him after you found me?¡±mented Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo simply lowered his head.

    ¡°Talk to him,¡± she scolded.

    Kyung-Soo ced the phone back on his ears. Jung-Hwa was still shouting. ¡°You are bad Hyung. I have been running all around, everywhere trying to find him. I lost 5 kg after so much running. It¡¯s lucky no one recognised me.¡±

    ¡°JJ! Calm down!¡± requested Kyung-Soo. ¡°Sorry! We just arrived. There was a problem with the cab¡­¡± before he couldplete his sentence-

    -Jung-Hwa shouted, ¡°what? What problem? Is she alright? Everything is your fault. Why didn¡¯t you remember her things?¡±

    Kyung-Soo slouched his shoulder and lowered the phone in annoyance. He sighed and then spoke on the phone. ¡°JJ! You were in charge of carrying things not me, so that¡¯s your fault. Moreover, she just left in anger. She didn¡¯t even think about her things, she just walked away.¡±

    ¡°What did you do, Hyung?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Kyung-Soo had no idea how to exin. ¡°There was a misunderstanding with a doctor, and we fought, and she got angry.¡±

    ¡°A doctor recognised you?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Rx! He is okay. He won¡¯t say anything. He is Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother.¡±

    ¡°Ohh! Is she okay or still angry?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo looked at Nivritti and teased, ¡°she still looks a little angry.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°Give me the phone.¡± Kyung-Soo handed the phone over. ¡°Hi, JJ! Sorry for the inconvenience.¡±

    ¡°No, no, I am sorry. I carried everything and forgot your purse and your phone,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be. As NK said, I just walked away, I never realised I was not carrying my phone or my wallet,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Then how did you call a cab?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°I found one at the hospital¡¯s entrance,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Then what was the problem with the cab?¡±

    ¡°Problem was I had no money to give him but NK arrived at the right moment and I was able to pay,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Phew! So, what did he do that made you so angry?¡±

    ¡°This idiot was physically fighting with that idiot,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°And why were they fighting?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°They were¡­ oh¡­ I don¡¯t know. Wait! I never asked. NK, why you guys were fighting?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I want to hear too,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. Nivritti pressed the speaker button for him.

    ¡°Well, he thought I was kidnapping you. He knew that you left as you told him so he was wondering what were you still doing in the hospital and why I was carrying you,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°And instead of talking out, you guys decided to fight?¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Bad Hyung, very bad,¡± Jung-Hwa chimed in.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± scolded Kyung-Soo. He then looked at Nivritti and recalled, ¡°by the way your precious San Jae-Geun started the fight. He just attacked me from nowhere. I was just trying to defend myself.¡±

    ¡°I will deal with himter. I shouldin to Jae. She will sit on his head,¡± gritted Nivritti. ¡°But why couldn¡¯t you talk it out? Why did you have to fight? I scolded JJ for the same thing. You guys have to set an example, not teach stupid things like violence to your fans.¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti sighed and looked at the phone. ¡°JJ! How is MY?¡±

    ¡°Shit!¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. ¡°Ipletely forgot about him.¡±

    ¡°You left him alone for all that time?¡± shouted Nivritti, worried.

    ¡°I am going, I am going, talk to youter,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa and immediately disconnected the call.

    Nivritti shook her head and handed the phone back to Kyung-Soo. ¡°Call him after 10 minutes and get an update on MY. I am going to change.¡±

    ¡°I will get the tea ready,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

 Chapter 149 - 149 The Burnt Fingers

    149 The Burnt Fingers

    Nivritti moved towards her room and closed her door. Kyung-Soo moved to the kitchen. He looked around at all the shelves and finally found the kettle. He looked at the kettle for a minute pondering upon how much water to put in.

    He opened his mouth to ask Nivritti but stopped himself. Biting his lower lips, he stood for another minute looking inside the pot. He sighed and filled the kettle all the way up and ced it on the stove. He opened the food packets and ced them in the microwave.

    Nivritti came out of her room and without saying a single word she went inside the bathroom. She cleansed her face, hands and her feet and came out while wiping her face with a towel. She was on the verge of closing the bathroom door when Kyung-Soo screamed.

    Throwing the towel around her shoulder, she ran towards him. ¡°What happened?¡± she shouted.

    Kyung-Soo who was taking out the hot food from the microwave forgot to use mittens and the hot food slightly burned his finger. Nivritti saw him shaking his hand in pain and understood everything. She immediately grabbed his hands and pulled him towards the tap.

    She ced his hands under the running water and kept caressing his hands. ¡°Are you mad? Why would you touch food with your bare hands? Didn¡¯t you see the mittens? NK!!¡±

    The moment Nivritti¡¯s cold hands touched his hands, he forgot all his pain. The way she kept caressing his hands and let the cold water fall on his hand made him smile. She kept shouting at him for not taking care of himself and he kept staring at her beautiful bare face.

    She had no make-up on. Tiny drops of water were still shining on her hair that she missed while wiping her face. He carefully looked at every inch of her face. Her eyebrows were knitted and there was a small frown on her forehead. Her nose kept ring with anger. His eyes carefully traced the movement of her lips.

    He heard no words that wereing out of her mouth, he just kept admiring her soft features. His heart was moving in tandem with the movement of her lips. He was happy to see that she was worried about him. His heart filled with warmth.

    .....

    ¡°Is this, okay?¡± asked Nivritti. But Kyung-Soo was extremely busy staring at her. He didn¡¯t hear a single word. ¡°NK!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°What? What?¡±

    ¡°Is your hand feeling, okay?¡± she asked again.

    ¡°Oh¡­ yeah, yeah, better,¡± replied Kyung-Soo. Nivritti took off her towel and wiped his hands softly. ¡°Go, sit, I will bring the food.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay, I can help,¡± protested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Just sit down,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo took the towel with him and sat down on the couch. Nivritti moved towards the microwave. She first took out her tray and one by one took out the hot food and ced them neatly on the tray.

    She then moved to the kettle to see if the water was on the verge of boiling. The moment she picked up the kettle she eximed, ¡°Woah!¡± due to its heaviness. She opened the lid and sighed with disappointment.

    ¡°NK?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you invite the whole building for tea?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You have never made tea in your life, have you?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I am not allowed in the kitchen,¡± replied Kyung-Soo, embarrassed.

    ¡°What?¡±ughed Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯tugh. But how did you know?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Because you filled the whole kettle for just two cups of tea,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I was about to ask you but didn¡¯t want to disturb you,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti scoffed and poured the excess water from the kettle into a different pan so that she could use the waterter on. Nothing should go to waste. While the water was boiling, she ced the tea bags in the cups and took the tray to the living room.

    ¡°Is your hand, okay?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Better,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Wait!¡± she shouted and ran to her room. She came out with a green tube in her hand. ¡°Give me your hand,¡± shemanded.

    ¡°What is that?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You are so scared as if I brought a syringe with me. It¡¯s just aloe vera gel. It does wonders on burns,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    Nivritti tenderly ced her palm under his hand and lifted it. She pressed the tube and the gel squirted out on his finger. With concentration, she carefully applied the gel all over his burnt fingers. When she was done with his one hand, she moved to his other and applied the gel.

    ¡°How can someone burn both hands? How clumsy are you?¡± she teased.

    ¡°Um¡­ less than you,¡± he teased back. Nivritti smiled at his tease.

    ¡°Really, they don¡¯t let you get inside the kitchen?¡± she asked, curiously.

    ¡°Yeah, all I can do is boil noodles. That too sometimes get over-cooked or they stick together,¡± replied Kyung-Soo embarrassed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not necessary that one should know every skill in life. If not for people like you, how will hotels and restaurants do their business?¡± she mocked him. She tucked her lips to avoidughing at him.

    ¡°Ha-ha-ha,¡± heughed sarcastically at her which made herugh out loud.

    Her kettle made a whistle, and she ran to the kitchen. Switching the stove off, she poured the water into the cups and brought the cups to the living room.

    ¡°Here, let¡¯s eat,¡± she suggested. Kyung-Soo simply lifted his palms and showed the gel on his fingers to her. ¡°Oh, right, my mistake. I should have applied it after dinner. Here, let me feed you.¡± Kyung-Soo beamed with happiness.

    She unwrapped the burgers and ced one of them before Kyung-Soo. With one hand she fed him and with another, she held her burger. They both ate turn-wise. After the fries and burgers were finished, she looked at the pizza.

    ¡°Why did you get so much food?¡± she asked.

    ¡°What? You are full?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±

    ¡°I am not, give me my pizza,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Sir, yes, sir,¡± she mocked him. He twisted his lips to avoidughing but slowly he started smiling and that smile turned into augh.

 Chapter 150 - 150 The Update

    150 The Update

    Nivritti picked a slice of pizza and shoved in Kyung-Soo¡¯sughing face making him stop. She too picked up a slice and ate it. Both kept talking and eating. She fed Kyung-Soo three more slices, and he was full. He was over the moon that she fed him with her hands.

    The burn was less painful now and he was d that he injured his hands. At least she took care of him and was not angry at him anymore. With a sweet smile on his face, he kept staring at her face while she kept cleaning the table.

    After she was done with the living room, she washed her cups and dumped all the packets and wrappers in the dust bin.

    ¡°NK!¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    ¡°Call JJ, ask for an update, please,¡± she requested.

    His smile broadened at her request. She was worried about his younger brother and it warmed his heart. He reached for his phone but remembered that he had gel on his fingers.

    ¡°You put gel on my hands,¡±ined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°They must have dried up by now. Don¡¯t be a baby,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    .....

    He pouted at her and picked up his phone. He dialled Jung-Hwa and the phone rang. The phone finished itsplete ring, but Jung-Hwa didn¡¯t pick up.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t pick up,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti looked at him, worried. ¡°Is everything okay?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know. Let me call him back,¡± said Kyung-Soo. He again dialled Jung-Hwa¡¯s number and waited for him to pick up. Again, the phone kept ringing and ringing. Kyung-Soo looked at Nivritti who was staring at him, anxiously.

    ¡°Anything?¡± she asked. Kyung-Soo shook his head in no. the ring was about to beplete when Jung-Hwa picked up the phone at the veryst moment.

    ¡°Yeah, Hyung,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Where were you? Do you have any idea how worried we were?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I was in the bathroom, Hyung. I am allowed to go to the bathroom,¡± Jung-Hwa¡¯s sulking voice streamed through the phone.

    ¡°Okay, okay, how is MY?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°He is sleeping. The medicine you gave me, Doctor Oh injected that and he would return early morning to check up on him. His vitals too are stable. Not for once, his pressure has increased or decreased. He is doing well and from tomorrow Doctor Oh will start feeding him food instead of these IV,¡± informed Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh good!¡± smiled Kyung-Soo. ¡°You too get some rest.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Hyung. Doctor Oh has made all the arrangement. There is a cot and a nket. I will be fine,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, TK will be there in the morning with your breakfast,¡± said Kyung-Soo. ¡°Good night, Jungie.¡±

    ¡°Good night Hyung. Say good night to Ritti too,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°He is saying good night to you,¡± Kyung-Soo conveyed the message.

    ¡°Good night, JJ. Take care of MY,¡± Nivritti shouted so that Jung-Hwa could hear her.

    ¡°Hear that?¡± asked Kyung-Soo over the phone.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo disconnected the phone and looked at Nivritti. He sighed, ¡°well, he is doing okay.¡±

    ¡°So good to hear that,¡± sighed Nivritti with relief.

    ¡°Thanks to you,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What nonsense! I did nothing,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I beg to differ,¡± protested Kyung-Soo. ¡°Your touch, your talk, your words, your presence, everything calmed him down.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s absurd,¡± contrasted Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t believe me. I will ask the doctor to prove it to you,¡± snapped Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, okay, chill! No need to disturb the doctor,¡±forted Nivritti. ¡°He has a lot to do. We should not disturb him with petty issues.¡±

    ¡°Then ept that your presence was a great help,¡± pouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ you are so stubborn,¡± sulked Nivritti.

    ¡°I can say the same about you,¡± Kyung-Soo raised his eyebrows at her.

    ¡°Fine! My touch did a miracle. MY woke up with my touch,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°I know you are taunting but I will take it,¡± grimaced Kyung-Soo. Nivritti smiled at his sulk and shook her head in disbelief. ¡°I should leave now, it¡¯s gettingte. You need your sleep. You didn¡¯t sleep wellst night.¡±

    ¡°Right!¡± said Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo stood up and started moving towards the door. He lowered himself to wear the shoes and when he was done, he moved his hand towards the door. Before he could turn the knob, Nivritti shouted, ¡°NK!¡±

    He turned to look at her. She had her overcoat in her hand. The moment he looked at her, she threw the coat at him. ¡°Good night,¡± she greeted.

    He caught the coat and greeted back, ¡°sweet dreams!¡± Nivritti smiled at him, and Kyung-Soo left.

    She sighed loudly and looked around her house. She was standing alone in the middle of the living room. The pizza box was sitting on the table, giving herpany. She ced the box in the fridge and after turning off the lights of the kitchen and the living room, she moved to her room.

    It was days since she had time to read her book that was still on her night table. She nced once at the book and sat on the bed, tired. A big yawn made her open her mouth and her eyes started watering with sleep.

    She didn¡¯t waste even a minute. She covered herself with the nket and immediately fell asleep. As Kyung-Soo said she only dreamed sweet dreams. She was happy in her dreams. She was having fun. She was living her life in her dreams. She even had a sweet smile on her face the whole night.

    The rm woke her up in the morning. After a good night¡¯s sleep, she was feeling energetic. She was ready to rock. The first thing she did was leave a message on Kyung-Soo¡¯s and Jung-Hwa¡¯s phone asking for Young-Chul¡¯s update.

    Immediately, Jung-Hwa replied, ¡°he is doing fine. Doctor Oh came early morning and checked up on him. The effects of the new medicine willst for another few hours as he got another dose in the morning and then Doctors will do a series of tests. Don¡¯t worry. Just choose an amazing script for him. That will make him happy.¡±

    Smiling she jumped out of her bed. Dancing all over the house, she made her breakfast, wore her professional clothes and was ready to go to the office.

    While she was grabbing herptop bag, her phone chimed with an alert. It was a message from Kyung-Soo, ¡°just talked with JJ. He said that he already informed you about MY. But you scolded me yesterday for not replying to you so I am replying now that he is doing fine, still sleeping. I will ask every member, whoever would be in the hospital to keep you in the loop. If not, I will keep giving you updates, so don¡¯t worry about MY.¡±

    After reading his message, the corners of her mouth lifted on their own making her smile. She had no idea why she was smiling. She just knew that she was happy to receive his message and happier to hear that MY was doing okay.

    She ced the phone in her pocket and grabbed her purse and herptop bag and walked towards her office. It was only a day that no one had seen ASD, so there were no rumours in the media or even the office. The only thing social media was buzzing about was the sudden cancetion of the daily videos by ASD.

    A few fans understood the fact that ASD were overworked due to Rencontre and needed to take a break from certain things so that they could concentrate on more important matters. But a few fans were bad-mouthing saying ASD were gettingzy and more privileged after getting so much fame.

    Such types of fights among fans weremon so it was not a big deal. They kept fighting with each other and no one paid much attention to them. Some tabloids reported on this news, but major mediapanies kept quiet.

    She reached the office and after greeting everyone, she started her work. Yesterday she couldn¡¯t concentrate because of Young-Chul but today she would get steady updates, so her mind was at ease, and she was able to concentrate better.

    While she was switching herptop on, Jae-Hwa tapped on the partition that separated their desk and asked, ¡°how was your appointmentst night?¡±

    Nivritti was shocked to hear her question. ¡°Did Jae-Geun tell her nothing?¡± she thought. ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask Jae-Geun?¡± she inquired.

    ¡°I asked him. He just said that you finished your session and left. As he was busy, he could not see you off. Don¡¯t worry I scolded him for that,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae-Geun, you idiot! You didn¡¯t tell her about what you did or how you and NK fought. Oh¡­ men!¡± pondered Nivritti. She smiled at Jae-Hwa and said, ¡°you didn¡¯t need to scold him. I was fine. He is a doctor and doctors are always busy. He took me all the way to meet with my doctor and that is enough for me.¡±

    ¡°Heiranie Unni is the best,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me that you knew her?¡± pouted Nivritti.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know. Oppa told mest night that she was going to be your doctor,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What you girls are talking about?¡± interrupted Dae. Both the girls looked at him. He had two coffees in his hand. He ced one at both their tables. They both looked at each other. Dae Never brought anything before then what was special about today?

 Chapter 151 - 151 The Strange Behaviour

    151 The Strange Behaviour

    Seong Dae was fed up with all the praise Nivritti was getting. Her every idea was fantastic, everyone was loving her, everyone wanted to be her friend, it was getting on his nerve. And after yesterday, when she was again praised, he lost his mind. Now all he wanted was to prove to everyone that she was just a scriptwriter who stumbled upon a good idea.

    The moment he left the office yesterday, all he had on his mind was how to take everything away from Nivritti. On the very first day, she made a friend who stood up for her before the whole department.

    Then Chung-Ho stood up for her, scolded Thae for her and those privileged kids, those ASD dered her their friend. No one was so well-liked, so kind. She definitely was faking. She was hiding her true self. He just had to expose it.

    His mind went back to the fateful Friday when the whole office was gossiping about Jae-Hwa and Jung-Hwa. ASD, Chung-Ho, Nivritti, even Jae-Hwa knew what happened that day but they never thought of including him. He knew that she went to the CEO¡¯s office with Chung-Ho but had no idea what happened inside.

    All he knew was that the office received a collective scolding. He was sure that it was her doing. The way she stood up for Jae-Hwa and protected her, of course, she persuaded Hu Bong somehow to write that message for the whole office. But how was she able to persuade him? What kind of witch¡¯s power did she possess?

    No matter how much his wife asked him to eat and drink the whole night, he refused. He locked himself in his home office and pondered upon how to exact revenge on Nivritti. He didn¡¯t like Jae-Hwa too but in the case of Nivritti, it was pure hatred.

    Theptop was open before him, but he was thinking about Nivritti. ¡°You have only seen my warm side. I will show you who I really am. This Rencontre was supposed to be mine, you came and stole it. You took that away from me. This Rencontre would have taken me on the road to promotion. After Choi-ssi, the department would have been mine and this Rencontre was my stepping stone. Now, I will take everything away from you. I will take away your friend, Jae-Hwa. I will make ASD your enemy. I will get you kicked out of the Rencontre. I will get you kicked out of K&Q. Let¡¯s see who will support you then and who will remain as your friend.¡±

    He kept nning his revenge the whole night. He knew to get Jae-Hwa away from her, he needs to win her confidence. Then only he can sow the seed of jealousy and betrayal among friends. From now on he would shower all the love, all the praises on Jae-Hwa which would make Nivritti jealous, and he would slowly poison Jae-Hwa¡¯s mind against Nivritti.

    His n started the next morning. To butter Jae-Hwa up, he bought a coffee. He knew that would look suspicious, so he bought one for Nivritti too. Both Nivritti and Jae-Hwa were surprised at his gesture. He never brought anything for them, then why did he bring coffee suddenly?

    .....

    ¡°What is this, Seong-ssi?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    Seong Dae ced all his things on his desk, which was next to Jae-Hwa. He smiled at her and teased, ¡°you don¡¯t know what coffee cups look like?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ I know. But why did you bring it?¡± blurted out Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Can¡¯t I treat my people?¡± asked Dae sweetly.

    ¡°Of course, oh you are the sweetest, Seong-ssi,¡±ughed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Seong,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to say that. It¡¯s my pleasure. I just want you guys to be happy. If you would not be happy then how will you work happily?¡± smiled Dae and turned to look at hisptop. ¡°Be happy as long as you can because soon, I will turn your life into a nightmare,¡± Dae muttered to himself.

    Jae-Hwa raised her eyebrow at Nivritti to which she just shrugged her shoulder. They both picked up the coffee cups and sipped from them. Everyone started theirptop and started working on the scripts.

    Nivritti was d to see that there was still no news about ASD¡¯s absence. Although, she wanted K&Q and Young-Chul to stop hiding the truth but still was d that no media house got the wind of it. Otherwise, they would have definitely spun the news for the worse.

    ¡°Rencontre team!¡± shouted Chung-Ho. Nivritti knew what he was going to say.

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi. Yes, Mr. Choi,¡± said the Rencontre team.

    ¡°You are going to work in the office for the rest of the week. You will meet with ASD next week,¡± announced Chung-Ho. Nivritti just nodded her head as if she was expecting the same news. She was wondering if Chung-Ho knew what was happening. ¡°So, you all have a lot of time to collect as many good scripts as you can. Make me proud. And remember to keep track of all your scripts as you will have to give an update to Hu-ssi, in a few weeks.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi. Yes, Mr. Choi,¡± said all three members of the Rencontre team.

    ¡°Go back to work,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Psst!¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti looked at her and asked, ¡°what?¡±

    ¡°What is happening with ASD? What are they busy in?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti knew the answer but could not tell her. She gulped. She had toe up with an answer soon. ¡°Why? Missing PJ?¡± she teased.

    ¡°What? Shut up!¡± Jae-Hwa turned red with embarrassment. ¡°I am just worried.¡±

    ¡°I think they are okay. We should concentrate on our work and not on them,¡± replied Nivritti, trying to make Jae-Hwa stop from talking about them.

    ¡°You have their number. Why don¡¯t you ask them?¡± whispered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You have their number as well. You ask them,¡± contrasted Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Huh¡­ I can¡­ I can never¡­ I have never¡­¡± Jae-Hwa could not speak properly. She started hyperventting.

    Nivritti raised one eyebrow at her. ¡°Girl! You sit with them, you have talked to them, why are you still scared?¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha¡­ I am not scared. What are you talking about?¡± protested Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti curled her mouth in an ¡®O¡¯ shape and exhaled loudly. ¡°Yeah, right! You are not at all scared.¡±

    ¡°Hey! I am not scared,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Then give them a call,¡± Nivritti folded her arms above her chest and stared at Jae-Hwa with a raised eyebrow.

    ¡°I would give them a call¡­¡± Jae-Hwa cleared her throat, ¡°but I have a lot of scripts to read. I will talk to themter.¡± She immediately hid behind her cubicle and started staring at herptop.

    Nivritti chuckled at her words. ¡°This girl!¡± she too started working on her scripts.

    ¡°Jae-Hwa! Do you need any help?¡± asked Dae. Nivritti raised her head as she heard his voice.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, surprised. Never before had he offered his help. It was not that he never helped his junior but he never came to anyone to help before, people had to go to him.

    ¡°Choi-ssi, said that you should get your scripts checked by us. Sorry, we both have been busy and we all keep dumping the scripts in the same folder. I will make time to check your selection from now on, I promise. In the meantime, you know you cane to me, right?¡± asked Dae in the sweetest voice possible.

    ¡°Yes, Seong-ssi. I will definitely ask for help,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti was happy that Dae was paying attention to his juniors. A few days back, Jae-Hwa felt ufortable with him, maybe he was making up for that. She still remembered that when Thae spilt c on her, he was considerate and sent her home. He was a nice person, he was just cold.

    Maybe that day when Jae-Hwa felt uneasy with him, there was really something going on with his family and he was not thinking straight. Because before that day he was always respectful and only kept his focus on his work. That was the only day he behaved somewhat peculiarly. And everyone should get the benefit of the doubt.

    Smiling at Dae¡¯s behaviour, she again concentrated on her work. After a few hours, Thae messaged her with an update on Young-Chul. ¡°Hi, Ritti! How are you? Sorry, we are unable to meet. But don¡¯t worry Youngie Hyung or as you say, MY, is doing fine. He woke up and ate a whole bowl of soup. His vitals are okay, but he is too weak fromck of sleep. Doctor Oh said that he will keep Youngie Hyung for two more days so that he can gain strength and sleep well. He also said that it would be better for Hyung if you would came and meet him. He said how much you helped himst night. Also, he said that almost all his test results are normal. I am not that into science so half of what he said flew over my head. If you want, you can ask NK Hyung. If you cane in the evening, that will be good, if not, SK Hyung will send you an update. Bye, take care.¡±

 Chapter 152 - 152 The Lunch Time

    152 The Lunch Time

    Nivritti smiled at Thae¡¯s sweet message. She was happy that Young-Chul was doing better. Now she had to decide whether to go back to the hospital or not. She wanted to see Young-Chul again but visiting him every day would not be good for anyone.

    A nurse saw her holding hands with Young-Chul. What if she opens her mouth? What if she tells everyone about what she saw? Not even an NDA can shut people¡¯s mouth. Yes, she will be sued but the news will be out in the open, that too a false news.

    She thought that as she would get regr updates, she would be able to concentrate on her work, but Thae¡¯s message removed her focus from her work. It was lunchtime and Jae-Hwa tapped on her shoulder.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°It¡¯s lunchtime,¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Right!¡± Nivritti ced her phone down and put herptop to sleep.

    ¡°Are you okay? You look concerned,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? No, I am fine. Let¡¯s go,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    .....

    They both were on the verge of leaving when a voice stopped them from behind. ¡°San Jae-Hwa!¡± both Nivritti and Jae-Hwa looked behind and saw two women, Ji-Ho, Eun-U and a man, Do-Yun, who were part of the script team staring at them.

    ¡°Yes, Ji-Ho,¡± replied Jae-Hwa. Ji-Ho was an extremely attractive, curvy women. If she would not have been married, every man in the whole building would hit on her. She was working in the same capacity as Nivritti.

    ¡°Going for lunch?¡± asked Eun-U, a short-height, cute girl whose face looked cuter due to her pixie-cut hair. She was a new entry like Jae-Hwa, a scriptwriter but inexperienced.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°May we join you guys?¡± asked Do-Yun, a tall, lean, bespectacled man. He too was working in the same position as Nivritti.

    ¡°You guys want to eat with us?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Why are you so shocked? We can¡¯t eat with you?¡± asked Ji-Ho.

    ¡°She does not mean that. She is just surprised that you guys want to talk to her,¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°We talk to her,¡± protested Eun-U.

    ¡°Eun-U, you know that¡¯s not what I mean. I mean you never had lunch with us before,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You scolded everyone on her second day that no one talks to her and now when we want to be friends with her and have lunch, you are shocked,¡±ined Do-Yun.

    ¡°Why are you guys giving my team a hard time?¡± interrupted Dae.

    ¡°Seong-ssi!¡± eximed Ji-Ho. ¡°We are just talking. We were going for lunch so thought we would join these two.¡±

    ¡°Good suggestion. Let¡¯s have lunch together,¡± suggested Dae.

    ¡°You want to have lunch with us?¡± asked Eun-U, surprised.

    ¡°What¡¯s surprising about that? We always have team dinners and lunches. So, what¡¯s new about this?¡± educated Dae.

    ¡°Okay, everyone. No more shocking or surprising faces. Let¡¯s have lunch together and have a good time,¡± Nivritti took the rein in her hands.

    Dae clenched his jaw tightly. ¡°I am the senior, yet she is trying to be a leader.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go,¡± said Eun-U.

    ¡°Where should we go?¡± inquired Do-Yun.

    ¡°We can eat in the K&Q cafeteria, or we can go to a nearby restaurant,¡± suggested Dae.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to a restaurant, the new one on the corner. It opened a few weeks back,¡± suggested Ji-Ho.

    ¡°NO!¡± both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti shouted together. Jae-Hwa was still traumatised by the experience and Nivritti was concerned that the manager would recognise her and would blurt out things before her team members.

    All four, Ji-Ho, Eun-U, Do-Yun and Dae stared at both of them with shock. ¡°What? Why not?¡± asked Dae.

    Both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti looked at each other. They had toe up with an excuse, fast. To buy some time, Nivritti startedughing. Following her footpaths, Jae-Hwa too startedughing. She would once look at Nivritti and then at all four.

    ¡°We went to that restaurant recently. Food was not that good, and ambience is so¡­¡± said Nivritti and stopped to find a word to describe the ambience.

    ¡°So boring!¡± Jae-Hwapleted her sentence.

    ¡°Yeah, and the customers were rowdy,¡± added Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, right!¡± nodded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What nonsense! My friends gave me a positive review. They were practically raving about it,¡± said Do-Yun.

    ¡°Maybe they liked it, but we didn¡¯t have a good experience. Can we go to some other restaurant?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go to some new ce,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Why are they against that restaurant? It looks like they are hiding something. What did they do? Did they damage some property? If I need to defeat her I will need every insight about her. I need to find her what happened in that restaurant,¡± thought Dae. ¡°Come on, girls! They want to try that restaurant. One bad experience must not dictate the fate of a ce. You can give the restaurant a second chance for your team members and friends,¡± he tried to persuade Nivritti and Jae-Hwa.

    Jae-Hwa and Nivritti looked at each other, defeated. They didn¡¯t want to go but now due to pressure from Dae, they will have to. ¡°Fine!¡± both said.

    ¡°Great, let¡¯s go,¡± announced Dae.

    All exited the script department and walked towards the restaurant while talking andughing. Both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti kept ncing at each other, nervously. Nivritti held her hand and squeezed hard tofort her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think about that day. I am here with you. No one will touch you,¡± she reassured Jae-Hwa. Jae-Hwa too tightened her grip and squeezed Nivritti¡¯s hand.

    After walking for a few minutes, they reached the ce. Jae-Hwa froze before entering the eatery.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± assured Nivritti. Jae-Hwa took a deep breath and entered the restaurant. The first thing she noticed was the table they sat onst time. Ji-Ho was moving to that exact same spot.

    ¡°Not there!¡± Jae-Hwa shouted immediately.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Ji-Ho.

    ¡°Let¡¯s sit there, it will be private and we all can enjoy better,¡± said Nivritti. Everyone liked her suggestion and nodded, smilingly.

    While moving to their table, Jae-Hwa again froze when she crossed the area before the cashier. Her mind went back to when those men grabbed her. She shuddered with fear. Nivritti pulled her forcefully and made her walk away from that spot.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked.

    Jae-Hwa breathed heavily and just nodded. Dae observed everything. The freezing of Jae-Hwa, the fear on her face, Nivritti¡¯s concern, everything. ¡°What the hell happened here? Why is Jae-Hwa acting like this?¡±

    They all sat in a corner table and waited for the server to arrive.

    ¡°What are we going to order? What did you guys havest time?¡± asked Do-Yun.

    ¡°Huh¡­¡± both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti replied, absentminded.

    ¡°What did you guys orderst time?¡± asked ji-Ho, again,

    ¡°Oh! I think fried rice, chicken and bulgogi. Right, Jae?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, right,¡± Jae-Hwa smiled, faintly.

    ¡°Fried rice and chicken sounds good. Let¡¯s also order a stew,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Right, where is the menu?¡± questioned Eun-U.

    ¡°They have a digital menu. You can scan that QR code or wait for a server to bring you a pamphlet,¡± replied Nivritti and pointed at a poster that disyed the QR code for the menu on the wall.

    Before they could scan the QR code on the poster, a waiter arrived with pamphlets. Nivritti looked at him and immediately recognised him. He was the one who pointed her towards the manager. Stealthily, she ced her palm on the side of her face and tried to hide from the server.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t recognise me, please don¡¯t recognise me,¡± she kept muttering to herself.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am, menu,¡± the server said to Nivritti. Without looking at him, she politely took the pamphlet and opened her phone. Though her phone already had their menu, she could not tell the server that.

    The waiter eximed, ¡°oh!¡± at Nivritti¡¯s face.

    ¡°Shit!¡± whispered Nivritti.

    ¡°Have you been here before, Ma¡¯am?¡± inquired server.

    Without answering him, she justughed. She was still actively trying to avoid looking at him.

    ¡°Yes, they both have been, but they were disappointed. Hope you will change their perception,¡± educated Dae.

    ¡°Oh, sorry for your bad experience. We will try to make up for that today. I will get my manager,¡± replied server.

    Nivritti¡¯s eyes widened and she gulped with nervousness. She immediately licked her lips. ¡°No, no need. I will be fine,¡± shouted Nivritti. She realised that she was too loud. She smiled at the waiter and politely said, ¡°no need to disturb your manager. I will be fine. Pleasee back after five minutes to take our order.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Ma¡¯am.¡± The server left.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Hwa slightly leaning towards Nivritti.

    ¡°The manager might recognise me. I practically threatened him for that footage, he would never forget my face,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, shit!¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, shit is right. Oh shit!¡± replied Nivritti.

    Dae could see the fear and anxiety on Jae-Hwa and Nivritti¡¯s face. He was dying to know what they were hiding. Why were they acting like something big happened in this restaurant? He decided to pry. To find out what happened he needed to ask them questions.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± interrupted Dae.

    ¡°Hmm, Mr. Seong!¡± replied Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°When did you guyse here?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Ah¡­ um¡­¡± Nivritti was in dilemma whether to tell him the truth or lie to him.

 Chapter 153 - 153 The Scared Manager

    153 The Scared Manager

    Nivritti had no idea what to do. Should she tell the truth? What if someone recognises her and tells everyone that she was in the restaurant onst Friday? Dae would then ask her why she lied and she would have no answer. But how would she stop the server or the manager or the cashier from telling everything that happened that day?

    Jae-Hwa saw that Nivritti was deep in her thoughts and Dae was waiting for her reply. One more second and it would seem that she was trying hard not to answer him. So, Jae-Hwa kicked Nivritti¡¯s foot lightly and brought her back from her thoughts.

    ¡°Last Friday,¡± Nivritti finally decided to tell the truth. It would have been difficult to spin a lie when there were so many witnesses to the drama that happened that day.

    ¡°This is the restaurant where you and Jae-Hwa were assaulted?¡± shouted Dae. ¡°Oh shit! That¡¯s why you didn¡¯t want toe here. You could have said that Nivritti. Why did you lie?¡±

    ¡°Oh, the restaurant where you guys met with June¡¯s bodyguard!¡± eximed Ji-Ho.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I lied. First, this ce has a bad memory, she was attacked, I was hurt and then you all insulted her by associating her name with JJ. Sorry, that we lied but this ce has some traumatic memories for us,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Last Friday, they were assaulted, June¡¯s bodyguard saved them, but Coin said she saved June and then saved thepany from a big scandal. These girls told everyone half-truth. Somehow June was involved. He was herest Friday. But what happened? What did he do? How did he first save Nivritti and how did she save him? How am I going to find out?¡± contemted Dae. ¡°Choi-ssi, ASD and the CEO know everything, these girls too. I have to know what happened on Friday. Who knows everything? That server almost recognised her. Should I ask him?¡±

    ¡°Aww¡­ you call him JJ,¡± said Eun-U, sweetly.

    ¡°And sorry Jae-Hwa for that day. We should not have participated in the gossip,¡± apologised Do-Yun.

    .....

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ohh! You guys are so lucky. You get to see ASD every day,¡± Ji-Ho pped her hand, happily.

    ¡°That is nothing. The more important part is she is their friend. They cherish her,¡± Dae pointed at Nivritti and smiled. No one could see him burning inside with jealousy.

    ¡°Yeah, Kat brings something for you every time hees. All the members feel at ease with you. I am so jealous that you are their friend,¡± pouted Eun-U.

    ¡°Get scolded by Kat on your first day, you too can be their friend,¡± taunted Nivritti. Everyoneughed at her sentence. ¡°Really! I think they felt bad that they didn¡¯t protect me from TK, so out of pity they became my friend.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! They love you and I see that every day,¡± praised Dae.

    ¡°You tter me, Mr. Seong,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    They all were talking but Nivritti had only one concern, no one should recognise her, and no one should talk about Jung-Hwa saving them. True that no one saw his face but how the news would spread no one could predict that.

    Everyone kept talking and smiling but not Jae-Hwa. She was sitting silently listening to others.

    ¡°Are you okay, Jae-Hwa?¡± asked Dae. ¡°Do you want us to leave this restaurant?¡±

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine. As Ritti said, we have some bad memories,¡± replied Jae-Hwa. Nivritti grabbed her hand and squeezed it to calm her down.

    ¡°Has everyone decided what they are going to order?¡± interrupted Do-Yun. Everyone nodded. ¡°Good! Coz our server is approaching our table,¡± he announced.

    Within seconds, the server came back. To Nivritti¡¯s surprise, the manager followed him.

    ¡°Shit!¡± she eximed under her breath again hiding her face with her palm.

    ¡°I heard that some of you guys had a bad experience in our restaurant. May I ask what was the matter and how can we rectify it?¡± the manager asked politely.

    ¡°Ask her,¡± Dae did not waste any minute and pointed at Nivritti.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am!¡± said the manager, politely.

    Nivritti didn¡¯t want to look at him, but she had no other choice. She removed her hand slowly and looked at the manager. She shed a big grin at him. The moment the manager saw her, his feet moved a step back automatically. His eyes widened with fear and his mouth fell open. One could swear that they heard a faint scream out of his mouth.

    Dae looked at the manager. The man looked at Nivritti with pure fear. It seemed as if he was looking at a ghost. Dae could not understand why the manager was so afraid of Nivritti.

    ¡°Do you know her?¡± asked Dae. He wanted to get some kind of reaction out of the manager that would give him some clue. It was clear that he was scared of her, but why?

    After Dae¡¯s prompt, Nivritti looked at the manager and the manager looked at her. Extremely smoothly and stealthily, she shook her head in no, signalling him to not tell anyone anything.

    ¡°Um¡­ no, I don¡¯t recognise her, sorry sir, sorry ma¡¯am,¡± instantly the manager replied.

    ¡°Are you out of your mind? They had such a traumatic experience in your restaurant, and you don¡¯t recognise them?¡± shouted Dae.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Mr. Seong,¡± Nivritti tried to handle the situation. ¡°Mr. Manager, don¡¯t you recognise me? Some rowdy customers assaulted us and a few men in masks helped us,¡± she tried feeding the words to the manager.

    ¡°Right! Yes, I remember ma¡¯am, you, and masked men. You suggested that I hire some guards and I did,¡± smiled the manager, awkwardly.

    ¡°I see that. Thank you for taking my suggestion,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Whatever you guys want to eat, it would be on the house. Please order, he will take care of you,¡± said the manager and practically ran away from there wiping his forehead.

    ¡°Phew!¡± eximed Nivritti and sighed with relief.

    ¡°One disaster averted!¡± whispered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Tell me about it!¡± replied Nivritti.

    Dae kept staring at the manager who was still pale with fear. No matter how many times he wiped his forehead, he was still sweating. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the cor button of his shirt and kept exhaling to rx himself.

    ¡°Why is he afraid of her? What did she do? What did she say?¡± pondered Dae and kept staring at the manager and Nivritti alternatively.

    All ordered their food and the server brought it within minutes. Nivritti was somewhat rxed now. She was sure that the manager won¡¯t speak about the incident anymore.

    ¡°So, what it is like to be friends with ASD?¡± asked Ji-Ho while eating.

    Nivritti scoffed, ¡°it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ normal.¡±

    ¡°Wow! Can you show a bit of happiness? Do you know what others would give to be their friends?¡± said Do-Yun.

    ¡°I realise that I am lucky as they are my friend. But they treat me, and I treat them as we treat other friends, you know, normal,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Yaaa! If I would have been their friend I would shout it from the rooftop every day,¡±mented Eun-U.

    ¡°That is why she is their friend, and you are not. She treats them as friends and you would treat them as idols,¡± educated Dae.

    ¡°You are right, Seong-ssi,¡± said Do-Yun.

    All finished their food and the server happily reminded them that their food was free. All thanked the server and stood up from their seat to leave. The manager never dared to even show his face to Nivritti again. He didn¡¯t evene out to say goodbye.

    ¡°Thank you, Jae-Hwa, thank you, Nivritti. Because of you guys, we ate a delicious free meal,¡± said Ji-Ho.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    All were out of the restaurant when Dae started cing his hand all over his clothes. Nivirtti realised that he kept searching his pockets for something.

    ¡°Did you forget something, Mr. Seong?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°My phone! Did I leave it in the office or this restaurant?¡±

    ¡°Do you remember when youst saw it?¡± asked Eun-U.

    ¡°Don¡¯t remember,¡± Dae replied.

    ¡°Well, seeing how we are still here, let¡¯s check inside, if we find your phone, well and good, if not we will search in the office,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go,¡± said Do-Yun and started walking inside the restaurant.

    ¡°No!¡± shouted Dae. All looked at him shocked.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. You guys should not gette because of me. I will go and find my phone, you guys go back,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Seong-ssi,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    Dae smiled at everyone and sweetly said, ¡°guys! Please leave. I don¡¯t want you all to get scolded by Choi-ssi for beingte. I will be right behind you, please go.¡±

    ¡°Okay, if you say so,¡± said Eun-U.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, I am sure, leave,¡± emphasised Dae. ¡°Huh¡­ show off! Pretending as if she cares so much about me,¡± Dae rolled his eyes at Nivritti.

    All left together leaving Dae standing alone outside the restaurant. Smirking, he ced his hands inside his pocket and fished out his phone. Twirling his phone in his hands, he looked inside the restaurant and then at the back of Nivritti¡¯s head.

    ¡°I will find out whatever you are trying to hide,¡± he spoke while staring at Nivritti.

 Chapter 154 - 154 The Bribe

    154 The Bribe

    Seong Dae stared at Nivritti who was walking away from him. His team left him outside the restaurant thinking he wanted to search for his lost phone. Little did they know that he had some other ns.

    With a devilish smile on his face, he went inside the eatery. The server was removing all the tes and cups from their table, tidying it up for the next customers. The ce was almost packed with patrons. Even though two girls were attacked inside, the restaurant was doing well, all thanks to Nivritti who hid what happened that day. She didn¡¯t allow anyone to record what happened.

    Dae moved towards the server and smiled at him. ¡°Hi! May I speak with your manager?¡±

    ¡°Was something wrong?¡± asked the server.

    ¡°No, no, I just wanted topliment him and thank him for our free meal,¡± Dae said politely.

    ¡°Oh, I will get him for you. Please wait here,¡± smiled the server, collected all the utensils and went inside the kitchen.

    Dae waited for about a minute. He kept looking here and there to pass the time. ¡°What is taking so long? Where is he?¡± he mumbled. Suddenly, he saw that the manager was standing at the threshold of the kitchen and talking with the server.

    The manager was practically shivering and he kept wiping his forehead. He once nced at Dae and immediately turned his head back.

    ¡°What is wrong with him? Why is he so scared?¡± pondered Dae. He smiled at the manager and waved at him.

    .....

    The manager slowly moved towards Dae and after ages, came near him. He bowed down with respect and smiled at Dae. It was clear that his smile was fake. His eyes were screaming fear which he was trying to hide with his fake smile.

    ¡°You wanted to speak to me, Sir,¡± said the manager.

    ¡°Can we talk in private?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°About what, sir?¡± inquired the manager.

    ¡°About what happenedst Friday,¡± said Dae.

    The manager gulped and said, ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about.¡± He immediately started to move away from Dae.

    ¡°Please wait!¡± shouted Dae.

    ¡°Sir! You said you have to talk about today¡¯s food. That¡¯s why I came here. Please understand that I am very busy. If you have nothing to talk about today, then I am sorry, I have to leave,¡± snapped the manager.

    ¡°Fine, leave! I will shout at the top of my lungs about what happened herest Friday,¡± threatened Dae.

    The manager moved in Dae¡¯s face and whispered through gritted teeth, ¡°you were just asking about what happenedst Friday and suddenly you are an expert on it. Stop bluffing and get out.¡±

    Dae looked at the manager not ready to back down. He tilted his head and raised his voice, ¡°weren¡¯t two girls assaulted in this very restaurantst Friday and you did nothing?¡±

    Every patron eating inside the ce at that time stopped eating and stared at Dae and the manager. The manager chuckled awkwardly and said, ¡°that is just a rumour, Sir. Nothing happened. I am sure you heard it wrong.¡±

    But he could see everyone gossiping around as some people had put the news on themunicator app. He knew he had to take Dae away. He looked at Dae and whispered, ¡°follow me.¡±

    Dae happily followed the manager and entered his cabin. It was a small room next to the kitchen. His table was scattered with papers all over. Even though the big shelf in the room was filled with files, there was no musty smell of paper. The whole room was well-cleaned and was smelling like varieties of spices. There were only three chairs, one for the manager and two for the guests.

    ¡°What are you trying to do? Why did you say all those things in front of my customers?¡± shouted the manager.

    ¡°Because you were not telling me anything. I want to know everything that happened on Friday,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°You already know what happened, you just said,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°I know half the truth. I want the rundown of the full event,¡± inquired Dae.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you want to know. The girls you were with were assaulted by fourrge men and she escaped. What more is there to know?¡± asked the manager.

    ¡°Four men, you say. How a girl so small escape from fourrge men?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Because of that man and his bodyguards,¡± replied the manager, confused. ¡°You know about the assault but don¡¯t know about the escape?¡±

    ¡°That man and his bodyguards?¡± asked Dae, perplexed. ¡°What man?¡±

    The manager realised that Dae had no idea about that man. He remembered that the scary girl removed all the footage from the moment she arrived. And as per the man standing before him, she hid that there was a man with her. So, did she remove the footage to remove her trace or that man¡¯s trace? Should he tell everything to Dae? But that girl signalled him not to tell anything before anyone that¡¯s why he denied recognising her.

    Dae saw that the manager was silent, too deep in his thoughts. He asked again, ¡°what man?¡±

    ¡°I am sorry sir, I am not at liberty to say,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°Tell me everything or else I will go out and shout at the top of my lungs about what happened to my team here,¡± warned Dae.

    ¡°Do whatever you want, Sir. I am not afraid of you. I am more afraid of the girl you came here with. You can only shout and tell everyone everything without proof, but that scary girl has hard evidence against me, and you have no idea what she can do,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°What do you mean she has hard evidence?¡± questioned Dae.

    ¡°Please, leave,¡± said the manager politely.

    Dae took a deep breath and took out his wallet. He took out four notes of 50000 won and waved them in front of the manager. ¡°Answer my questions and these will be yours.¡±

    ¡°Haah¡­¡± chuckled the manager. ¡°You think you can bribe me?¡±

    ¡°No, this is a gift. I will gift you this money in exchange for information,¡± replied Dae.

    The manager just kept staring at Dae with squinted eyes. He looked at the money and then at Dae. Dae sighed and took another four notes and waved at the manager. ¡°I don¡¯t have any more cash on me. Do you want this or not?¡± asked Dae.

    Dae waited for another few seconds and started putting the money back in his wallet when the manager grabbed his hands and stopped him. Dae smirked at him and handed him the money.

    ¡°What do you want to know?¡± asked the manager and pocketed the money immediately.

    ¡°Everything!¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°The girls who came with you came here on Friday. They had their meal and were paying money to the cashier when a few men came inside. They were foreigners and were speaking fluent English. They wererge and tall men, the girls were tinypared to them. First, they harassed the girl with red hair. And then the scary girl approached them and made them leave the girl in red just by her words. She was fearless. I had never seen anything like it. She didn¡¯t know how to fight. They were four, she was single, yet she was unafraid,¡± narrated the manager.

    Dae was listening to his story with full concentration. He didn¡¯t want to miss any detail. The manager continued, ¡°I too was frozen with fear. No one came to help those girls. The men kept behaving rudely and shamefully towards those girls. One of the men grabbed her and pulled the scary girl in his arms. And then she twisted his finger and due to pain, he let her go. She almost won the first round. But his friends were not ready to back down. One of them attacked her but before he could punch her, the man arrived and punched him. Other men too moved towards the scary girl, but that man arrived with bodyguards. Due to bodyguards, all the bullies ran away.¡±

    ¡°Wait! And she let them run away?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Yes, that was strange for me too. She had them in her clutches. Thoserge men in masks were on her side then why did she let those bullies get away,¡± contemted the manager.

    ¡°What happened next?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Everything happened so fast after that. She scared those hooligans to run away. She sent all the bodyguards with the girl with red hair and made the masked man who threw the punch stay with her. She then ckmailed me and took our footage. From the time she arrived, all the drama happened, and till the moment she left, she made me delete all the footage and took a copy with her,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°So, that¡¯s the hard evidence you were talking about,¡± questioned Dae.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Tell me everything about the masked man and those bodyguards?¡± inquired Dae.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ have no idea about them. As I said everything happened so fast and everyone was in ck and wearing masks. I could not tell you anything more than that,¡± answered the manager.

    ¡°Was that masked man, tall?¡± questioned Dae, trying to jog his memory.

 Chapter 155 - 155 The Search for the Phone

    155 The Search for the Phone

    Seong Dae wanted to know everything about that masked man. He knew that man was Jung-Hwa as his bodyguards arrived with Jae-Hwa, but he needed proof to prove it. Now he knew how Nivritti saved K&Q from a scandal. It was true that if anyone would have recognised Jung-Hwa throwing a punch, it would have caused a stir.

    ¡°Was that masked man, tall?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Yes, everyone was tall, had broad shoulders, were well-built, I could see that the masked man was handsome but could not make out his face,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°You have no idea how handsome he is. But why did he risk everything for Nivritti? What does that girl have that I cannot see,¡± thought Dae. ¡°Did he look like a K-pop idol?¡± Dae threw a clue at the manager.

    ¡°No, he looked more like a CEO, though he was in baggy clothes,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°Okay, so she took your CCTV footage, but how is it possible that in the era of the inte, no one took a video of all that drama that happened in your restaurant?¡± asked Dae, puzzled.

    ¡°Because she threatened everyone,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°She did what?¡± shouted Dae.

    ¡°She threatened everyone to stop recording as they kept recording while the girl with red hair was being harassed. She said that instead of helping they just sat in their seats and recorded the scene, and they should be ashamed. I think that was the reason no one uploaded the video on the inte as they would appear cowards for not helping the girl,¡± exined the manager.

    .....

    ¡°That cunning girl,¡± muttered Dae. ¡°So you have no CCTV footage, there is not a single recording of the man. Did you at least hear his name?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Sorry, she never called him by his name. In fact, none of them took each other¡¯s name. She just ordered around everyone and then threatened me into giving her the footage and they left via backdoor,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°Does she think herself as mafia? What is this nonsense of threatening everyone?¡± snapped Dae.

    ¡°Oh! I still shudder after recalling the things she said to me. She talked about the reputation of my ce and about suing me for harassment. I had to spend a lot of money in hiring those guards because she suggested that and a lot of people were talking on themunicator app about my restaurant,¡± said the manager.

    ¡°That¡¯s all that happened?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°I told you everything,¡± answered the manager.

    ¡°What good are you? You don¡¯t have an iota of proof about what happened that day,¡± chided Dae. ¡°A girl threatens you and you fold, you weakling!¡±

    ¡°I am a weakling, a weakling? Then what about you? Why were you being nice to her? And now here you are interrogating me? You are weaker than me,¡± shouted the manager.

    Dae moved forward and grabbed the manager¡¯s cor. ¡°I am not afraid of her. She will be scared of me soon. When you go into a battle, you need to be prepared and this is preparation. Am I clear?¡± he shouted.

    The manager jerked Dae¡¯s hands away and startedughing. ¡°Going to war with a little girl and you are calling me a weakling,¡± chuckled the manager.

    ¡°She looks like a little girl, but you have experienced first-hand how cunning and smart she is. To fight with her I will have to y dirty. If she can get CCTV footage from you and then make you delete the same, imagine what she can do when she puts her mind to something. I need to win. Don¡¯t you want a payback?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°She literally has an army of bodyguards. What can you and I do to her? Moreover, she was hurt first and then she intimidated me. I have made my peace with it. What did she do to you that you are acting crazy in my cabin?¡± inquired the manager.

    ¡°She took something important from me. My name, my fame, my chance to climb up the corporatedder, she snatched everything away. To climb again, I will have to pull her down from the seat that everyone has ced her on. I need to diminish her poprity,¡± chided Dae.

    ¡°Oh, the office politics! I just hate it. I told you everything I know and thank you for the money. Now, get out,¡± said the manager.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I am leaving, no need to get snappy,¡± said Dae and started moving out.

    ¡°Wait! There is something else,¡± shouted the manager. Dae halted in his path and turned around immediately. ¡°She did call him something, some abbreviation, something like HH, KK,¡± the manager tried to recall.

    ¡°JJ?¡± shouted Dae, excited.

    ¡°Yes, yes, she called him JJ,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°So, he was here, Jung-Hwa threw the punch,¡± thought Dae. He smiled at the manager, but his smile quickly faded.

    ¡°What? Why are you not happy? I gave you a piece of new information,¡± said the manager.

    ¡°True that you gave me new information but to turn that information into a fact, I need proof and she destroyed every piece of evidence,¡± sighed Dae.

    ¡°Not necessarily,¡± replied the manager.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°I told you, she took a copy of the footage in her phone. Maybe she still has that, if you can get your hands on that copy, you will have your proof,¡± exined the manager.

    Dae bit his lower lip and pondered, ¡°if I get that footage, I can publish it on the inte and start the rumour that Jung-Hwa saved her, hence they are in a rtionship. That way Hu-ssi will fire her to save the reputation of thepany. And I know my team, anyone who gets associated with ASD is automatically hated. I will get rid of her instantly. I will have to get her phone somehow.¡±

    ¡°Are you okay, mister?¡± asked the manager.

    ¡°I am fine, thank you for all the information,¡± said Dae and ran out of the room. He had spent a lot of time in the restaurant and he had to hurry back. He knew everyone would wait for him especially Jae-Hwa and Nivritti as they were part of his team.

    Suddenly, his phone started ringing. He took out his phone and saw that Nivritti was calling him. He closed his eyes and smiled as he realised that she was calling him not to talk with him but to find his phone. He now realised that he was lucky no one called him the moment they left the restaurant else, his lie would havee out in the open.

    He decided to let it ring but pressed the volume button to silence the ringtone. After a full ring, he immediately set his phone on silent mode, he didn¡¯t even think of setting it on the vibrator. The moment he muted his phone, Chung-Ho¡¯s name appeared on the disy.

    ¡°Why is he calling? Is he a part of the team trying to find my phone or he needs me to do some work? Should I pick it up?¡± he contemted.

    He let it ring again and kept moving towards the office. After Chung-Ho¡¯s call, it was Jae-Hwa¡¯s turn. He sighed with relief when he realised that Chung-Ho too called him to search for his phone.

    Before entering the K&Q building, he quickly ced his phone back in his pocket and moved towards the 11th floor. The moment he entered his department, Chung-Ho shouted, ¡°did you find your phone?¡±

    Dae looked gloomy and replied, ¡°it was not in the restaurant, Choi-ssi.¡±

    ¡°We looked all around in the office, but it is not here,¡± interrupted Don-Yun.

    ¡°Seong-ssi! We have not looked in your bag. Maybe it is there. Please search for it,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, I will. Thanks, Jae-Hwa,¡± replied Dae with a faint smile on his face. He moved towards his seat and took out hisptop bag. He acted as if he was diligently searching for his phone, but he was biding his time and waiting for the opportunity to ce his phone in his bag stealthily.

    He looked at everyone. Everyone was staring at him waiting for news about his phone. He lowered himself further and took out his phone as carefully as possible. With his bag in his hands, he startedughing.

    Everyone looked at him, shocked.

    ¡°What? What?¡± there was a collective question.

    ¡°It was in the bag,¡± chuckled Dae.

    ¡°What? But we called it, hundreds of times,¡± shouted Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yeah, it was on silent,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Well, the good news is you found your phone. Now, everyone, go back to your work,¡± announced Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Thank you everyone for taking the time to help me,¡± Dae bowed down to his whole department. ¡°Thank you, girls!¡± he said to his team.

    ¡°Wee, Mr. Seong. Wee, Seong-ssi,¡± replied both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti.

    Everyone went back to their work and Dae kept twirling his phone. ¡°How will I check her phone? I need to get that phone and her passcode,¡± pondered Dae. ¡°And that too soon. I have to get her kicked out before Rencontre.¡±

 Chapter 156 - 156 The First Attempt

    156 The First Attempt

    After working for the whole day, it was time to leave for home. Nivritti was pondering upon whether to visit Young-Chul in the hospital. Going there every day would make people gossip about her. But Korain invited her, and she didn¡¯t want him to think that his words had no value.

    She was shutting down herptop but kept biting her lips.

    ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± interjected Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Nivritti raised her head and looked at Jae-Hwa. She didn¡¯t hear a single word that she said.

    ¡°Who are you thinking about that you didn¡¯t hear a word I just said,¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? No one!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Woah! Such a violent reaction. You were thinking about someone. Tell me, tell me,¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I was thinking about PJ. Have not seen him flirt with you for days,¡± Nivritti teased back.

    ¡°Hey! Shush! People can hear you,¡± scolded Jae-Hwa. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Then stop teasing me. I was not thinking about anyone. I was making a list in my head as I am going to the supermarket today,¡± lied Nivritti.

    ¡°Ohh! Want my help? We can take my car,¡± said Jae-Hwa excitedly.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine. I will see you tomorrow,¡± Nivritti said goodbye and was the first one to leave.

    Jae-Hwa collected her things and moved towards the lift. She pressed the close button of the lift when Dae shouted, ¡°stop the lift, Jae-Hwa.¡± She immediately ced her hands between the lift door and with her other hand kept pressing the open button.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Dae and entered the lift.

    ¡°You are wee, Seong-ssi,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    The lift kept climbing down. Dae kept ncing at Jae-Hwa who was busy on her phone. The lift stopped and the doors opened with a ding. Jae-Hwa moved forward still staring at her phone. Dae smirked at her and slightly moved his foot forward and Jae-Hwa bumped into his foot. She was about to fall when Dae grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to himself.

    He had his arms wrapped around her waist and held her closer to his chest. Without loosening the grip, he moved one of his hands and reached up to her face. He parted her bangs and caressed her cheeks. ¡°Are you alright?¡± he asked.

    Everything happened so fast that Jae-Hwa could not process a thing. She finally came to her senses when Dae asked her a question. She realised that she was in his arms, and he was touching her cheeks.

    She jerked him away and stepped back, as far as she could. But her bad luck, the lift door closed and it again started climbing up. She gulped and avoided looking at Dae. She didn¡¯t like it when he touched her.

    ¡°Sorry! But you were about to fall. I am sorry if you felt ufortable by my touch,¡± Dae knelt down and apologised to Jae-Hwa.

    She felt bad that a senior man was apologising to her. She moved near him and touched his shoulder. ¡°Please get up. I am fine,¡± she said.

    ¡°Sorry, you were walking out. I didn¡¯t mean to, but my foot hit your foot, and this happened. Please forgive me,¡± he bowed down again.

    ¡°Please Seong-ssi, get up,¡± she requested.

    ¡°So, you are, okay?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°I am fine. Please get up.¡±

    Dae stood up and apologised again, ¡°sorry, very sorry.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she said and pressed the button for the basement level where their cars were parked. The lift reached the 2nd floor and a few people entered. Jae-Hwa was somewhat rxed after seeing a few people in the lift.

    The lift again started climbing down and Jae-Hwa purposefully stood far away from Dae. But Dae was not done yet. Everyone came out of the lift and walked towards their car when Dae shouted, ¡°Jae-Hwa!¡±

    She bit her lips and halted in her path. She closed her eyes for a second and exhaled loudly to get rid of her fear. She turned around and with a fake smile on her face replied, ¡°Yes, Seong-ssi.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the suggestion to look for my phone in my bag. Because of you, I found my phone,¡± smiled Dae.

    ¡°It was not my idea. It was Ritti¡¯s,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    Dae clenched his fists at the mention of her name. ¡°No one is listening to us. You gave me that idea, I don¡¯t care who suggested it first. This is a cutthroatpetition. Be smart,¡± taunted Dae.

    ¡°So, you want me to take the credit for someone else¡¯s work?¡± Jae-Hwa crossed her arms over her chest.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that. I am just saying that are you not tired of her? Every good ideaes from her mind. She is getting annoying day by day,¡± Dae had an angry grin on his face.

    Jae-Hwa thought that Dae was joking. She smiled at him and said, ¡°yeah, her brain is sometimes annoying. Isn¡¯t it great that she is a part of our team? Because of her, I met with our CEO twice. Before her, I never even dreamed that I would meet with him face to face.¡±

    ¡°Ah! This stupid girl. Here I am telling her that Nivritti is annoying, and she is praising her,¡± mumbled Dae.

    ¡°Are you not jealous of her? They say girls are jealous of each other,¡± mocked Dae.

    ¡°Why would I be jealous of her? She is sweet, kind, and my friend,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Right, right! My family watches too many daily soaps. They keep talking about women pulling women down. So, I thought¡­ I am stupid. It¡¯s good that you guys are friends, otherwise, it would have been so difficult to work together, right?¡± taunted Dae.

    ¡°Yeah, she is awesome. She never judged me because my father works in thispany. She was the first one who told me that I belong here because of my talent,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa. ¡°I should really leave. Good night, Seong-ssi.¡± She turned around and started walking towards her car.

    ¡°Jae-Hwa!¡± Dae called after her. She turned back to look at him. ¡°It seems that she is better friends with ASD than you,¡± Dae fired thest arrow in his quiver.

    ¡°Of course, she is, and she deserves to be,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa. ¡°You have no idea what she did for them,¡± thought Jae-Hwa while staring at Dae. And the arrow missed its mark. ¡°See you tomorrow, Seong-ssi.¡± She bowed down and moved towards her car.

    She ced her bag and her purse in the passenger seat and started the car. The car zoomed past Dae who was still standing near his car and staring at Jae-Hwa. After she was gone, he kicked the tires of his car and shouted in frustration. He ran his fingers through his hair and shouted, ¡°oh, that girl has everyone wrapped around her finger. Jae-Hwa is ready to defend her no matter what. How will I get her away from her? How will I break up their friendship?¡±

    He pulled his hair in frustration and kicked the tire again, ¡°think, Seong Dae, think. Something big, something drastic that will break their friendship. Also, you have to search for the video. I will have to keep an eye on her phone when she would unlock it. Oh shit! What if she unlocks it by fingerprint or facial recognition, I will not be able to get the passcode. I need to get her passcode.¡±

    Finally, Dae unlocked his car and thinking and grunting at Nivritti, he reached his home.

    Meanwhile, Nivritti ran to her home, changed into her casual clothes, and booked a cab to the hospital. She made sure that she would carry her mask with her. She didn¡¯t want to take any chances today.

    She was waiting for an update, but no one messaged her. While staring at her phone continuously she reached the hospital. She gave clear instructions to the cab to take her to the main entrance and not the emergency entrance. She received a shock for a lifetime yesterday and was not ready for any surprises, today.

    Speaking of surprises, she remembered Jae-Geun and that she was still angry at him. She made up with Kyung-Soo when he came to her house, but she had no chance to speak with Jae-Geun after that. She knew if he came in front of her, she was not going to speak with him. How could he act like a child, that too a violent child?

    She reached the 5th floor and knocked at the door and Jeong-Eun opened the door.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said.

    She removed her mask and revealed her face, ¡°it¡¯s me.¡±

    Korain immediately reached the door and smiled at her. ¡°Get in, get in,¡± he said with urgency.

    She entered but to her shock, Young-Chul was not in the bed. ¡°Um¡­ where is he? Is he alright?¡±

    ¡°Calm down! He is fine. He just went to get some tests done. A nurse will bring him back soon,¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°Nurse?¡± asked Nivritti, scared. She gulped and stared at Korain.

    ¡°Yes, why? What happened?¡±

    ¡°I should leave. I don¡¯t want anyone to see me here,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Last night a nurse saw me holding hands with MY. And here I am again, I don¡¯t want to convey the wrong message to people,¡± replied Nivritti.

 Chapter 157 - 157 The Hospital Hug

    157 The Hospital Hug

    Korain and Jeong-Eun were listening to Nivritti¡¯s concern. She kept fidgeting with her mask.

    ¡°What wrong message?¡± suddenly a voice announced itself. All turned around and saw Kyung-Soo pushing Young-Chul¡¯s wheelchair in. ¡°What wrong message?¡± repeated Young-Chul.

    All looked at each other. No one wanted to trouble Young-Chul. ¡°How are you?¡± blurted out Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± Kyung-Soo raised his eyebrows at her. ¡°Young asked you something.¡±

    She closed her eyes and exhaled loudly. ¡°I was talking about yesterday when that nurse saw me¡­ I had to threaten her. I don¡¯t want to threaten anyone, anymore.¡±

    ¡°Why did you threaten her?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Because she saw us holding hands,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Why were you holding my hand?¡± teased Young-Chul.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡±ined Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°I am kidding,¡± smiled Young-Chul.

    ¡°And what if someone sees you with one of us? Why is that a problem?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°People will talk. They will gossip that we are having an affair,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°And what is the problem with dating us?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti knew why he was asking. ¡°You know why. Your crazy fans. I pity the girls you all will date,¡± said Nivritti. She looked at Kyung-Soo but immediately shifted her gaze towards Young-Chul as Kyung-Soo was staring at her with squinted eyes. It was clear that he didn¡¯t like her answer.

    Young-Chul was in deep thought. Nivritti who was looking at him found his expressions strange. Why was he concerned after she said something about dating?

    Young-Chul shook his head and discarded every thought in his head. He looked at Nivritti and asked, ¡°so if I ask you on a date, you won¡¯te with me?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± shouted everyone at once. That was a strange question as it came out of Young-Chul¡¯s mouth. He never talked about dating or girlfriends.

    ¡°What is wrong with me? I am handsome, rich, and talented,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°What¡­ what are you talking about?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, answer him. What is wrong with him?¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    Seeing his smile, she understood that Young-Chul was making fun of her. ¡°You are pulling my leg,¡± she sulked.

    ¡°No, no, I held your hand. I must like you,¡± teased Young-Chul.

    ¡°Oh my god! I hate you,¡± pouted Nivritti. ¡°You are so bad.¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± everyoneughed but Young-Chul just smiled.

    Kyung-Soo helped Young-Chul to walk to his bed and ced the wheelchair in a corner.

    ¡°May I?¡± asked Nivritti and pointed to the pillow. Young-Chul smiled and nodded at her. Nivritti leaned in and fluffed the pillow for him. Softly, she touched his shoulder and made him lean on the pillow.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I am fine,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°What did the doctor say?¡± she asked.

    ¡°He is still weak. They need to keep him under observation,¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°And?¡± she asked.

    Young-Chul understood what she was asking. ¡°I will start therapy after I regain some of my energy back.¡±

    She pursed her lips and hit him on his shoulder, softly. ¡°What kind of idiot are you? If you couldn¡¯t sleep well, and couldn¡¯t eat well, why didn¡¯t you talk with your teammates? You guys say you all are like brothers, like family, then why were you suffering alone?¡± chided Nivritti.

    ¡°Ow!¡± Young-Chul caressed his shoulder. ¡°You won¡¯t go on a date with me. But are hitting me and scolding me, you are a strange girl.¡±

    ¡°MY!!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti! If it would have been easy for me to talk about my feelings with these guys, do you think I would havended here?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Right!¡± abruptly she wrapped her arms around Young-Chul and hugged him dearly. Young-Chul froze at her sudden disy of physical love. Korain, Jeong-Eun and Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes widened with shock. Young-Chul didn¡¯t even lift a finger. He just kept gulping as his throat felt dry.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t feel like talking to them. I will always be here. You can talk to me anytime,¡± said Nivritti.

    No one spoke for a minute. She broke the embrace and looked at Young-Chul. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Young-Chul finally came back to his senses.

    ¡°Huh¡­ can even handle a hug and want to date,¡± mocked Nivritti.

    ¡°That¡­ that was a sudden hug. I was not ready,¡± protested Young-Chul.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give excuses,¡± scolded Nivritti. Young-Chul smiled at her tease. All three standing in the room smiled at Nivritti¡¯s and Young-Chul¡¯s exchange.

    They spend almost an hour talking andughing.

    ¡°Yeah, everyone is missing you guys,¡± said Nivritti. ¡°One of youing to the script department for daily videos is the highlight of so many people¡¯s lives.¡±

    All the boysughed.

    ¡°We all miss that too,¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I know how much you are missing us,¡± teased Nivritti. Jeong-Eun widened his eyes and stared at her. He shook his head stealthily in no. Nivritti pursed her lips and avoided smiling at him.

    ¡°Our fans too are getting impatient. They make us go viral every day on Communicator App,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°We should tell them,¡± interjected Young-Chul.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°About me. About what is wrong with me. About why we are not able to make daily videos,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted all at once.

    ¡°I will talk to Hu-ssi. I will tell him that I want to tell everything to our fans,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°MY! Think about what you are saying,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°I know what I am saying. I want to tell people that feeling down is okay, feeling sad is okay, getting help is okay,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°But MY¡­¡± interrupted Nivritti.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want that too? You said idols should start talking about mental health. Don¡¯t you want that now?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    Nivritti smiled and went near him. She again wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. This time Young-Chul didn¡¯t freeze. He raised his hand and patted her back.

    She broke the embrace and said, ¡°MY! If you are ready, you should definitely do that, not because I said so, or anyone said so. If you are ready to share your emotions, your feelings, your problems with everyone, I will be there to support you. But if you are doing this under pressure, don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°I think I am ready. I think my fans will help me cope, my fans will support me, if not them, I have you,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°You will always have me,¡± smiled Nivritti. ¡°Okay, you take rest. I have to leave.¡±

    ¡°I will drop you,¡± said Kyung-Soo, immediately.

    ¡°No, stay. I can leave on my own,¡± said Nivritti. ¡°Who will stay here tonight?¡±

    ¡°No one!¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°What?¡± asked everyone.

    ¡°All of you leave. Now, I am okay. I can stay here alone,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°No, you are not staying alone. You need someone with you. If doctors allow you to stay alone, I will chew their heads off,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°But¡­¡± protested Young-Chul.

    ¡°Fine! I am staying. You cannot make me leave,¡± snapped Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti, go. I will stay. You both, drop her at her house,¡± ordered Korain.

    ¡°Hyung, I am fine,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Choice is yours. If she stays, she will keep hugging you the whole night. If I stay, I won¡¯t even hold your hand. But you are not staying alone,¡± warned Korain.

    ¡°Fine, fine! You stay, not her,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Wow!¡± she pped sarcastically. ¡°And you wanted to go on a date.¡±

    ¡°I can go on a date. I won¡¯t touch my date. Who says I have to touch my date?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°I pity your future girlfriend,¡± teased Nivritti. Young-Chul faintly smiled at her tease. Nivritti felt a little uneasy with his smile.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Ritti!¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    After saying goodbye, all left Young-Chul and Korain. Nivritti, Kyung-Soo and Jeong-Eun got inside a lift and climbed down to the parking lot. Kyung-Soo pressed his key fob and the doors unlocked.

    Jeong-Eun locked his arms with Nivritti and dragged her to the back seat. ¡°Get in!¡± he requested. Nivritti smiled and sat inside. Jeong-Eun jumped next to her. Kyung-Soo raised one of his eyebrows and kept staring at both Jeong-Eun and Nivritti.

    .....

    He wanted to sit next to Nivritti, but stupid Jeong-Eun destroyed his n. He opened the driver¡¯s door with a jerk and sat inside. With a bang, he closed the door and the whole car shook vigorously. Bot Nivritti and Jeong-Eun looked at each other.

    ¡°What happened?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo squinted his eyes and kept staring at them in the rearview mirror. Jeong-Eun gasped when he realised what was wrong.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°He wanted you to sit next to him,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Shut up! Don¡¯t talk nonsense,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°You know he likes you, right?¡± teased Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I know you like Jae,¡± she teased back.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jeong-Eun. ¡°What??¡± Nivritti sniggered at his reaction.

    ¡°Why are you shouting?¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Why are you getting worked up?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I was about to start the engine. His shouting startled me. My keys fell,¡± replied Kyung-Soo. And the next moment, there was a sound of keys jingling.

    Nivritti smiled at his cuteness. He dropped his keys after he said ¡®my keys fell¡¯. ¡°Your keys fell?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, see,¡± he lowered himself and picked up his keys. ¡°You¡­¡± he pointed at Jeong-Eun. ¡°Don¡¯t shout abruptly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Hyung,¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

 Chapter 158 - 158 The New Suggestion

    158 The New Suggestion

    The whole way Kyung-Soo kept staring at Jeong-Eun and Nivritti who kept smiling and chatting with each other. He knew he had to concentrate on the road, but his eyes kept ncing at the rearview mirror.

    ¡°Why are they whispering?¡± thought Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°How much are you guys missing us?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Just ask straight forward, how much Jae is missing you?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± Jeong-Eun softly punched her upper arm. Even though the car was dark she could see that his cheeks turned red. He looked away from her to avoid detection. Kyung-Soo tightened his grip on the steering wheel and muttered curses at Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°He touches her, and she is fine. I touch her and she stops breathing. And why is he touching her? JH has a crush on her, MY wants to date her and this idiot is ying boxing with her. How will she notice me when these idiots keep hoarding her time?¡± he gritted his teeth.

    ¡°I will ask her to call you. Will you reply?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°What are you saying?¡± Jeong-Eun¡¯s teeth were distinctively visible in the darkness as he could not stop smiling at Nivritti¡¯s suggestion. Abruptly he stopped smiling. ¡°But she does not have my number.¡±

    ¡°The whole Rencontre team have all of your numbers. When NK asked for my number, Chung-Ho gave us a list that had your numbers,¡± replied Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jeong-Eun.

    His loud voice startled Kyung-Soo and for a second, he lost control of his SUV but immediately brought the car back to its track. Both Jeong-Eun and Nivritti were shaken violently. Nivritti¡¯s head was about to hit the door of the car when Jeong-Eun wrapped his arms around Nivritti saving her from getting hurt.

    ¡°Careful, NK!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± asked Jeong-Eun. Nivritti nodded.

    ¡°He shouted again,¡± protested Kyung-Soo and looked back to check if they were okay. He was feeling guilty for not driving carefully but his guilt vanished, and anger appeared when he saw Jeong-Eun holding her in his arms. ¡°I told you to not shout abruptly. Why do you keep shouting?¡± he scolded Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Sorry, Hyung! Won¡¯t shout again. But drive carefully, she was about to get hurt,¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

    Kyung-Soo immediately applied the brakes and turned around. ¡°What? How?¡±

    ¡°He is exaggerating. I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes, I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo looked at Jeong-Eun. ¡°You heard what she said?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then let her go, sit properly and wear your seatbelts, you idiots!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. He turned back and pressed the elerator.

    Jeong-Eun and Nivritti immediately wore seatbelts.

    ¡°Did he call us, idiots?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I heard that too,¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°And again, they start with their whispering,¡± muttered Kyung-Soo.

    Finally, they reached Nivritti¡¯s building. Nivritti opened the door and saw that Kyung-Soo and Jeong-Eun were ready to get out of the car too.

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± she shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t get out of the car. I can go by myself.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± protested Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°PJ! Go home. You guys have wasted a lot of time on me. Go and rest. You guys too need rest. I know you all have not been resting well just because MY is in hospital,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo smiled at her concern. It was true that no one slept well since the day Young-Chul was found unconscious in his room. They kept running up and down from hospital to home and vice versa. They had to take care of Young-Chul and at the same time hide his condition from the world.

    She jumped out of the car and waved them goodbye. Kyung-Soo kept staring at her walking away. Jeong-Eun in the meantime jumped from the backseat to the front.

    Suddenly, Nivritti turned around and asked them, ¡°when do you think you guys cane back?¡±

    ¡°No idea! We will have to wait for the doctor¡¯s words,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Do you think you guys can issue another statement about taking a rest,¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Before your fans start theories and spections, it¡¯s better for you all to control the narrative,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Why are you in the script department? Transfer to the PR,¡± smiled Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± sheughed wholeheartedly. Kyung-Soo held his chest and rubbed his heart to ease his fast-running heartbeat after looking at her beautiful,ughing face.

    ¡°Shit! So pretty,¡± unknowingly, Kyung-Soo blurted out. Luckily, only Jeong-Eun heard him. Nivritti was a little far to hear him. Jeong-Eun elbowed him in his stomach and Kyung-Soo came back to his senses.

    ¡°Control your feelings, Hyung!¡± teased Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± mumbled Kyung-Soo and hit Jeong-Eun on his thighs.

    ¡°What do you think we should say to our fans?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Why are you asking me?¡± protested Nivritti. ¡°Ask your PR guys.¡±

    ¡°But if you would have been a part of our PR team, what you would have said?¡± emphasised Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± she thought for a while. ¡°I would have said that you guys are busy with your yearly check-ups as you don¡¯t want any surprises before Rencontre. So even if anyone spots you in the hospital, you will have an excuse,¡± she replied.

    Kyung-Soo and Jeong-Eun looked at her with their jaws dropped to the floor. Without blinking their eyes, they just kept staring at her. She waited for a few seconds for them to say something but they just kept staring. After a while, it was ufortable.

    ¡°Okay, you guys need to say something. Speak, say something, anything,¡± she shouted.

    Kyung-Soo opened his door and jumped out of the car. He didn¡¯t care about anyone or anything, he just came near Nivritti and hugged her dearly. She froze. He had hugged her a lot of times but never in front of anyone. She nced at Jeong-Eun who too jumped from the car and ran towards her.

    ¡°My emotions exactly!¡± he shouted and hugged both of them.

    ¡°What? What¡­ are¡­ you¡­ doing?¡± she stammered.

    ¡°How do you do that?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Okay, let me go, now,¡± she ordered and both men let her go. ¡°And what do I do?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Think fast, what else?¡± shouted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I am a writer, PJ. It¡¯s my job to get rid of all the plot holes. If a story is not tightly knit, I get ufortable,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Thank you for thinking about us, always,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°That is literally my job, NK,¡± she smiled at him. ¡°Not leave, go home, rest.¡±

    ¡°I will talk to the PR team and our CEO and tell them about your suggestion,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? No! don¡¯t tell him that,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°No one is supposed to know about Young-Chul. He will call me nosy. He will hate me for barging into every aspect of your lives,¡± sulked Nivritti.

    ¡°What is wrong with that?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What nonsense!¡± yelled Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just feel he would get sick of me after hearing my name so many times,¡± said Nivritti.

    Both Jeong-Eun and Kyung-Soo facepalmed.

    ¡°Really! Sometimes you are so smart and sometimes you act like a fool,¡± Kyung-Soo rolled his eyes.

    ¡°Hey!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Hu-ssi is a sweetheart. I know he will like your suggestion,¡± assured Jeong-Eun.

    Nivritti smiled at both of them. Jeong-Eun ruffled her hair with adoration and after saying goodbye, they left. Nivritti walked to her house, smiling. She quickly cooked her food, ate it, and went to bed. She didn¡¯t get any time to work on scripts.

    Before going to bed, she picked up her phone and messaged Young-Chul, ¡°Get better soon. Good night.¡± She stared at her phone for minutes, but Young-Chul never replied. She thought that he might have slept so didn¡¯t check his phone.

    She pondered if she should message Korain as he was staying with him but stopped herself from doing that. She covered herself with a nket and slept wishing good health for Young-Chul.

    The morning arrived and the first thing she did was check her phone. As she woke up before her rm could go off, she turned off the rm and checked for Young-Chul¡¯s reply. But there was none.

    ¡°Is he alright? Did he get sicker?¡± she pondered. She could not wait any further and messaged Korain.

    He immediately replied that Young-Chul was doing fine and was sleeping. ¡°Maybe he didn¡¯t reply because he was sleeping,¡± she thought.

    She got out of her bed and went to the bathroom. After getting dressed up, she went to the kitchen and prepared breakfast. She wanted something light, so she opted for eggs only. She made an omelette from two eggs and prepared a cup of tea.

    After grabbing all her things, she walked towards her office. She greeted the guard with a smile and reached her department. She knew that ASD won¡¯t arrive today as well. Chung-Ho had already announced that for the entire week, they won¡¯t see ASD and she knew why.

    She felt it bad to keep it from Jae-Hwa but she had no choice. She wondered if Chung-Ho knew about the same. Was he informed or was he too given a half-truth?

    While all were busy with scripts, everyone¡¯s google alert chimed in and there was an update about ASD and their medical check-up. Nivritti smiled as another one of her suggestions was approved. All read the alert and went back to their work as it was nothing exciting for them.

    The whole day their fans kept talking about how nice ASD are that they kept updating them about themselves and all wished for their good health.

    .....

 Chapter 159 - 159 The Passcode

    159 The Passcode

    For the whole week, ASD were absent from the public eye. As they informed everyone about their busy schedule, no one thought twice that ASD might be hiding something from them. Only a handful of people knew the truth.

    As Chung-Ho already announced that Rencontre will not work with ASD for the whole week, Jae-Hwa too didn¡¯t ask any questions. Nivritti realised that she knew the truth and Jae-Geun knew the truth but both of them hid the reality from Jae-Hwa. And the day she would get to know, she will definitely kill both of them.

    ASD made sure that Nivritti was receiving regr updates. Every member kept updating her except Young-Chul. No matter how many messages she sent him, he never replied. She was a little hurt. Still, she knew that he was not big on connections. He avoided physical touch, he avoided emotional connection. If he would not have been living with other members, he would have avoided them like a gue.

    But living together made him slightly open to other members. And he would definitely take time to open up to her. She just needed to be patient. So, she never lost hope. She would send him uplifting messages, jokes, memes, and wished every time for him to get better.

    While Nivritti kept thinking about Young-Chul and his health, Dae kept thinking about her. He would try to find excuses to get behind her to find out how to open her phone. But she would always use her face to unlock the screen.

    Once he made her search for the Rencontre site on her phone saying that the site looked different on the phone than it looked when opened on aputer. Her phone unlocked the moment it detected her face. His attempt failed.

    Another time he lied that he lost the contacts of everyone in the script department as well as ASD¡¯s. He saw her opening up her phone again with facial detection. He clenched his fists with frustration. She messaged him the whole contact list and he had to ept it with a smile.

    No matter what he did, how much he tried he would fail, every single time. But he was determined. He had to find that video. He had to search her phone. He had to use that video to make everyone her enemy. If the video would be leaked everyone would think it was her work and will hate her and she will be fired. Little did he know that his efforts were futile.

    On thest day of the week, he finally seeded in his n. While Jae-Hwa and Nivritti were in the bathroom, he picked up her phone and tried facial detection a few times till it started asking for the passcode to be filled.

    .....

    When Nivritti came back, he approached both Jae-Hwa and with puppy eyes looked at them.

    ¡°Is everything alright, Mr, Seong?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I need your help,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Tell us,¡± Jae-Hwa offered her help.

    ¡°Um¡­ I need some money in my ount. I will give you cash in return. Could you pay me the same amount online?¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Of course. How much do you want?¡± asked Nivritti.

    He took four notes of 50000 won and gave two each to Jae-Hwa and Nivritti.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have this much in my ount. I can only transfer 50000,¡± sulked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I can send you the total amount if you want. No need to trouble Jae,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°You have this much money in your ount?¡± Dae was shocked.

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know. She received another bonus for saving J¡­¡± Jae-Hwa immediately sealed her mouth. She cleared her throat and continued, ¡°for saving me.¡±

    Nivritti shook her head in disbelief and looked at Jae-Hwa with her big fiery eyes. Jae-Hwa instantly mouthed, ¡°sorry.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± shouted Dae. His whole body burned with jealousy. He knew who she saved and why she received another bonus. He was already angry at her, hated her for getting the Rencontre bonus and now his hatred climbed up a notch after learning that she received another bonus, and he was oblivious to that fact.

    He dug his nails into his palms and stared at both of them. He realised that his facial expression was different than the girls expected it to be. They thought he would be either happy or surprised, but he looked pissed off.

    He immediately changed his expression and smiled, ¡°wow! That¡¯s nice. Such gestures must be rewarded.¡± Finally, Jae-Hwa and Nivritti smiled too.

    Dae gave the cash to Nivritti, and she transferred the amount. No matter how much Dae was angry, his focus was on her phone. He kept his eyes on her screen and she typed the eight numbers of her passcode ¡®20482048¡¯. She showed him the amount that was deducted from her ount, and he smiled at her.

    Thanking her, he moved to his desk. Finally, he had her passcode, and it was a simple one to remember. Even then he opened his phone and saved a note that had her passcode on it. Now he needed a chance to check her phone in peace. All he had to do was to wait for another chance when she would leave her phone alone.

    After the day was over, all said goodbye to each other and walked together to the lift. Dae again thanked Nivritti for all her help. And she humbly replied that it was her pleasure.

    Nivritti reached her home, left herptop bag and went to the supermarket. She needed food and drinks. She paid with the money that Dae gave her and brought two bags full of groceries. It would be enough for the whole week.

    She received a message from Thae that Young-Chul was in his therapy session and was doing well. Speaking of therapy sessions, she pondered if her doctor sent her history to the new doctor. If he had sent it, why was Hei-Ran not giving her a call? Then she realised it was just days. She needed time to read her history and then find a slot to book appointments.

    In the meantime, she was happy that Young-Chul was recuperating well. Still, she longed for a reply from him but he always would leave her message on read. She tried to cheer herself up by saying that at least he read her messages.

    She cleaned the whole apartment, took a bath, cooked her food, ate it and went to her bed with herptop. She worked for a bit on scripts. She was d to see that giarism had almost stopped. Only the scripts that were already submitted before issuing a statement about giarism software were on the server.

    She gged those scripts so that the IT department could block that ID and she kept reading scripts. She knew she could work for long as the next day was a weekend. She had nowhere to go, no one to visit, so she could sleep in.

    She left a message for Young-Chul and kept reading the scripts waiting for his reply. But he never replied. Kyung-Soo informed her that he had his medicine and was sleeping. She made a disappointed face and her concentration in reading the scripts was broken.

    Disheartened, she shut down theptop, ced it on the nightstand and after switching off the light, she went to sleep. The whole night she kept dreaming about Young-Chul who kept ignoring her even in her dream. She kept following him and he kept running away. The funny part was he kept running in the corridors of the hospital.

    As she sleptte, she was not ready to wake up early. Even after the sunlight kept seeping into the room, she covered her head with the nket and went back to sleep. She finally woke up around 11 am when her stomach signalled that she was hungry.

    She didn¡¯t even bother to check her phone as she knew Young-Chul would not have returned her messages. Sighing, she went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet seat. She had her face in her palms and she kept sulking.

    ¡°Huh¡­ he wanted to go on a date with me and now he keeps ignoring me. I hate him. I won¡¯t message him again,¡± she sulked and flushed the toilet.

    After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she came out. She quickly prepared breakfast and sat down to eat. She turned on the TV and kept shoving her face with pancakes. She chose to drink coffee today as she needed something strong, and she vowed never to drink alcohol.

    She wasted quite some time watching TV and the tes and cup kept staring into her face. Her phone kept chiming with notifications, but she ignored them all. She knew one of the messages would be from a member of ASD giving her the update, but she knew the update would be that Young-Chul was doing fine.

    ¡°If he is doing fine, why can¡¯t he reply to my messages? Are his fingers broken? If not, I will break them,¡± she snapped.

    She was busy getting angry at Young-Chul when her doorbell rang. She looked at the clock, it was 1 pm.

    ¡°Who came at this time?¡± she pondered and stood up to open the door.

 Chapter 160 - 160 The Forced Guest

    160 The Forced Guest

    With a bored expression on her face, she moved towards the door and without looking through the peephole, she opened the door.

    ¡°Move, move, move,¡± Jae-Hwa shouted and entered the house with an overnight bag.

    Before Nivritti could understand anything, Jae-Hwa took off her shoes and walked to her room to ce the overnight bag. Nivritti just stood away from her door giving space to Jae-Hwa. Her brain was miles away. She had no idea what was happening before her eyes. She just saw Jae-Hwa enter her apartment.

    She blinked hard to see clearly. Was she hallucinating? Why was Jae-Hwa inside her house, that too with a bag?

    ¡°Sorry!¡± Jae-Geun¡¯s voice made her look outside the door. He smiled at her and walked in.

    ¡°Wait! What is happening?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°What do you mean what is happening?¡± asked Jae-Geun. ¡°Did you have no idea we wereing?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°But Jaehwa said that she told you,¡± informed Jae-Geun.

    .....

    ¡°She told me what? When?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°What the hell? Why weren¡¯t you answering your phone?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa as soon as she appeared in the living room.

    ¡°My¡­ my phone! I have no idea where that is,¡± said Nivritti and ran inside her room. Both brother and sister followed her. Her bed was not made, half her nket was lying on the floor, her pillow was titled, herptop was lying on the nightstand, but her phone was nowhere to be found.

    She could swear that she heard a few notifications, then why didn¡¯t she hear the ringtone when Jae-Hwa called her? She flung her nket away to look for her phone, but it was not there. She jumped on her bed and kept looking under every corner of the nket.

    When she could not find it on her bed, shey on the bed and looked under her bed.

    ¡°Is she okay?¡± asked Jae-Geun, confused.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Jae-Hwa. Both brother and sister tilted their head to look at Nivritti and her antics.

    ¡°Where is it?¡± shouted Nivritti and abruptly she kicked her pillow. A faint thud sound attracted her attention. ¡°Shit! I looked everywhere on the bed but didn¡¯t look under my pillow.¡± And there it was, her phone, lying silently under her pillow.

    She looked at the notification bar, there were multiple messages and calls from Jae-Hwa. ¡°Woah! Why were you calling me?¡±

    ¡°To tell you that we areing, and we are going out and then I will stay here tonight,¡± announced Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Wh¡­ what?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°What is wrong with you? Where is your mind?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just wanted to waste my whole day lying in front of the TV. I don¡¯t have the energy to do anything.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. Get ready, we are going out,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. ¡°We will have lunch outside and then go for a movie.¡±

    ¡°Better we should go site seeing. She is new to Korea, we can show her ces,¡± suggested Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go. You guys go,¡± sulked Nivritti.

    ¡°What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you so pouty and sulky?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No idea. I sleptte, woke upte, I don¡¯t feel like doing anything,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Oppa! Check her,¡± ordered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? I am fine. Just tired of reading scripts day and night. I need a break, a day where I do nothing. Just watch TV idly,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Did Heirana call you?¡± asked Jae-Geun, concerned.

    ¡°Jae-Geun! I am okay. I am not depressed or something like that. And it¡¯s just been days since I saw her. She needs time to check my history,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°See you want to idly sit, eat and watch TV. Then Jaehwa¡¯s n should be okay for you. We will eat and watch a movie. We will just do that outside your house. Come on! Come out with us,¡± requested Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti blew a raspberry and said, ¡°Okay, fine! But I will need time. I have to clean the tes, dry them, press my clothes, then take a bath, get ready¡­¡± She kept making a list.

    Jae-Hwa jumped at her and covered her mouth with her palm. ¡°Shut up!¡± she shouted. ¡°I will take care of pressing your clothes, Oppa will take care of tes, you just go and take a bath.¡±

    ¡°What? Why me?¡± pouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Do you want to press her clothes?¡± Jae-Hwa raised one of her eyebrows at him.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s fine,¡± his cheeks turned red at the thought of handling Nivritti¡¯s clothes. Before the girls could see his crimson cheeks, he ran out of the room. He picked up the tes and went to the kitchen sink.

    Meanwhile, Jae-Hwa forced Nivritti to choose a dress that she would wear for their outing. She chose a simple white t-shirt and ck jeans and paired them with a ck leather jacket. She went inside the bathroom while both brother and sister were helping her.

    After a few minutes, she came out and got ready to go out. Jae-Geun looked at her and was mesmerized. Even after dressing up in such a simple dress, she looked beautiful. He kept smiling at her.

    Nivritti switched off everything and they were ready to go out.

    Jae-Hwa punched Nivritti¡¯s upper arm and shouted, ¡°why didn¡¯t you tell me what happened in the hospital?

    Nivritti¡¯s eyes widened with shock. Did Jae-Hwa know what happened in the hospital? She looked at Jae-Geun with anger. He must have told her everything.

    ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Oppa told me everything. I asked you about the hospital, you said everything was fine. Why did you lie?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Wh¡­ what?¡± Nivritti lost her voice.

    Jae-Geun observed her expression. He once stared at his sister and then at Nivritti. He understood why Nivritti looked shocked and scared and slightly angry. She must be thinking that Jae-Hwa somehow knew about ASD but she was wrong. That was not the thing Jae-Hwa was talking about. He had to tell that to Nivritti.

    ¡°She is talking about the incident that urred in the emergency room,¡± informed Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti gulped and as usual licked her lips. A current ran through Jae-Geun¡¯s body when he saw that. His eyes were ready toe out their sockets. His heart almost jumped out of his mouth.

    ¡°What was that? What the hell was that?¡± he thought and stopped breathing.

    ¡°Oh! Emergency room incident! I thought Jae-Geun must have told you. Moreover, you just asked about my session and that was good, so basically, I didn¡¯t lie,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and punched Nivritti again.

    ¡°Ooww!!¡± screamed Nivritti. ¡°Stop hitting me, it hurts.¡±

    ¡°If he would not have told me, I would have never gotten the news,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Rx! He was there for me. I was fine after he calmed me down,¡± Nivritti grabbed Jae-Hwa¡¯s shoulder and spoke.

    ¡°But why didn¡¯t you tell me before?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I never thought about that. Also, when we were talking Mr. Seong came and disturbed our talk, remember?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, right!¡± Jae-Hwa thought back. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. We will go to a restaurant. We can get movie tickets online.¡±

    ¡°Fine!¡± said Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa opened the door and walked away first. Nivritti too moved out, but Jae-Geun was frozen. He was still in the moment when Nivritti licked her lips. There was something in that gesture that tucked at his heartstrings. He had no idea what, but there was something. He got a sudden rush to kiss her.

    A sudden rush to touch her lips, kiss her lips, taste her lips took over him. He kept staring at the spot where Nivritti was standing just a few seconds ago. He wanted to grab her and ce his lips over hers. It was getting hard to control his feelings.

    ¡°Hey! Jae-Geun!¡± Nivritti snapped her fingers in front of his face.

    ¡°What? What??¡± he shouted aftering back to his senses.

    ¡°Where were you? Jae-Hwa left, let¡¯s go,¡± she ordered.

    ¡°Oh, sorry! Right, let¡¯s,¡± he gulped and avoided looking at her.

    They moved out and the door automatically locked itself. Jae-Hwa kept jumping over the stairs and was walking in front of Jae-Geun and Nivritti.

    Nivritti was feeling bad that she doubted Jae-Geun. She thought he had told the secret about ASD to Jae-Hwa but he never said a word about them. She had to say sorry to him.

    ¡°Jae-Geun!¡± she whispered but he was still thinking about her and her lips. He never heard her words. She hurried her steps and came next to Jae-Geun. ¡°Jae-Geun!¡± she again whispered but again he didn¡¯t pay any attention to her.

    Annoyed, she grabbed his hand and stopped him mid-way. Her soft, warm hand felt soothing to his racing heart. Finally, he looked at her.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, just thinking about things,¡± he replied and smiled at her. The sensation of her hands in his hands was enticing. He loved the way her hands felt in his.

    ¡°I am sorry,¡± she apologised.

    ¡°What? Why are you sorry?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I thought you told Jae-Hwa everything. Sorry for doubting you,¡± she apologised again.

    ¡°I would never tell her someone¡¯s secret,¡± he replied.

 Chapter 161 - 161 The Outing

    161 The Outing

    Jae-Geun kept staring at Nivritti with a sweet smile on his face. He didn¡¯t mind that she doubted him. He was just d to hold her hand. Her eyes were filled with guilt whereas his eyes were filled with adoration.

    ¡°Sorry again,¡± she lowered her head.

    ¡°Stop feeling guilty,¡± he slightly pressed her hands tofort her. ¡°But I felt as if you were against their decision of hiding the fact that one member was in the hospital. Why are you trying to hide it then?¡±

    She smiled slightly. ¡°It is true that I schooled them about the fact that they were hiding their condition from everyone and keeping it hush-hush. But it¡¯s their condition, it should be their decision whether to tell the world or not, not theirpany¡¯s decision. I know that K&Q spent a lot of money to train them, on marketing their brand, to get them at the position they are in but there should be a mutual understanding between thepany and their artist. Companies should not butt in every decision of their life just because they are scared of scandals. Idols do have their personal life and everypany need to realise that and give them an ounce of freedom. They should stop controlling every aspect of their lives.¡±

    ¡°So, that¡¯s why you were angry at him?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? No,¡± she shouted. She pulled her hand from his hand and pped his chest. ¡°I was angry because you guys were acting like idiots.¡±

    ¡°We were not acting like idiots. Couldn¡¯t you tell we were fighting for you?¡± Jae-Geun blurted out.

    ¡°What?¡± mumbled Nivritti, shocked.

    Jae-Geun realised that he said something wrong. ¡°I mean I saw you in his arms, limp and thought you were unconscious and as you said that you already left, I thought he was kidnapping you or something and made you lie. Sorry for throwing the first punch. He thought I was attacking him and that¡¯s why we were fighting. It was a misunderstanding.¡±

    .....

    ¡°But you kept fighting,¡± she scolded.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry again. After you left, we realised that we acted like morons,¡± Jae-Geun said, guilt-ridden.

    ¡°At least you realised,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Did you reach home safely?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    The whole night shed before Nivritti¡¯s eyes. How she was angry at the cab driver, how he got angry at her in return, how Kyung-Soo arrived at the right moment to help her, how that idiot called his ¡®Sugar Momma¡¯, how he kissed her cheeks, how he called her ¡®mine¡¯, how she chased him all over her living room, how that idiot burned his finger while heating the food, how they spent the night having dinner together, every moment was fresh in her mind.

    ¡°Yes, I did. I caught a cab right outside the hospital,¡± she replied with a sweet smile on her face.

    ¡°Are you two going to kiss?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa, angrily.

    ¡°What? Shut up!¡± scolded both Jae-Geun and Nivritti, together. Jae-Geun¡¯s face turned red due to shyness whereas Nivritti¡¯s face turned red due to anger.

    ¡°Then what are you doing standing there? I am hungry, let¡¯s go,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa. ¡°So sensitive. I was just joking.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t joke about stupid things,¡± shouted Jae-Geun and moved away from Nivritti. He approached his sister and hit her on the back of her head.

    ¡°Ow!¡± Jae-Hwa immediately caressed her head.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Nivritti,¡± said Jae-Geun. Nivritti nodded and climbed down the stairs. She too hit Jae-Hwa on her head.

    ¡°Ow!¡± Jae-Hwa again cried with pain. ¡°Sorry! I said I was joking. You guys keep hitting me. I am not going with you,¡± she sulked.

    ¡°Fine with me,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Me too,¡± said Nivritti with all seriousness.

    ¡°You guys are so bad. This was my n. I am going,¡± she shouted and moved towards the parking area. Both Jae-Geun and Nivritti startedughing at her.

    Both the girls sat in the back seat and Jae-Geun as usual was in the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Great! I am still the driver.¡±

    ¡°If you want, I can drive. You can sit with her in the back seat,¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Do you want to get hit again?¡± snarled Nivritti.

    ¡°Give her one from my side too,¡± growled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I am just teasing,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Should I tease you by taking, what¡¯s his name, um¡­¡± Jae-Geun kept snapping his fingers trying to think.

    ¡°Jeong-Eun?¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°Right, her bias. Should we tease you?¡± snapped Jae-Geun.

    ¡°You guys were standing close to each other, snuggly and whispering. Anyone would say that you are a couple,¡± rebuked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh my god! Get her out of the car. She is noting with us,¡± shouted Nivritti in anger.

    ¡°She was scolding me for telling you about the emergency room incident. And I was scolding her for not telling you the same. That¡¯s it,¡± lied Jae-Geun. ¡°Stop spending time with uhmma. You are talking nonsense like her.¡±

    Nivritti softly punched Jae-Hwa on her upper arm.

    ¡°Ow! Sorry,¡± Jae-Hwa immediately blurted out. ¡°Won¡¯t say things like that, ever again.¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± said Jae-Geun. ¡°So where are we going to eat?¡± he asked.

    Jae-Hwa gave him the name of the mall that had an excellent food court and a multiplex for movie screenings. Jae-Geun nodded and started the car.

    ¡°Was that scary?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°That hand,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti clenched her fists and shivered at the thought of that hand. Jae-Geun nced at Nivritti in the rearview mirror and saw her shivering.

    ¡°Jaehwa!!¡± he shouted. ¡°I told you not to mention that.¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡± Jae-Hwa lowered her head. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked Nivritti.

    Nivritti closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and replied, ¡°I am fine. Just the thought of that hand and all that blood, phew!¡±

    ¡°You are so lucky Oppa was there,¡±mented Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, true! He helped me calm down. Thank you, Jae-Geun,¡± nodded Nivritti.

    ¡°You already said that. No need to say it again,¡± smiled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°You gave nicknames to everyone, why do you keep calling him by his full name?¡± asked Jae-Hwa. By her abrupt question, Nivritti was visibly ufortable. It was equally uneasy for Jae-Geun. ¡°Don¡¯t you think of him as your friend?¡±

    ¡°Jaehwa!¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? I am just curious,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I¡­ I never¡­ thought about it,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to listen to her. You can keep addressing me by my name,¡± said Jae-Geun. He then scolded his sister, ¡°you¡­ shut up for the whole ride. Do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Oppa!¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Do you understand? I will stop the car immediately and cancel the n,¡± Jae-Geun gave her the ultimatum.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± she nodded her head.

    The whole ride was a silent one. Nivritti was happy that Jae-Hwa was silent, but Jae-Geun was slightly disturbed by Jae-Hwa¡¯s observation. She even had a nickname for her boss. She called Jae-Hwa, Jae, then why she called him by his full name? Didn¡¯t she think of him as her friend?

    After reaching the mall, they made their way to the food court first. Jae-Hwa was still not speaking. She was afraid that if she would open her mouth, Jae-Geun would scold her again.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± asked Jae-Geun. But Jae-Hwa didn¡¯t answer him. He rolled his eyes and sighed, ¡°I told you to be quiet in the car, not here. Now, tell me what are you eating? I have to ce an order.¡±

    Jae-Hwa nced at him and turned his head away, pouting. Jae-Geun again rolled his eyes at her. ¡°You know what you did was wrong. Why are you pouting now?¡± he shouted at her.

    ¡°Okay, brother and sister, enough! Stop fighting else I will hit on your heads,¡± snapped Nivritti. ¡°You stop talking nonsense,¡± she said to Jae-Hwa. ¡°And you, stop scolding her,¡± she said to Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Now tell me what you guys want, I will ce the order,¡± announced Nivritti.

    ¡°No,st time it was your treat. This time it¡¯s my treat,¡± protested Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t treat you guys. We ate the food that you guys prepared for me,¡± recalled Nivritti.

    ¡°Not that, gifts. I am talking about gifts,¡± smiled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yeah, let him pay. He is rich,¡±mented Jae-Hwa. ¡°He is a family doctor in one of the biggest hospitals in Korea.¡±

    ¡°You sound slightly proud,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Huh, proud? It¡¯s just annoying,¡± she rolled her eyes. Nivritti ended upughing at her jealousy.

    ¡°Okay, okay, order, please,¡± pleaded Jae-Geun. Jae-Hwa gave him a long list of what she wanted to eat. He facepalmed after hearing her list. Nivritti named a few food items and Jae-Geun ced the order.

    While they were waiting for the food, Jae-Hwa booked the tickets for a new action movie. They finished their food and walked into the movie theatre. Though it was an action movie, it was heavy onedy. All three diedughing.

    ¡°That was fun!¡± eximed Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, he is my favourite actor,¡± said Jae-Hwa with googly eyes.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t let PJ hear you. He will feel jealous,¡± taunted Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± scoffed Jae-Hwa. ¡°Ritti!¡± she eximed, and her cheeks turned red.

    ¡°Good one,¡±mented Jae-Geun and raised his palm at Nivritti. She instantly high fived him, grinning from ear to ear. ¡°By PJ you mean her bias, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Nivritti, smiling.

    Jae-Geun who was smiling till now, his smile vanished at once after he heard another nickname from Nivritti¡¯s mouth. ¡°She has a nickname for everyone except me,¡± he contemted.

 Chapter 162 - 162 The Movie Night

    162 The Movie Night

    ¡°What should we do next?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, excited.

    ¡°I am taking you home,¡± said Jae-Geun, sadly.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I have to go to the hospital, received a message that one of my patients needs emergency care,¡± lied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Then why would you waste time in dropping us? Leave for the hospital, we will take a cab,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    Jae-Geun closed his eyes in disbelief. Clearly, he didn¡¯t think it through. It was now hard to get out of his lie. He wanted a spend a few more minutes with Nivritti but at the same time wanted to run away from her. His heart was bruised as she saw him just as an acquaintance and not as a friend.

    He thought after they spend an intimate moment in the hospital, she too felt something for him, but he was wrong. She only thought of him as Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother. But she asked him if he wanted to be her friend and they shook hands. If she thought of him as her friend, then why was she not treating him like one?

    ¡°I still have time, they are in transit and will take time to reach the hospital,¡± Jae-Geun lied again.

    ¡°If it¡¯s an emergency, why they are travelling? Why not go to a nearby hospital?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    .....

    ¡°I am his doctor. He wants me, is that a crime?¡± shouted Jae-Geun, angrily.

    ¡°Woah! Are you okay? It seems he is an important patient,¡± Nivritti tried to calm him down.

    ¡°I wish he thinks of me as someone important too,¡± he looked at Nivritti, sadly. She thought he was talking about his patient, but he was talking about her.

    ¡°You are his doctor. Of course, he thinks you as someone important otherwise why would he travel so far to see you?¡± assured Nivritti.

    ¡°You are right,¡± he smiled at her. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Both girls walked behind him and reached the parking lot. The whole way he kept ncing at the backseat looking at Nivritti, who kept smiling,ughing, and talking with Jae-Hwa. He had been on multiple blind dates, courtesy of his mother, but he never thought about dating anyone. For the first time, a girl pulled at his heartstrings, and she was not at all interested in him. It was heartbreaking for him.

    He was handsome, tall and a doctor. Girls lined up for his attention in his hospital, but he treated everyone as his colleague. No matter how many girls confessed their feelings to him, he never felt an iota of emotions for them. But the moment, he saw Nivritti at her door, he lost his heart.

    He again nced back at Nivritti when her phone chimed. It was the hundredth time that she looked at her phone. When she took out her phone, she was smiling and the moment she saw the screen, her smile vanished and the same annoyed expression that she had in the morning came back.

    ¡°Is she waiting for her boyfriend to message her?¡± thought Jae-Geun. ¡°Does she have a boyfriend? She just arrived in Korea, it cannot be a Korean person, it must be someone from India. True, that a long-distance rtionship is hard. Maybe that¡¯s why she was so frustrated and out of her mind in the morning.¡±

    Jae-Geun¡¯s heart leapt out of his chest. The empty chest cavity ached with pain as he realised that she had a boyfriend.

    ¡°Who is messaging you? Why do you look annoyed?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    Jae-Geun eagerly wanted an answer to that question. ¡°Oh, nothing! All these marketing gimmicks. I gave my number to the superstore where I shop and they send me messages every hour about some or the other discount,¡± she lied and angrily dumped her phone in her purse.

    Jae-Geun was rxed after hearing her answer. Little did he know that Nivritti kept waiting for Young-Chul to reply to her once, but he never did. All the messages she received were from the members of the ASD updating her about his condition. And every time she would receive a message and that message would be from someone else, she would get more annoyed.

    ¡°I am not going to message him again,¡± contemted Nivritti. ¡°If he can¡¯t make an effort to message me back, why should I waste my time? Anyway, I get his update four times a day and he is doing well. I wonder how he is doing in his therapy. Is he talking, sharing, or just keeping mute like he always does? Oh, why do I care? He can do whatever he wants. I don¡¯t care.¡±

    Jae-Geun dropped the girls outside the building. ¡°I wille tomorrow to get you. Do you want anything?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Call me when you are about toe, then I will tell you depending on my mood,¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°So, nothing. Okay, Bye!¡± still talking he moved his car and drove away.

    ¡°Oppa!¡± screamed Jae-Hwa, poutingly.

    Nivrittiughed and pulled Jae-Hwa to walk with her. ¡°Let¡¯s go. He will call you, I know that.¡±

    She pulled Jae-Hwa all the way to her apartment and punched in her code. After changing intofortable clothes, they sat on the couch and rxed.

    ¡°Now tell me what is bothering you?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti, confused.

    ¡°You were irritated, and frustrated, all your energy was drained when I arrived. You had no idea where your phone was. The morning pancakes were ced before you on your te. You didn¡¯t even finish them, and you kept staring at your TV till noon. What is wrong?¡± exined Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti sat upright and looked at Jae-Hwa. ¡°Nothing! I told you, I am just bored after reading the exact same script day in, day out. Justst night, I found some of the giarised scripts. I sleptte, I woke upte. If I wouldn¡¯t have felt hungry, I think I would have slept for a little longer.¡±

    Nivritti tried exining her situation to Jae-Hwa. She had to sound convincing. She was not supposed to tell anyone that she was angry at Young-Chul.

    Jae-Hwa was slightly rxed after her exnation. ¡°It is true, reading the same scripts every day is a bit boring. And we have to do that for months. Also, we werete in catching giarised scripts. I think we will keep finding some scripts every now and then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I keep gging the scripts and the IT department keeps banning the writers, but they pop up like whack-a-mole. We tag one, and another one appears,¡± sighed Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, and then we have to deal with the scripts that have non-existent grammar. I have so many good scripts that I will have to rewrite,¡± Jae-Hwa sighed too.

    Both the girls folded their arms over their chests and melted into the couch.

    ¡°We have a long road ahead,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, we do,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about work today. Let¡¯s just rx and waste our whole day doing nothing,¡± proposed Nivritti.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that. We won¡¯t even cook. Let¡¯s order takeout, watch TV and rx. What say?¡± jumped Jae-Hwa, with excitement.

    ¡°Sounds like a n,¡± smiled Nivritti. ¡°What do you want to watch?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start with horror,¡± Jae-Hwa rubbed her palms, thrilled.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s set the mood. You get the lights, choose the movie and I will get popcorn and drinks,¡± Nivritti jumped out off the couch and ran to the kitchen.

    Jae-Hwa immediately stood up and switched off every light except the footlights. She sat back on the couch and kept searching for a good horror movie on an online streaming app. She settled for a Zombie movie.

    Nivritti came back within minutes with steaming hot butter popcorn and drinks.

    The whole night they kept watching movie after movie. They started with a horror one, then watched an action flick and finally ended the movie marathon with a sad movie.

    They ordered spicy Chinese food and cried while watching thest movie. They kept telling each other that the tears were because of the spices but the reality was they kept crying because of the highly emotional movie.

    All the tissues were wet, and they kept sniffling.

    ¡°So spicy!¡± sniffled Nivritti and turned away from Jae-Hwa¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Yeah, so spicy,¡± sobbed Jae-Hwa and wiped her tears.

    ¡°Why did they have to make the movie so spicy?¡± Nivritti said with a frowny face.

    ¡°Yeah, do they want to kill us?¡± cried Jae-Hwa.

    They finished the food and had no excuse for why they kept crying. After the movie finished, Jae-Hwamented, ¡°huh¡­ they said it was emotional. I felt nothing.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, me too. If it would not have been for the food, I would not have cried even a bit,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Right?¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    They both looked at each other and burst outughing. They both knew that the movie was amazing and even made their hearts cry.

    ¡°That was an emotional one,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Tell me about it. When she left him for his own good, I felt it here,¡± Nivritti pointed at her heart.

    Talking about the movie, they cleaned the table and went to bed afterwards. Jae-Hwa fell asleep first. Nivritti sighed after her phone chimed with a notification. She knew it was an update about Young-Chul.

 Chapter 163 - 163 The Grumpiness

    163 The Grumpiness

    Smiling andughing with Jae-Hwa, Nivritti forgot about ASD. The whole day she just received messages from them, she never replied to anyone. She was afraid that Jae-Hwa might nce at her phone and find out who she was messaging and then she would bombard her with questions. She wanted to avoid that at every condition.

    Even after they came to bed, they kept chatting about the emotional movie they saw. They forgot about other movies that they saw. They wished each other goodnight and turned away from each other to sleep.

    As soon as they stopped talking, Nivritti¡¯s mind went directly to Young-Chul. She knew that he was doing great and working well with his therapist, but he had a long way to go. He would need steady help. His physical symptoms were all gone after spending days in the hospital and his mental symptoms needed great care.

    She knew Jae-Hwa was sleeping as she could hear her steady breathing and she had stopped moving. But Nivritti could not sleep yet. Her mind was inside the hospital near Young-Chul¡¯s bed. She kept thinking about why he never replied to her. He treated her as his friend, he even smiled at her but why was he reluctant to have a chat?

    It was not like she trying to flirt with him. She just wanted to help him, and he never replied. He even denied that he held her hand. That she knew why, he was not big on physical touch. He was a widely known introvert and he hated when anyone would invade his personal space.

    She turned to be on her back and stared at her roof. Sleep was still elusive. She thought of counting from 100 to 1 so that she could bore her brain to sleep. Before she could do that, her phone chimed with a notification. She sighed as she knew it was a message from one of the members telling her about Young-Chul¡¯s condition.

    Without looking at the nightstand, she just grabbed her phone and looked at the message. It was from Kyung-Soo. He informed her that Young-Chul was doing great. Even his therapy was going well. The doctor had asked all the boys to join the therapy to make sure how could they help Young-Chul in his condition as well as understand his condition.

    She felt rxed after reading the message but was still angry at Young-Chul. She never replied to anyone the whole day but thanked Kyung-Soo for the update and wished him goodnight. He sweetly replied, ¡°sweet dreams¡± bringing a smile to her face. She slightly pressed the power button and the phone locked.

    Shey frozen for a minute in the same position, with her phone in her hand ced over her chest. Wait! Kyung-Soo didn¡¯t inform her when Young-Chul would be discharged. If he was doing okay, it would mean that it was time for him to leave the hospital. ASD had already announced in the office that they will be on leave for a week. Were they going to extend it?

    .....

    She bit the inside of her lips contemting whether she should send a message to Kyung-Soo asking the same. But that would be too intrusive of a question. Even if Young-Chul was better, it was the doctor¡¯s decision if he should remain in the hospital. It was not something for her to imply.

    Still, she unlocked her phone and opened the conversation with Young-Chul on her phone. It was all her messages, her jokes, her memes, and nothing from him. She pondered upon if she should send him another message. She always sent him goodnight and wished him good health. Thinking for about a minute, she sighed loudly and ced her phone on her nightstand, without sending a message to Young-Chul.

    She closed her eyes wishing for sleep toe. When she fell asleep, she had no idea. She started turning and twisting when the morning light seeped through her window. She covered herself with the nket to hide her eyes.

    But that nket was pulled away from her. She again pulled it towards her and again the nket was pulled away.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ Apeksha!¡± shouted Nivritti in her sleep and pulled her nket.

    ¡°Let me sleep, Ritti. And who is Apeksha?¡± groaned Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Right, Jae,¡± Nivritti realised who was sleeping next to her. She scratched her head, went inside the nket and replied, ¡°she is my sister, sorry.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, right!¡± Jae-Hwa too covered her head with the nket and both girls went right back to sleep.

    Hourster Jae-Hwa finally woke up. Nivritti too groaned and opened her eyes but was not ready to leave the bed.

    ¡°Wake up!¡± Jae-Hwa shook Nivritti.

    ¡°Few more minutes,¡± yawned Nivritti.

    ¡°I am going to the bathroom and then the kitchen. What do you want for breakfast?¡± Jae-Hwa inquired.

    ¡°Anything!¡± moaned Nivritti and shifted to her side, covering herself with the nket.

    Jae-Hwa went out of the room leaving Nivritti to sleep some more. The moment Jae-Hwa went out, Nivritti grabbed her phone and brought it inside her nket. She unlocked the phone and to her surprise, there was no message, no update.

    She closed and opened the messaging app again and again to refresh it, but no messages appeared. She checked for the signal, and it was great. She restarted her phone thinking something was off, but nothing appeared even after restarting.

    ¡°Is he okay? Why did no one reply till now? Where is my morning update? Last night NK was there. Why didn¡¯t he send me an update? Should I wait for a few more minutes? Maybe they are busy. Yeah, I should wait for a few minutes, then I will send a message to Kyung-Soo,¡± she mumbled to herself.

    She closed one eye and grunted in frustration, ¡°aishh¡­ I am sending a message now.¡± She immediately typed in, ¡°how is MY? Is everything alright? You didn¡¯t give me a morning update.¡± And send.

    She kept her phone close to her eyes waiting for a reply. Second by second the clock kept moving but there was no reply. Now even Kyung-Soo was not replying to her, great!

    She threw her phone next to her pillow and turned away from her phone.

    ¡°Are you still sleeping?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa who came out of the bathroom.

    ¡°Yes,¡± shouted Nivritti in frustration.

    ¡°Okay, grumpy. Do you drink tea or coffee in the morning?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh right now I am wishing for something strong,¡± she mumbled under her breath.

    ¡°What?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Tea! I want tea,¡± grumbled Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, I am getting everything ready, now get up, big baby,¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I am not a baby,¡± screamed Nivritti.

    ¡°Right now, you are looking like one,¡± muttered Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti threw her nket and looked at Jae-Hwa. ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, nothing at all. Please get up,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa. Nivritti again covered herself with the nket and looked away from Jae-Hwa. ¡°What is wrong with her? She is back again to the mood she was in yesterday,¡± thought Jae-Hwa.

    Jae-Hwa ced the kettle on for tea and opened the fridge to look for the raw materials, she would use to make breakfast. She had eggs, bread, fresh vegetables, pancake mix and kimchi that she brought.

    She ced the bread in the toaster to toast and started working on kimchi fried eggs. While she prepared for the eggs, the water boiled. She took out two cups, ced a tea bag in one of them and emptied a cappino coffee packet in another one. All she had to do now was add the water and her tea and coffee would be ready.

    She picked up the kettle and was about to pour the water when the doorbell rang.

    ¡°Ritti! Someone¡¯s at the door,¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ please see who¡¯s there. I think it¡¯s your brother,¡± groaned Nivritti.

    ¡°Why would Oppa be here so early?¡± protested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Just open the door, Jae,¡± ordered Nivritti, frustrated.

    ¡°Aisshh¡­ this girl. She¡¯s my senior so she thinks she can order me around,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I can hear you,¡± warned Nivritti.

    ¡°I meant it for you to hear,¡± chided Jae-Hwa.

    Fighting with Nivritti, she reached towards the door, turned the knob, and unlocked it. The moment she opened the door, a loud shriek escaped her mouth and she instantly shut the door with a bang.

    Nivritti heard her scream and threw her nket away. She jumped from the bed and came running to Jae-Hwa. ¡°What? What? What happened? Are you hurt? Are you okay?¡±

    But Jae-Hwa was frozen in time. She was staring at the door with wide eyes and an open mouth. She was breathing heavily, all most on the verge of hyperventting.

    Nivritti grabbed Jae-Hwa¡¯s shoulder and made her turn towards her. She looked everywhere at Jae-Hwa to see if she was injured. ¡°Jae! What happened? Why did you shout? Did you hurt yourself?¡±

    Jae-Hwa just pointed towards the door. She was still speechless. ¡°What? What? Did you hurt your fingers?¡± Nivritti immediately grabbed her hands and checked her fingers, they were fine. ¡°What happened? Say something!¡± shouted Nivritti, worried.

    ¡°The door!¡± mumbled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What about the door?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°O¡­ I¡­ A¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop talking in vowels. What?¡± shouted Nivritti. But Jae-Hwa just kept pointing at the door.

    ¡°Who is at the door?¡± screamed Nivritti, shook her head, and opened the door. Her jaw too dropped to the floor. She was not expecting a guest in the morning. She knew it was not the time to freeze like Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What are you doing? Get in, fast,¡± shemanded.

 Chapter 164 - 164 The Unexpected Guests

    164 The Unexpected Guests

    Nivritti kept asking Jae-Hwa about why did she scream but Jae-Hwa was speechless. She would open her mouth, but nothing woulde out of her mouth. Not a word out of her mouth was understandable. She just kept pointing at the door.

    ¡°Who is at the door? Speak up girl!¡± screamed Nivritti but Jae-Hwa pointed at the door as usual. Her wide eyes and open mouth appeared frozen as if she saw a ghost. Shaking her head with frustration, she walked up to the door and then opened it.

    The moment she opened the door her mouth fell open. ¡°What the hell?¡± she shouted at the top of her lungs. ¡°What are you doing? Get in, fast,¡± she shouted.

    Immediately there was a crowd inside her house. Jae-Hwa again yelped as soon as she saw Nivritti¡¯s guests.

    ¡°Oh, shut up! Will you stop shouting?¡± she scolded Jae-Hwa. She then turned to face her guests, ¡°and you stupids! Where are your masks?¡±

    Jae-Hwa involuntarily walked up to Nivritti and started hitting all over her arm, shocked. ¡°ASD! ASD! ASD is in your house. ASD is in your house,¡± she kept hitting Nivritti and repeating her words.

    Every member of ASD was standing inside her house and grinning at her. A few of them moved their neck in every direction to check out her apartment. Young-Chul was the only one who just kept staring at her with no expression. Some might say that he looked angry and constipated.

    Nivritti stuck her tongue on her upper mr, sighed loudly and closed her eyes with frustration. She shook her head in anger and looked at Jae-Hwa. ¡°Stop it! Pull yourself together girl!¡± she snapped at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Pu¡­ pull¡­ pull myself together? ASD is in your house!!!¡± she shouted.

    .....

    ¡°Yes, I can see that,¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°And I asked you guys a question. Where are your masks? What if someone might have seen you?¡± she shouted at ASD.

    ¡°Don¡¯t shout. We are here to demand answers,¡± rebuked Korain.

    ¡°Answers?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Where were you yesterday? We sent you so many messages, but you never replied to any one of them,¡± pouted Thae.

    ¡°She replied to me,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be smug, Hyung,¡± reprimanded Jung-Hwa. ¡°And you, you were ready to hit us on our head when we didn¡¯t reply to you and when we started sending you daily updates, you totally forgot about us,¡± he shouted at Nivritti.

    ¡°Do you have any idea how worried MY Hyung was when he didn¡¯t receive a message from you? He insisted that we should check if you were okay. He must rest but he dragged us here directly from the hospital to check on you,¡± shouted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I¡­ wo¡­ he¡­ he is worried?¡± she shouted. She went in Young-Chul¡¯s face and chided him, ¡°you are worried. I kept sending you messages, jokes, get-well wishes, good morning messages, good night messages, I never received even an emoji from your end. And one time, one time I didn¡¯t send you one, you are here to shout at me? Now you are worried about me?¡±

    Young-Chul gulped and immediately stepped backwards and bumped into Kyung-Soo. ¡°You were right, she is scary. Now I know how TK felt when she shouted at him.¡±

    ¡°How are you here? Did you get discharged?¡± yelled Nivritti, again and started moving forward towards Young-Chul with clenched fists.

    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± said Kyung-Soo and moved forward and grabbed Nivritti¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You need to calm down. The vein in your forehead is about to pop.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­ worried about me,¡± she gritted her teeth at Young-Chul, but Kyung-Soo held her in her ce by keeping his grip tight. He pushed her away and made her sit on her couch.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you stay in this area when you first arrived in Seoul, MY?¡± Him-Chan tried to break the ice. The atmosphere was way too tense.

    ¡°Um¡­ I stayed in this apartment. Thepany had a few apartments in this building, and this was the one allotted to me,¡± Young-Chul chose his words carefully.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came after ¡®what¡¯. She hit Kyung-Soo on his chest and shouted, ¡°let me go. I will kill him, I will kill him.¡±

    Young-Chul jumped away and almost ran towards the door, ready to escape at any given point. ¡°Why? Why?¡±

    ¡°Do you have any idea what was my mental condition? I was frustrated, irritated at everything just because you never replied to me. And now you tell me this was your apartment? Getting updates from everyone is one thing but hearing that you were doing fine from your mouth would have made me so happy. But noooo¡­ that is too much to ask from I-love-my-personal-space-moron. You can grab my hand, not let me go, but asking for a reply from you is too much to ask,¡± she chided. Kyung-Soo made sure that she was seated in her seat.

    Everyone else just kept staring at Nivritti and Young-Chul and enjoying their fight. Well, it was a one-sided fight. Young-Chul was not even making an effort. He was even ready to flee the battlefield.

    ¡°You know I am not big on¡­¡± sulked Young-Chul.

    Before he could finish his sentence, Nivritti interrupted, ¡°big on what? Big on what? Huh¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡± Young-Chul lowered his head.

    Thae, Jeong-Eun and Jung-Hwa looked at and signalled each other. They quietly moved towards the kitchen and opened the fridge. They saw the long line of c cans sitting inside. They picked one each and came back to the living room. While Nivritti kept chiding Young-Chul, they opened the can.

    Tsskkk-pop! The cans opened and everything went quiet. Nivritti closed her eyes, turned her head, and opened her eyes to stare at them. Korain and Kyung-Soo instantly facepalmed. Him-Chan collectively hit them on the back of their heads. As soon as Thae, Jeong-Eun and Jung-Hwa looked at Nivritti¡¯s scary expression, it was difficult to swallow the soda.

    ¡°Sorry, Ritti! I had no idea what to reply. But your messages gave me great strength,¡± said Young-Chul softly.

    She was still reeling with anger at the three maknaes when Young-Chul opened his mouth. ¡°Ahh¡­¡± she shouted and almost got up, but Kyung-Soo pushed her back onto the couch.

    ¡°Sit and talk, sit and talk,¡± he caressed her hair to calm her down.

    ¡°Stop it!¡± she jerked his hands away. ¡°My message gave him strength!! My touch calmed him down, but he had no idea what to reply and when he opens his mouth, it is tell me that he lived here. A member of ASD lived in my house, MY HOUSE.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ are you angry or are you freaking out?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°I am angry. She is freaking out!¡± she pointed at Jae-Hwa, casually. All turned to look at Jae-Hwa. She was frozen in her ce and staring at everyone with wide eyes. Her mouth was so wide open that one could easily see her epiglottis.

    Jeong-Eun looked at her with a sweet smile, but Korain approached her first. She did not move an inch.

    ¡°Oh shit! She is freaking out,¡± noted Nivritti. ¡°Shit! Shit! Shit! She had no idea and you guys popped up,¡± she shouted.

    ¡°No idea, no idea about what?¡± inquired Him-Chan.

    ¡°That he was in the hospital,¡± she pointed at Young-Chul. ¡°And that he never replied to me,¡± she snarled at him.

    ¡°Should we get her out of her trance?¡± asked Him-Chan, worried.

    ¡°I will do that,¡± Jeong-Eun immediately stood up.

    ¡°Are you trying to give her a heart attack? Let me!¡± she scolded Jeong-Eun and went near Jae-Hwa. ¡°Jae! Jae! Yes, ASD is in my house. It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s normal. Look at me,¡± she said as sweetly as possible.

    Young-Chul¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°She was shouting at me, now look at her. I was better in the hospital.¡±

    Nivritti looked at him and raised her hand to hit him. ¡°Stop talking nonsense! I will kill you. I was better in the hospital, stupid!¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡± he again apologised.

    ¡°How are you so calm? Why are you not freaking out? ASD IS IN YOUR HOUSE!!!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. Nivritti moved her face away from Jae-Hwa to protect her ears.

    ¡°Okay, she is out of her trance,¡±mented Him-Chan. Nivritti instantly turned her head and squinted her eyes at him. ¡°Sorry!¡± he immediately apologised and lowered his head.

    ¡°You know TK came to drop me at my house, right? We work together with them. As you are in my house which is absolutely normal, the same way them being here is normal too. Think of them as your colleagues,¡± every member of ASD cleared their throat at the term ¡®colleague¡¯. Nivritti rolled her eyes and continued, ¡°think of them as your friends.¡± Everyone nodded. ¡°It¡¯s normal.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but they have never been in your home,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti became ufortable as now she would have to lie. She touched the back of her neck and scratched it. She nced at Kyung-Soo, cleared her throat, and replied, ¡°right, they have not been inside, but they have been in the parking lot. TK, NK, PJ. Just a few days back, PJ and NK dropped me from the hospital.¡±

 Chapter 165 - 165 The Angry, Jae-Hwa

    165 The Angry, Jae-Hwa

    Nivritti didn¡¯t realise but she blurted out important news, one that everyone had been hiding for days, one that Jae-Hwa had no idea about.

    ¡°Wait! Hospital?¡± asked Jae-Hwa. Nivritti closed her eyes tightly and pressed her lips together.

    ¡°She didn¡¯t know?¡± inquired Korain, shocked.

    ¡°No one knows,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Wah! I thought she is your friend so you must have told her,¡±mented Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti red her nose and looked at Kyung-Soo with fire in her eyes. ¡°You made such a fuss about hiding that he was in the hospital. And now you want me to tell her?¡± she snapped at him.

    His jaw dropped with shock. He moved a few steps ahead and came close to her. ¡°You gave a full-on lecture about why we should not hide it and you are hiding it from your friend, so bad!¡±

    Nivritti opened her mouth and made a fist at Kyung-Soo when Jae-Hwa interrupted, ¡°what are you hiding? What could you not tell me?¡±

    ¡°Shit!¡± she gritted her teeth, lowered her head, and nced at Kyung-Soo. She muttered some curses at him and immediately backed up with an awkward smile on his face. She lifted her head and with a sweet smile on her face, said, ¡°Jae!¡±

    .....

    But Jae-Hwa interjected, ¡°you asked him when he was discharged. Was Young in the hospital? What is the update you all have been talking about? Were those the messages you kept receiving these past few days? You said that was marketing gimmicks. They were sending messages? Were you in a foul mood because Young ignored you? Was that the reason you were so grumpy in the morning and refused to wake up?¡± Nivritti nced at Young-Chul in anger and immediately averted her eyes. ¡°Woah! Was that the reason, ASD were absent from every activity?¡±

    ¡°Jae!¡± Nivritti moved her hand to touch Jae-Hwa¡¯s shoulder, but Jae-Hwa stepped back in anger.

    ¡°Everyone! Sit down!¡± Jae-Hwa shouted.

    ¡°Woah!¡± eximed Thae.

    ¡°Jae!?¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Now?¡± screamed Jae-Hwa.

    All immediately formed a line and started adjusting on the couch. The three maknaes were already seated on the couch. Him-Chan and Korain sat on the armrest on the longer couch. Nivritti lowered her head and moved near the two single couches and sat on one of them. The remaining couch was upied by Young-Chul and Kyung-Soo sat on the armrest cing his hand over Young-Chul¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°What the hell you all have been hiding?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. ¡°I want every detail.¡±

    ¡°Just a few days ago, she couldn¡¯t speak in front of them. Look at her now, she is shouting,¡± Nivrittimented and rolled her eyes. Kyung-Soo looked at her and scoffed at herment.

    ¡°What did you just say?¡± demanded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Nothing, nothing!¡± blurted out Nivritti.

    ¡°Now tell me everything,¡± ordered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You know you are shouting in front of ASD?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°You just said to treat them as friends. What is wrong with you?¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Fair enough!¡± Nivritti rolled her eyes. ¡°I had no idea my words woulde back to bite me in the ass,¡± she mumbled.

    ¡°Yeah! What is wrong with you?¡± taunted Young-Chul.

    She instantly stood up with a jerk and pounced at Young-Chul. Kyung-Soo quickly jumped in between them and grabbed Nivritti¡¯s shoulder and stopped her. He pushed her onto the couch and made her sit. ¡°This is funny to you, this is funny?¡± she shouted at Young-Chul, grabbed the cushion behind her and threw it at his face with force.

    The cushion made an impact on his face, and he cried, ¡°ow!¡±

    ¡°Hey! Hey! Hey! He is weak. Stop hitting him,¡± ordered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°He is lucky that was not a brick,¡± chided Nivritti. ¡°Not sick to make funnyments but too sick to REPLY TO A MESSAGE,¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Shut up all of you! I am still standing here waiting for an answer,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask him?¡± she gritted her teeth and stood up. Without saying a single word, she started walking away.

    ¡°Where are you going? I still haven¡¯t received an answer,¡± yelled Jae-Hwa. She ced her arms on her waist and stared angrily at Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Now I can¡¯t even go to the bathroom? These idiots came without any warning, and you screamed your lungs out just by looking at them. I didn¡¯t have the time to go to the bathroom. What should I do? Not pee and damage my kidney? Is that what you want? Huh, huh,¡± she shouted at everyone and rushed to the bathroom.

    ¡°I was supposed to be angry because she didn¡¯t tell me about Young, but look at her, getting angry instead. She is really something,¡± observed Jae-Hwa.

    Korain signalled everyone to huddle close. Every member of ASD came close to hear what he had to say. ¡°Did she just call us idiots?¡± inquired Korain.

    ¡°Everything is MY hyung¡¯s fault. Why were you not replying to her? Seriously!¡± Jung-Hwa rebuked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Have I ever replied to any one of you with stupid memes or simple goodnight or good morning messages?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°When have you grabbed our hand and slept peacefully?¡± taunted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°That was one time, one time,¡± shouted Young-Chul. ¡°She keeps hugging me, you guys don¡¯t say anything to her. Why make me responsible for holding her hands once, that too in sleep? I don¡¯t even remember.¡±

    ¡°I am literally standing here. Don¡¯t they see me?¡± Jae-Hwa had her arms on her waist and with her tilted head, she kept staring at ASD, who were busy talking with each other.

    ¡°I think she has a crush on Young,¡± winked Korain.

    ¡°I have what now?¡± shouted Nivritti. No one heard when she came out but as soon as they heard her voice, all returned back to their position and sat straight.

    ¡°Kidding, kidding,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Jae! You wanted to know what everyone has been hiding from you, right?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Well, MY fainted as this idiot didn¡¯t sleep for days. They had to rush him to the hospital, and they have been hiding this news from the world. They have been lying to everyone, their colleagues, their fans, their friends, I think even their families. Go, bite!¡± she sed Jae-Hwa on ASD.

    ¡°Hey!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo offended.

    ¡°What? What? Does his family know? Answer truthfully!¡± asked Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo lowered his head and replied, ¡°no, they don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°So, you guys don¡¯t think of me as your friend?¡± sulked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? Why are you saying that?¡± said Jeong-Eun in a sad tone.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me that he was sick?¡± demanded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°We told no one,¡± replied Him-Chan.

    ¡°Then how does she know?¡± Jae-Hwa inquired and pointed at Nivritti. Everyone looked at her and raised their eyebrows.

    Nivritti looked at everyone one by one and ufortability was written all over her face due to their expression. She realised that she would have to tell Jae-Hwa how she found out. And ASD were not at fault that Jae-Hwa didn¡¯t know whereas she knew about Young-Chul.

    Nivritti gulped, ¡°what¡­ happened¡­ was¡­ the day I had my therapy appointment, I saw NK in the hospital corridor and I kind... of followed him. I went inside the room and saw him-¡± she pointed at Young-Chul, ¡°-lying on the bed, sick.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she barged in. We never told her. She even sent her a few messages asking about him, but we could not reply back, we were forbidden. After she found out, she was in the loop, so we sent her updates about him. we took pity on her,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Bar¡­ barged in? Took pity?¡± shouted Nivritti, shocked at Kyung-Soo¡¯s reply.

    ¡°Waah! You recognised NK Hyung even though he was wearing a mask,¡±mented Jung-Hwa with a mischievous smile on his face.

    Nivritti squinted her eyes at him and smiled sarcastically. But Kyung-Soo was happy at Jung-Hwa¡¯sment. He winked happily at Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°But¡­ But you guys said that you were having yearly check-ups. Was that a lie too?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Her idea,¡± every member of ASD shouted at once and pointed at Nivritti. She shook her head in disbelief and facepalmed, hard.

    ¡°Want to know the icing on the cake?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± questioned Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Your brother¡­¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti looked at Kyung-Soo with shock and shouted, ¡°Nam Kyung-Soo, don¡¯t you dare!¡± She lunged at him to make him shut up, but he was quick. He jumped from the couch and ran away.

    ¡°She told your brother to not tell you anything,¡± he shouted while running all over the living room.

    ¡°What? Oppa knows too?¡± screamed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, I will kill you,¡± shouted Nivritti and kept chasing Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Stop, stop, both of you, stop,¡± Korain tried to stop them, but no one was listening to anyone. Everyone was angry, confused, scared with all the chaotic energy in the living room.

    Kyung-Soo kept running round and round in circles around the couch and Nivritti kept chasing him with clenched fists. Korain and Jae-Hwa tried stopping them, but they were not ready to listen to anyone.

    While she was running behind Kyung-Soo, she didn¡¯t pay any attention to where she was running and she bumped her pinkie toe into the foot of the couch and cried in pain, ¡°ow!¡± She started jumping on one foot trying to garb the area that was tingling with pain.

 Chapter 166 - 166 The Bloody Handprint

    166 The Bloody Handprint

    ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow!¡± cried Nivritti in pain. She closed her eyes and lowered her head. She immediately stepped on her injured toe with her other leg and pressed on it hard to subside the pain. When that didn¡¯t help, she raised her leg and held the toe tightly in his hand.

    Everyone turned around to look at why she cried. Kyung-Soo stopped running and looked at her. She was on one leg and jumping in pain. She kept stepping back so that she could rest against the wall. But due to her pain, her distance perception was slightly skewed.

    All stood up to look at her.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± shouted Korain. But Nivritti kept her eyes closed and her jaw clenched due to the pain. Tears were streaming down her face. Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart stopped after looking at her crying. He cursed himself for hurting her.

    Him-Chan who was closest to her stood up and ran to Nivritti. One eye was closed, and she kept searching for the wall with another. She kept jumping on one foot trying to reach for the wall. Before she could reach the wall to get some support, she lost her bnce and was about to fall on the floor when Him-Chan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.

    Nivritti immediately opened her eyes and Him-Chan¡¯s face appeared before her eyes. She had to let go of her leg the moment Him-Chan pulled her. Her handsnded on his chest, his fast-beating chest. Kyung-Soo froze in his path the moment he saw Nivritti in Him-Chan¡¯s embrace.

    But Nivritti had no time to think about Him-Chan or his arms around her. The tingling pain was too overwhelming. She again lowered her head and grabbed her toe.

    ¡°Bring her here, Hyung,¡± suggested Thae and cleared the couch for her.

    ¡°Can you walk?¡± asked Him-Chan. Nivritti nodded. He wrapped her arm around his shoulder and while jumping she came near the couch.

    .....

    Carefully Him-Chan pushed her onto the couch. Her whole leg was bursting with pain. She pressed harder on her toe to numb the feeling. After pressing for so long, she felt her toe sweating due to the heat. Kyung-Soo ran to her and knelt down near her feet.

    With quivering lips and puppy eyes, he looked at her, but she still had her eyes closed, tightly, trying to deal with agony.

    Suddenly, Jeong-Eun shouted, ¡°Hyung, what is that on your coat?¡±

    ¡°What? Where?¡± Him-Chan shouted. An ugly brick-brown stain spoiled his expensive sky-blue long coat.

    ¡°She is injured, and you are fascinated with a stain?¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. I think that¡­ that is¡­¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Blood,¡± Young-Chulpleted the sentence.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted everyone and stared at the coat. There was a bloody handprint on his coat. Kyung-Soo¡¯s brain immediately started working overtime. The stain was not there when Him-Chan entered Nivritti¡¯s house. No one touched him except Nivritti. Her handsnded on him when he saved her from falling.

    Kyung-Soo grabbed Nivritti¡¯s arm and jerked it away to reveal the injured toe. Jae-Hwa gasped at the sight of the blood. Kyung-Soo sucked his teeth the moment he saw the broken nail. The nail was overturned due to the pressure of the impact and broke revealing red skin. The nail was hanging at the corner attached to the skin.

    Nivritti sucked her teeth and shook her leg in agony.

    ¡°Do you have a first-aid box?¡± asked Kyung-Soo. But Nivritti didn¡¯t reply.

    ¡°Go, look in the bedroom,¡± Young-Chul shouted at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Right! Right!¡± Jae-Hwa ran to the bedroom and searched all around.

    Kyung-Soo grabbed her toe and pressed on it hard to stop the bleeding. He then looked at her wet face and said, ¡°Ritti! Ritti! Look at me. You need to tell me if you have a first-aid box.¡±

    ¡°In the closet,¡± she sniffled.

    ¡°Jae! Look in the closet,¡± shouted Jeong-Eun and ran towards the bedroom to help her.

    ¡°PJ! Get the nail cutter too,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. Jeong-Eun halted in his path to listen to Kyung-Soo and then raced inside the bedroom.

    When he entered, Jae-Hwa was already standing with the first-aid box in her hand and was on the verge of closing the closet.

    ¡°Do you know where she keeps her nail cutter?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°You take this. I will look in her dressing table for a nail cutter,¡± said Jae-Hwa in an urgent tone.

    Jeong-Eun took the box from her and ran to the living room. ¡°Here!¡± he said.

    Korain grabbed the box and said, ¡°Kyungsoona! Move, I will do it.¡±

    ¡°But Hyung,¡± protested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You know I am better,¡± said Korain.

    Kyung-Soo nodded and slowly removed his hand from her toe. Now his hand was red in colour. The blood stopped oozing out of her leg, but the pain was still there. The moment he removed his hand, she again started shaking her leg to match the tingling feeling.

    ¡°Ritti! You need to stop shaking your leg,¡±manded Korain.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s¡­¡± she sucked her teeth.

    Suddenly, Kyung-Soo grabbed her shoulder and leaned over her. ¡°Ritti! Look at me,¡± he said. Nivritti looked at his face and stopped sobbing. ¡°Take deep breaths and stop shaking your leg,¡± he said. She gulped at themand and her shuddering breath slowed down.

    ¡°You are doing great, Kyungsoona. Keep her calm,¡± said Korain.

    Korain opened the first-aid box and saw that everything was neatly ced in it. He took out the cotton and antiseptic liquid and softly dabbed it on her toe. She cried with pain and screamed loudly as the antiseptic liquid burned her skin.

    Phu! Phu! Phu! She exhaled loudly and jerked her leg away from Korain.

    ¡°Kyungsoona!¡± Korain warned.

    ¡°Ritti! Grab my hand. You can press on as hard as you want. Just forget about your leg and your pain. Keep looking at me,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti immediately grabbed his arm and dug her nails. He was thankful for his coat that he didn¡¯t feel the full assault of her nails. Korain would apply the liquid and she would dig her nails further into Kyung-Soo¡¯s arm.

 Chapter 167 - 167 The Bandage

    167 The Bandage

    Everyone was staring at her bloody toe and cringing at the dangling nail and her ripped skin. Kyung-Soo kept his expression neutral not showing the pain he was feeling as Nivritti kept tightening her grip on his arm.

    ¡°Here!¡± Jae-Hwa came running with the nail cutter.

    ¡°Ritti! This is going to hurt as I am going to cut your skin,¡± warned Korain.

    ¡°I can do it. I will do it,¡± she shouted and leaned forward towards her leg, but Kyung-Soo was in her way. His face was in her way. She immediately leaned her head away from his face.

    ¡°My arms-,¡± he pointed at his hands, ¡°-your fingernails-,¡± he signalled at her nail, ¡°-just sit back, here, take my arm, close your eyes and sit back,¡±manded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But it will hurt,¡± she sobbed. Young-Chul approached her, grabbed his sleeves, and wiped her cheeks.

    ¡°Yes, it will hurt. But something tells me you can endure it,¡± said Young-Chul. ¡°It is a matter of a few seconds. Just close your eyes and it will be done.¡±

    ¡°Done!¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°What?¡± yelled Nivritti, shocked.

    .....

    ¡°Yeah, he distracted you and I cut your nail,¡± replied Korain with pride. ¡°I will put the band-aid now.¡±

    ¡°No, band-aid won¡¯t cut it. We need to put on a proper bandage,¡± interrupted Jae-Hwa. Everyone looked at her, puzzled. ¡°Trust me, having a doctor in the family, I know few things.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± replied Korain and moved away to give space to Jae-Hwa. She knelt down, ced an antiseptic cream on her wound and covered it with clean cotton. She then wrapped the bandage and covered her toepletely.

    ¡°Do you think she needs a tetanus shot?¡± inquired Him-Chan.

    ¡°I had one before I came to Korea. I was asked to be updated on every vine and shot,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti nodded and finally Kyung-Soo removed his hands from her shoulders. She turned to look at Young-Chul and said, ¡°thank you.¡± He slightly smiled at her. She then looked at Korain and Him-Chan and thanked them too.

    ¡°You are wee,¡± said Korain. Jae-Hwa closed the first-aid box and ced it on the table. Everyone sat, some on the couch, some on the floor and sighed heavily.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you see and run?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo, abruptly.

    ¡°Did you have to tell Jae-Hwa about Jae-Geun?¡± she shouted back and wiped her tears.

    ¡°She is our friend, she must know everything,¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°And you must get a beating,¡± snapped Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey!¡± shouted Korain. ¡°Tom and Jerry! Enough! She is injured because of you, and you are still fighting,¡± Korain rebuked Kyung-Soo and hit him on the back of his head.

    ¡°Sorry, Hyung!¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°And you!¡± he shouted at Nivritti. ¡°He is right, can¡¯t you see and run?¡±

    ¡°Why are you shouting at me? I am injured,¡± pouted Nivritti and tears again started flowing from her eyes.

    ¡°Oh, oh, shit! Sorry, sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to shout at you,¡± apologised Korain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he gets a little scary when he gets angry,¡±forted Him-Chan.

    ¡°Do you guys smell something?¡± asked Jung-Hwa, sniffling.

    ¡°Oh shit!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa, suddenly and jumped from the couch.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°My kimchi fried eggs. Ahh¡­ they are burned,¡± she sulked and instantly ran to the kitchen.

    ¡°You mean you guys were preparing breakfast?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± replied Jae-Hwa, scrapping the burnt eggs from the pan. She switched off the burner and pped the pan on the counter. ¡°Shit!¡±

    ¡°You guys didn¡¯t have breakfast till now?¡± asked Jung-Hwa. Nivritti shook her head in no.

    ¡°I jumped from the bed after she screamed and banged the door in your faces. I told you before going to the bathroom,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Ooh! Yeah, right. Sorry,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Let me help you, Jae!¡± offered Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Yeah, I can eat again,¡± smiled Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Fine, I will help too,¡± said Kyung-Soo and moved towards the kitchen.

    ¡°No!!!¡± everyone shouted at once except Jae-Hwa. All looked at everyone and then halted at Nivritti. They knew why they shouted as Kyung-Soo was a disaster in the kitchen, but they had no idea why Nivritti shouted.

    ¡°Why did you shout?¡± asked Jung-Hwa, mischievously. Kyung-Soo looked at him and tucked his lower lips between his teeth. He squinted his eyes, and his eyes threw daggers at Jung-Hwa.

    Nivritti gulped after realising that every eye was on her and waiting for her answer. ¡°Um¡­¡± she gulped again. ¡°Um¡­ he has blood on his hands. He needs to wash it before handling things in the kitchen,¡± her quick brain immediately thought of an excuse.

    ¡°Oh, right, blood,¡±ughed Thae. ¡°We thought you know about him and his rtionship with the kitchen.¡±

    ¡°His rtionship with a kitchen?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, if you leave him alone, he will burn down the whole house,¡± Him-Chan rolled his eyes.

    Nivritti stared at Kyung-Soo and with a smirk on her face, teased him, ¡°reallllyy!!¡±

    ¡°Yaaa! Himchana!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Well, that is true,¡± taunted Korain. Everyone startedughing at Kyung-Soo. He folded his arm over his chest and sat on the couch, pouting.

    ¡°I aming, Jae,¡± Nivritti started to get up from her seat.

    ¡°Sit down!¡± everyone shouted at once.

    She looked at everyone with widened eyes and slowly sat back in her seat.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare move! God knows what you will break next,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ha-ha, Hyung you break things, she breaks bones,¡±ughed Jung-Hwa. Nivritti immediately hit him on the back of his head.

    ¡°Ow!¡± he cried.

    ¡°One from me too,¡± ordered Kyung-Soo. But before Nivritti could hit him, Jung-Hwa stood up and ran to the kitchen.

    Korain too took off his coat and went into the kitchen to help others. Jung-Hwa collected his and Jeong-Eun¡¯s coat and hung them on the hangar near the main door.

    While Korain, Jung-Hwa, Jeong-Eun, and Jae-Hwa cleaned the utensils and started working on breakfast from the scratch, all others sat in the living room quietly.

    ¡°Feeling, okay?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Better,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Pain?¡± he asked again.

    ¡°Bearable,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Good! Take rest and don¡¯t wear any shoes for a few days,¡± he ordered.

    ¡°Yes, doctor,¡± she teased. Thae and Him-Chan sniggered at her tease.

    ¡°You think you are so funny,¡± snapped Young-Chul and looked away from her. She smiled sweetly at his fake coldness.

 Chapter 168 - 168 The Wink

    168 The Wink

    Korain and Jung-Hwa were busy cooking eggs while Jeong-Eun and Jung-Hwa made toast and made coffee and tea for everyone.

    ¡°Why does she have no material to cook Korean food?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°Because she is Indian. She has no idea who to cook Korean,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh right! I looked everywhere there is no seaweed, fish oil or sesame oil, not even spring onions,¡±mented Korain. ¡°But how does she have kimchi?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that I gave her,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°In fact, my Uhmma gave her,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Your Uhmma?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°After she protected me in that restaurant, my whole family came to visit her, and we brought a lot of food with us. Mom brought food worth 100 people,¡±ughed Jae-Hwa.

    .....

    ¡°Moms are like that,¡± he smiled.

    The food was almost done. Korain instructed Jung-Hwa and Jeong-Eun to bring out the tes and cups and started ting the food. He looked into the living room and shouted, ¡°Kyungsoona, Ritti, wash your hands.¡±

    ¡°Why only them?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°Because they have blood on their hands,¡± replied Korain.

    Nivritti looked at her hand. The blood was dry now. The pain in her foot was a little less. She ced her foot on the ground but due to the thick bandage, it was difficult to ce her foot properly.

    ¡°Let me help you,¡± offered Him-Chan and extended his hand to her.

    ¡°I will take her. I too have to wash my hands,¡± interjected Kyung-Soo and he too extended his hand and shoved it in her face.

    Him-Chan folded back his hand and moved to his side, disappointed. Nivritti took Kyung-Soo¡¯s hand and stood up. She avoided cing too much pressure on her injured leg. Kyung-Soo wrapped her arm around his shoulder and walked with her. To walk with her, he slightly had to crouch down.

    He took her to the bathroom and opened the door. She stood carefully with her hand ced on the sink. He was about to walk in with her when she shouted, ¡°what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Going to the bathroom to wash my hands,¡± he replied.

    ¡°I am in, you have to wait,¡± snapped Nivritti. She didn¡¯t want to be in a confined space with Kyung-Soo. By now she knew what would happen if she would be in confined spaces with him.

    ¡°Will you be able to walk? What if you break the sink or something like that?¡± taunted Kyung-Soo with a wicked smile on his face.

    ¡°Just like you wreck kitchen,¡± she teased back.

    ¡°What are you afraid of? Are you going to do something to me if I get in with you?¡± he covered his chest with his hands, mockingly.

    ¡°Yeah, kill you. If youe inside, I will kill you,¡± chided Nivritti.

    Korain who was listening to the conversation rubbed his temple to ease the frustration. ¡°Hey!¡± he shouted. His voice startled both Nivritti and Kyung-Soo and they stopped bickering. ¡°I swear Kyungsoona, why do you always tease her, shout at her.¡±

    ¡°What? When did I?¡± protested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°SK! That is not true,¡± Nivritti took Kyung-Soo¡¯s side.

    ¡°I heard what happened in the copy room,¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°What?¡± both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti shouted and gulped with fear.

    ¡°Yeah, I heard how you were shouting at her while she was printing a copy of the proposal for me,¡± exined Korain.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what you heard,¡± Kyung-Soo sighed with relief and looked at Nivritti. She too was exhaled loudly and rxed.

    ¡°Why? Something else happened? Ritti?¡± questioned Korain.

    ¡°No, nothing else happened. He kept scolding me because paper jammed in the printer. Now, how is it my fault that the paper jammed? I cannot sit inside the printer to get a fine print,¡± pouted Nivritti. ¡°And he kept berating me like I jammed the paper,¡± she lied through her teeth, lowered her head and kept smirking.

    ¡°Nam Kyung-Soo! Hyung!¡± everyone shouted at him.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and nced at Nivritti in anger. She slightly lifted her head, smirked and winked at him. He was taken aback after seeing her naughtiness.

    ¡°We shouted at Thae for being inconsiderate and then you go and do this,¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do that, Hyung,¡± protested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Enough! Both of you wash your hands ande quick,¡± yelled Korain.

    ¡°Why am I being scolded?¡± pouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Wash your hands fast. He is not ¡®pleasant¡¯ when he gets angry,¡± muttered Kyung-Soo and entered the bathroom. Nivritti squirted handwash liquid on her hand and startedthering it up. Kyung-Soo too pumped the handwash onto his hands and started washing them.

    After they were done, they moved out of the bathroom. Nivritti thought Kyung-Soo would again offer his hands for her to walk but he did not do that. Instead, without warning, he ced his hands over her back and thighs and lifted her in his arms.

    Everyone froze when they saw it. The whole living room looked like they were doing the mannequin challenge. Nivritti gasped and stopped breathing. Kyung-Soo didn¡¯t look at anyone, he just walked towards the couch with Nivritti in his hands and softly ced her on the couch.

    ¡°Wh¡­ what¡­ was that?¡± stammered Nivritti.

    ¡°He said toe quick. I didn¡¯t want another scolding for walking slowly,¡± replied Kyung-Soo innocently. No one had any words to speak after that. When no one was looking at Kyung-Soo, he nced at Nivritti and winked at her to mock her. Her jaw dropped with his gesture.

    She knew he did that to exact revenge on her for lying about the copy room.

    The food was ced on the table. Some were sitting on the couch, and some were on the floor.

    ¡°Wow! This is delicious,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Hyung is a very good cook,¡± blurted out Thae.

    ¡°Aww¡­ I envy your girlfriend,¡± said Nivritti. Kyung-Soo who kept stuffing his mouth with eggs and toast suddenly stopped eating and chewing. He looked at Nivritti with his mouth full of food.

    ¡°Did she like someone who can cook?¡± he thought and instantly pouted.

    ¡°Really!¡± smiled Korain.

    ¡°Yeah, girls love men who can cook,¡± interrupted Jae-Hwa. ¡°And you should have seen with him the knife, so sexy!¡± blurted out Jae-Hwa.

 Chapter 169 - 169 The Choking

    169 The Choking

    Korain immediately choked on his coffee. Him-Chan¡¯s hands stopped with eggs in his hands right before his mouth. Jung-Hwa and Thae spurted the coffee on each other¡¯s faces. Kyung-Soo was still reeling from the fact that he couldn¡¯t cook. And Jeong-Eun kept stabbing his eggs over and over with his fork. Only Young-Chul was unbothered by everything.

    ¡°Anh?¡± Nivritti looked at Jae-Hwa and startedughing. Seeing herugh, everyone else startedughing except Kyung-Soo, Young-Chul, and Jeong-Eun. Jeong-Eun kept staring at Jae-Hwa with squinted eyes.

    ¡°What does she mean he is sexy?¡± Jeong-Eun gritted his teeth.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know what you just did?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°What? What did I do?¡± she asked innocently.

    ¡°You called SK, sexy,¡± sniggered Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa immediately choked on her food. She started coughing violently. Nivritti had to rub her back to slide the food down Jae-Hwa¡¯s food pipe. ¡°You, okay?¡± Nivritti offered her a ss of water.

    Jae-Hwa gulped big gulps of water and looked at Korain. ¡°Sorry¡­ I¡­ I¡­ didn¡¯t mean¡­¡± stammered Jae-Hwa. She would say one word and nce at Jeong-Eun, then another word and again look at Jeong-Eun. She saw his clenched jaw and gulped.

    .....

    Nivritti ced her hand over Jeong-Eun¡¯s thighs but looked at Korain, ¡°she was justplimenting your kitchen skills. We all know PJ is her bias.¡±

    ¡°Ritti!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa making everyoneugh at Nivritti¡¯s tease. Even Jeong-Eun gave her a faint smile. Nivritti winked at Jeong-Eun making him blush with happiness.

    ¡°Why is she winking at him? She just winked at me, a few moments ago,¡± Kyung-Soo pondered with a clenched jaw.

    ¡°Oh, if you want to see sexy with knife skills, you should see MY hyung,¡± praised Jung-Hwa. For the first time, Young-Chul choked on his food.

    ¡°What is happening? What did you put in the eggs, Hyung? Why is everyone choking?¡± Him-Chan teased Korain.

    In synchronisation, both Korain and Young-Chul hit Him-Chan and Jung-Hwa on the back of their heads, respectively.

    All keptughing, teasing, eating and enjoying their time together. Nivritti even forgot about her toe injury. After all were done eating, Him-Chan, Young-Chul and Kyung-Soo washed the dishes and ced them on the drying rack.

    ¡°So, while cleaning he is okay but while cooking he wreaks havoc?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°You have no idea how many pans we had to sacrifice because he burned the food, how many waffle makers we had to throw out because he overflowed the batter and it went in every nook and corner and it was impossible to clean it,¡± Korain rolled his eyes.

    Nivritti looked at Kyung-Soo and smiled at his cuteness. He was wiping the kitchen top and his hair keptnding on his forehead, troubling him.

    ¡°How is pain now?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Huh?¡± asked Nivritti as she didn¡¯t hear a single word. She was too busy staring at Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Pain!¡± repeated Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, I totally forgot about it. It means it is all better,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°It is all better,¡± mocked Jung-Hwa. ¡°Don¡¯t even try to act smart. Don¡¯t move for the whole day and don¡¯t put pressure on it.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± saluted Nivritti making everyone smile. ¡°Oh! JH!¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± replied Him-Chan.

    ¡°Leave your coat. I stained it. I will wash it and give it back to you,¡± requested Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, you cannot wash JH hyung¡¯s clothes,¡±mented Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Huh¡­ why?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°His clothes are the most expensive. He only wears branded clothes,¡± replied Thae.

    ¡°So, expensive clothes cannot be washed?¡± asked Nivritti, confused.

    ¡°No, expensive clothes are drycleaned,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Then I will get it dry-cleaned,¡± replied Nivritti, casually.

    ¡°And you will fly to the dry cleaners?¡± taunted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What? Why would I fly?¡±ined Nivritti. Kyung-Soo said nothing, just pointed at her injured foot. She looked at her foot and eximed, ¡°right! But I feel bad that I destroyed his coat.¡±

    ¡°Buy me a new one!¡± shouted Him-Chan.

    ¡°No!!!¡± shouted everyone at once.

    ¡°Never buy him anything,¡± yelled Young-Chul.

    ¡°Huh! Why?¡± she asked.

    ¡°He is so picky with colours, fabric, quality. He will fry your brain and never wear your gift,¡± Young-Chul stared at Him-Chan, angrily.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Nivritti¡¯s mind immediately went to the scarf she gave Him-Chan. ¡°I¡­¡±

    Kyung-Soo looked at her sad face and lightning struck his mind. He realised why her face went sad. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he loved the gift you gave him. In fact, we all loved it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes. I loved the scarf. It was soft, warm and in pastel colour, just the way I like it,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°Really! You are not saying this for making me happy,¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°We all liked it, I guarantee it,¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°Then what should we do about his coat?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Nothing, he will get it washed,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°NK!!¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, it¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°No worries,¡± Him-Chan smiled.

    ¡°I think we should leave. MY needs his rest,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Yes, we should leave,¡± said Young-Chul and stood up.

    Everyone smiled and said goodbye to both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti and moved near the door to grab their coats. All ordered Nivritti not to move even an inch. She kept sitting on the couch meanwhile Jae-Hwa went to the door to see them off.

    ¡°Wear your masks!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Right! Right!¡± ASD eximed and took out their masks from their pockets. All the members started walking out but Young-Chul halted in his path. He went back inside and stood before Nivritti.

    ¡°Did you forget something?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yeah. I forgot to say thank you,¡± he replied.

    Nivritti sighed and smiled at him. ¡°You don¡¯t need to say that.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I held your hand. I cannot say I heard everything you spoke to me. All I know is I thought about everything you said regarding mental health and that helped me. Now I am getting help and my team is with me. I hope you can be with me like you said,¡± he said his words and started walking away but Nivritti grabbed his hands and stopped him.

    ¡°MY!¡± she said. He turned to look at her. ¡°I am sorry for being angry at you.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I was being selfish. I was not thinking about you. I know it is hard for some people to talk on the phone, chat on phone or basically able tomunicate with people. I know that if you reply, I will feel happy, but I am pressurising you in any way, you don¡¯t need to reply to me ever. You should do things that you feelfortable doing, not because people like me are pressurizing you. If you don¡¯t want, I will never ask for a reply. But I would like to keep sending you messages if that¡¯s not a hassle for you,¡± she politely kept the point.

    ¡°So, one should do the things they feel like doing?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Yes, always. Until and unless you are creating a problem for others. If you are not creating trouble, one should live life as they want to,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Bye, Ritti!¡± smiled Young-Chul. She let go of his hand. Young-Chul looked at the door, his team members were standing at the door with Jae-Hwa smiling at him and Nivritti.

 Chapter 170 - 170 The Awesome, Nivritti

    170 The Awesome, Nivritti

    Jae-Hwa sat with a soft thud on the couch. She never dreamed that she could have a meal with ASD but she just had breakfast with them. She even worked in the kitchen with them. She looked at Nivritti who was still smiling, staring at the door. She knew they came to thank her as she again helped them.

    ¡°You are awesome,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Huh?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°You again helped them, didn¡¯t you?¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No,¡± she dismissed her sentence with a sweet smile on her face.

    ¡°Liar! They came running to check up on you,¡±mented Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°They are sweet,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Tell me what happened?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I told you that MY was sick and I just visited him and have been asking for updates from them since then,¡± replied Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°No, MY said something about you helping him. What is that?¡±

    Nivritti scoffed and smiled at Jae-Hwa. ¡°Nothing, Jae!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to be humble. Are you still keeping a secret?¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You can say that,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa immediately jumped from the couch and sat on the table in front of Nivritti. ¡°What, tell me,¡± she requested.

    ¡°Okay, but you cannot tell anyone. We are lucky that those idiots didn¡¯t make us sign an NDA,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°NDA?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, shocked.

    ¡°Yeah, all the doctors and nurses who attended MY, had to sign an NDA,¡± informed Nivritti.

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, because he is depressed and he didn¡¯t sleep for days and after I talked about mental health, I think he thought a lot about it. And that affected him more. The day we sent him back to get rest, he fainted in his room. ASD, when they went back, they found him on the floor of his room and rushed him to the hospital. He was weak, slightly dehydrated, and depressed,¡± informed Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa quietly listened to Nivritti. She had concern written all over her face. Even though Young-Chul was better today, but still he looked slightly pale.

    ¡°I went for my therapy and identally I saw NK. I was concerned as to why he was in a hospital. And I found MY on the hospital bed. I know what toll depression takes on the body and a few things about how to help them. So, I just grabbed Young-Chul¡¯s hands tofort him,¡± continued Nivritti.

    ¡°What? You held his hand?¡± asked Jae-Hwa surprised.

    ¡°Physical touch, emotional love, a word of appreciation, a positive feedback goes a long way in helping people dealing with mental health problems. I just did that for him. I sat with his hands in mine and said a few words to him. I don¡¯t know if he heard him or not but that calmed him down. He was given sedatives to help him sleep but his mind and heart were in chaos. Somehow, he calmed down and the doctor said that was due to my touch, which is impossible,¡± sighed Nivritti.

    ¡°Why? Why is it impossible?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. ¡°You cared for him with all your heart, and he sensed that.¡±

    Nivritti chuckled and softly tapped Jae-Hwa on her forehead. ¡°Stupid girl!¡±

    ¡°And then? Then what happened?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I sat with him for some time and then I tried to leave but MY held my hand tightly in his sleep and I couldn¡¯t move,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Woah! What?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa, shocked. ¡°This is something from movies.¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha. Yeah, then I had to sit with him for hours. A doctor came to see him, a nurse came to change his IV and they both saw my hands in his,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh no!¡± gasped Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ the doctor was okay with it. He even said that I was helping him but the nurse, oh again I had to threaten her to keep her mouth shut.¡±

    ¡°Just like the restaurant manager?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes. I let MY hold my hand and sleep. After hours, NK took me to the parking lot so that he could drop me home, but Jae-Geun spotted us and that¡¯s how he too knows about MY. Well not clearly. He just knows that a member of ASD was admitted, which one, he had no idea. He knows how to keep a secret,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°So, that¡¯s what you two were talking about at the stairs,¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, I was thanking him for not telling you,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°But why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°It was MY¡¯s secret. I could not out him like that. Only he should be allowed to tell his secret to the world. If he is okay with telling the world that he was diagnosed to be depression, I will be there for him, if he decides against it, he still will have my support,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°You are a very good friend. That¡¯s why I said you are awesome,¡± Jae-Hwa threw herself at Nivritti and hugged her.

    ¡°You are not angry?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I know that if I need you, you will keep my secret and protect me,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Always!¡± she too hugged Jae-Hwa back. They remained in the position for a few seconds.

    Finally, Jae-Hwa broke the embrace and asked, ¡°so, what should we do today?¡±

    ¡°Today? You have to leave in a few hours, and I cannot go anywhere,¡± Nivritti pointed at her feet.

    ¡°Are you an idiot?¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°You cannot walk, and you think I will leave you alone, stupid!¡± rebuked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°But Jae-Geun would being here to get you. And what about your parents?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I will inform them,¡± replied Jae-Hwa, casually. She stood up and went inside the bedroom and returned with both Nivritti and her phone.

    She sat next to Nivritti and called up her house. First, she called her mother and informed her that she will be staying at Nivritti¡¯s ce for the night and will return tomorrow directly from the office. When asked if everything was fine, Jae-Hwa chose to not tell her mother about Nivritti¡¯s injury.

    She then called up her brother, Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oppa! I am noting home. Don¡¯te to get me. I will spend another night here,¡± she informed on the phone.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Jae-Geun was disappointed. He was looking forward to seeing Nivritti again, but Jae-Hwa spoiled his n. ¡°Is everything alright? Or do you just love spending time with her?¡± he asked.

    Jae-Hwa contemted for a few seconds whether to tell him or not. ¡°Um¡­ Oppa! She needs me, she was injured.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jae-Geun. ¡°How? Where?¡±

    ¡°Why are you getting so worked up?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I¡­ um¡­ ah¡­ I am a doctor, if I hear someone is hurt, it¡¯s obvious that I will be conacred,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Right!¡±

    ¡°Tell me what happened, I wille and take a look,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Oppa, I tied the bandage, and her pain is gone now,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jaehwa!¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°She stubbed her small toe, and her nail broke taking off her skin. We cleaned her wound and applied some antiseptic cream and tied the bandage. You really don¡¯t have to be concerned,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I will be there in a few minutes,¡± said Jae-Geun and disconnected the call.

    ¡°Ah, shit!¡± eximed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°He ising,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? Why?¡±

    ¡°To check on your wound,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell him, it¡¯s okay now?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°He never listens to me,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. He was supposed toe here, anyway,¡± smiled Nivritti. ¡°Meanwhile, let¡¯s do some work. We didn¡¯t read any script yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Right! I will bring theptops,¡± replied Jae-Hwa and again went into the bedroom.

    She brought theptops and ced them on the table. She then ran to the kitchen and came back with drinks and snacks to munch while reading scripts. Even though they just had food, the sight of snacks made them happy.

    While waiting for Jae-Geun, they kept reading scripts and exchanging feedback. After half an hour, the doorbell rang.

    ¡°It must be him,¡± said Nivritti. Jae-Hwa nodded and went to open the door. Jae-Geun rushed inside the house withrge bags in his hands.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he shouted. He was breathing heavily. His eyebrows knitted with concern.

    ¡°I am okay and you need to breathe,¡±mented Nivritti.

    ¡°Then why do you live in a building without a lift?¡±ined Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oppa! Why are you shouting?¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    He stared at her and shoved the bags towards her. ¡°Take this and keep them in the kitchen.¡±

    ¡°What is this?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Mom packed some food for you both,¡± he replied.

    .....

    ¡°Again?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°What? You don¡¯t like her cooking?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Shut up! Don¡¯t talk rubbish. It¡¯s just she packs a lot of food,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa started walking towards the kitchen when Jae-Geun grabbed her arm and stopped her. ¡°Give me that packet. That is medicine.¡± He took a bag back and walked up to Nivritti. He bent down to take a good look at her toe.

    He softly grabbed her leg and moved it on his thighs. She jerked her leg away and asked, ¡°what are you doing?¡±

 Chapter 171 - 171 The Nicknames

    171 The Nicknames

    Nivritti felt awkward when Jae-Geun ced her legs over his thighs. She knew that he did that for a better view of her injury but still it was a strange experience. She immediately pulled her leg back and asked, ¡°what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡± he looked at her and asked. ¡°Checking your injury.¡±

    ¡°I am fine. Your sister did a good job,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I will be the judge of that. Give me your leg,¡± he demanded.

    ¡°Just show him. You have no idea how stubborn he is,¡± Jae-Hwa shouted from the kitchen.

    ¡°So, if I don¡¯t show him my leg, he will do what?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°I will do this,¡± said Jae-Geun and slightly pressed her pinkie toe.

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± she cried in pain. ¡°You are so¡­ so¡­ BAD!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Just give me your foot,¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    .....

    Defeated, Nivritti moved her leg towards Jae-Geun.

    ¡°See, I told you, stubborn,¡±mented Jae-Hwa from the kitchen.

    Jae-Geun shook his head in disbelief at his sister¡¯sment. He ced Nivritti¡¯s foot on his thighs and took a look at the bandage. Jae-Geun did a good job of tying it. Slowly, he opened the bandage and removed the cotton. The dark pink skin appeared before him. Nivritti flinched with pain the moment the bandage was removed.

    ¡°Oh! Why it started to pain suddenly?¡± groaned Nivritti.

    ¡°The bandage was keeping your woundpressed and when I removed it all the sensation came back, hence the pain,¡± exined Jae-Geun. ¡°Did you apply ice?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, you guys should have called me. You need coldpression every 20-30 minutes. That would reduce the inmmation. It¡¯s a good thing that she tied the bandage tight, which provided you withpression. Okay, I am going to test if you broke your bones or not, just tell me how much pain you are in,¡± asked Jae-Geun. Softly he grabbed her toe and wiggled it in every direction.

    Nivritti flinched in pain, but the pain was still bearable.

    ¡°How is the pain?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Not bad, bearable,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°How long ago was your toe injured?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°Um¡­ almost an hour,¡± she replied.

    ¡°It¡¯s not swollen or bruised or deformed, so we can rule out broken bones,¡± he said. He opened a tube of medicine and applied the cream over her wound. He then wrapped an stic bandage up to her calf.

    ¡°This is to help you with the pain,¡± he exined. ¡°Sometimes the leg too starts to pain after hours. If that happens, you can take this painkiller,¡± he handed her a few tablets.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°You are wee. Now, you need to stay off your feet as much as possible and take rest,¡± said Jae-Geun. She nodded at him. ¡°I have brought food, so you guys don¡¯t need to cook and Jaehwa, make sure she walks less.¡±

    ¡°I can go to the office tomorrow, right?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh! So many stairs,¡± he thought for a minute. ¡°Walk as carefully as you can and keep the pressure on that toe to the minimum.¡±

    ¡°Okay, will do and thank you foring. You didn¡¯t have to do that,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°As I told Jaehwa, I am a doctor. I need to care for all injured,¡± replied Jae-Geun, politely.

    ¡°So nice!¡±mented Jae-Hwa, sarcastically. ¡°Show off!!¡± Nivritti pursed her lips to avoidughing at Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Jealous!¡± sulked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°You guys always make me remember my sister,¡± said Nivritti, smiling.

    ¡°Nivritti! Keep your legs elevated. That too will help with pain,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Why are you calling her Nivritti, why not Ritti?¡± scolded Jae-Hwa. ¡°Why you both don¡¯t use nicknames for one another? Are you not friends?¡± Jae-Hwa sat next to Nivritti.

    ¡°Aisshh¡­ this girl!¡± he raised his hand to hit her but stopped himself. ¡°During our first meet, you said not to call her Ritti, and now you are asking why I call her Nivritti?¡±

    ¡°I said her friends call her Ritti. You were not her friend at that time. But you are now, call her Ritti and your pronunciation of Nivritti is weird,¡± taunted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Tell me one thing, Jae-Geun. Is there a medicine for an unfiltered talk? Why is there no filter on her mouth? She speaks whatever, whenever she wants,¡± mocked Nivritti.

    ¡°Ha-Ha,¡±ughed Jae-Geun but Jae-Hwa sulked at herment. ¡°Okay I will call her Ritti, happy now?¡± he caressed her hair with adoration.

    ¡°Yes!¡± smiled Jae-Hwa. She immediately looked at Nivritti, ¡°and you?¡±

    ¡°Shh¡­¡± Nivritti shushed her.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I am thinking,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Thinking?¡±

    ¡°A nickname for him. I can¡¯t call him Jae as that is your nickname. Somehow calling him Geun, does not feel okay to me,¡± Nivritti rubbed her chin while staring at a wall in front of her.

    ¡°JG, short for Jae-Geun?¡± suggested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ JG or SJ?¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I like SJ. It has my full name,¡± answered Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Okay, then it¡¯s settled, you will call me Ritti and I will call you SJ,¡± smiled Nivritti. Jae-Geun beamed with happiness. Finally, he got a nickname. Now he too was in her inner circle.

    From the moment Jae-Hwa informed him about Nivritti¡¯s injury, his heart was beating fast thinking about her being in pain. His mother was packing food for everyone but as soon as he received the call, he rushed out of his house and drove like a maniac to reach Nivritti¡¯s house.

    He ran up the stairs, not thinking about anything except Nivritti. His heart was aching at the thought that she was injured. He cared for her once and wanted to be there to care for her again. In the rush ofing to her house, he didn¡¯t even ask for details about Nivritti¡¯s injury from Jae-Hwa. And he kept thinking worse.

    The moment he entered the house and saw Nivritti calmly sitting on the couch, his heartbeat slowed down. He even got angry at Nivritti for living in a building without a lift. He tried looking at her injury but could not see that. Her lower leg was hidden behind the centre table.

    After he checked her injury, finally he could breathe easily and now she gave him a nickname, he grinned from ear to ear after that.

    ¡°Happy now?¡± questioned Nivritti.

    ¡°Very,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Um¡­ SJ! Can I get my wound wet?¡± asked Nivritti.

    Jae-Geun¡¯s heart stopped for a minute after hearing his nickname for the first time from her mouth. He even stopped breathing. He just kept staring at her.

    ¡°Oppa!¡± Jae-Hwa pped his upper arm and brought him back from his dreand.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What are you thinking about? She asked you a question,¡± informed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Sorry! Was thinking if brought everything uhmma gave to me,¡± replied Jae-Geun. He then looked at Nivritti and asked, ¡°what did you ask me?¡±

    ¡°Can I get my wound wet?¡± Nivritti repeated.

    ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t take shower yet?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Best would be to keep the wound dry for at least a day. Tie a stic bag around your feet and then try taking bath. Just skip showering for today,¡± winked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What?¡±ughed Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, you are staying in the house, going nowhere, so just take a rest and skip the bath,¡± smiled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Fine! I won¡¯t. Today is my free day,¡±ughed Nivritti.

    Suddenly, Jae-Geun¡¯s phone started ringing. He nced at the phone and said, ¡°sorry, I have to leave. Phone from the hospital. Jaehwa! Take care of her and eat the food uhmma send. Don¡¯t dare order takeout, do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Oppa!¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Bye guys!¡± shouted Jae-Geun and ran out of the house as his phone again started ringing.

    ¡°Doctor¡¯s life!¡±mented Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, sometimes he doesn¡¯t even get time to eat his food. NAs when he was preparing for medical school, he would not sleep for days,¡± praised Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°And there is it, again the pride for your brother,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°I am proud of him. I just don¡¯t show him. I love to tease him and if I praise him before him, he will be smugger and super show-off,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Siblings!¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Feeling fine?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, you, brother and sister are too good to me,¡± replied Nivritti, sweetly.

    ¡°Kindness is always paid back with kindness. You helped me and now I am repaying that back,¡± Jae-Hwa grabbed Nivritti¡¯s arm and softly tightened her grip.

    ¡°No, I returned your kindness,¡± replied Nivritti and she too ced her hand over Jae-Hwa¡¯s hand.

    ¡°What? What kindness?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You were the first one to speak to me on my very first day. And you scolded everyone for not talking to me. You are my very first friend in Korea. Of course, I will protect my friend whenever, whenever I can,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    .....

    Both girls leaned towards each other and hugged adoringly. Tears of happiness streamed down Jae-Hwa¡¯s face.

    After showing love for each other, Nivritti wiped Jae-Hwa¡¯s tears and sitting next to each other, they started working on scripts. Now they could freely concentrate on their work as they had nothing else to do, not even cook food.

    Of course, Jae-Hwa¡¯s mother sent bags and boxes full of food. Nivritti knew it would be impossible to finish the food tonight.

    Taking a rest for half an hour every three hours, they kept reading the scripts. Night arrived, they had dinner, and they went to sleep. Jae-Hwa helped Nivritti walk to her bed and ced two pillows under her foot to keep it elevated. Luckily, thepression bandage kept all the pain away.

 Chapter 172 - 172 The Messages

    172 The Messages

    Jae-Hwa was lightly snoring next to Nivritti. Last night she kept tugging away at her nket, so Nivritti brought out another nket tonight, well, Jae-Hwa brought out. For the whole day, she didn¡¯t let Nivritti do any work except read scripts.

    Nivritti was staring at the ceiling begging for sleep toe. She was envious of Jae-Hwa as she fe sleep right aftering to bed. As her leg was on pillows, it was ufortable to sleep but the whole day Jae-Geun kept giving instructions to Jae-Hwa to take care of her and Jae-Hwa obliged.

    Nivritti sighed and closed her eyes thinking that if she might close her eyes, she would somehow fall asleep. The moment she closed her eyes her phone chimed with a notification. She grabbed her phone and saw that message was from Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he messaged.

    ¡°Yes, everything is fine,¡± she replied.

    No pain?

    No, everything is fine.

    Where is that annoying girl? Is she taking care of you?

    Sleeping. And she took great care. Thank you to you both.

    .....

    It¡¯s nothing. Just rest well. Good night.

    Good night.

    Nivritti locked the screen and lowered the phone to her chest and sighed, ¡°I should have taken the painkiller. At least I would have slept well. Why can¡¯t I sleep? Pain is not that bad.¡± She facepalmed when she realised, ¡°shit! I didn¡¯t send a good night message to MY. Maybe that¡¯s why I am unable to sleep.¡±

    She was in the middle of sending a message to Young-Chul when her phone chimed with multiple messages. Frantically, she put her phone on silent, not wanting to disturb Jae-Hwa¡¯s sleep. She checked the messages. It was from every member of ASD, except Young-Chul as usual.

    Everyone asked her if she was doing okay and how was her pain. ¡°It would have been so much better if we had a group chat. That way I would not have to send messages to everyone individually,¡± she pondered.

    Jung-Hwa being the youngest, she messaged him first.

    ¡°How is the pain? Did you take any medicine?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Everything is okay, JJ. I am fine and pain is at the minimum. Will see you tomorrow. Thank you for asking. Good night,¡± she replied.

    One by one she replied to everyone that she was doing fine. Finally, she opened the message from Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hi! Sorry for causing you pain,¡± he said in the message.

    She read the message and suddenly was angry. ¡°What is he talking about?¡± she mumbled to herself. ¡°Pain? How did he cause me pain?

    She immediately replied to him, ¡°what do you mean?¡±

    You ran after me and stubbed your toe. Sorry for telling everything to Jae-Hwa.

    Well, if you would say it like that. I will have to agree with you.

    You are so bad. Here I am apologising, and you are making me feel bad.

    I am kidding, NK. It¡¯s nothing. It was just a broken nail and a few drops of blood. You have no idea what I saw when I came to the hospital that day.

    What? What did you see?

    A hand. A bloody, severed hand. Oh, I still shudder thinking about it.

    What? Why didn¡¯t you tell me before?

    We were busy with MY¡¯s condition.

    Oh right!

    How is he doing?

    He is fine. How are you?

    I am fine too.

    Any pain?

    Almost none.

    Will I see you tomorrow? Can you walk?

    Of course, why would you think that I was taking leave? SJ came and checked up on my leg. He said I can walk but have to put less pressure on my toe.

    SJ?

    Oh, Jae-Geun.

    He came, again?

    Yes, again. He checked on my wound and tied thepression bandage.

    Well, it¡¯s a good thing, a doctor came to see you. Take rest. Goodnight.

    Okay, goodnight.

    Nivritti looked at the whole chat and contemted, ¡°what happened to him? He was chatting normally. Suddenly he says good night. Well, it¡¯ste. Maybe he is feeling sleepy. Everyone is sleepy except me.¡±

    Finally, she opened her conversation with Young-Chul andpleted the message she was already typing, ¡°it was great to see you sitting and eating and walking. Would love to see you dance tomorrow. Make sure to sleep well so that your body is well-rested. Remember that you are loved and adored by all. And I am always here. Good night.¡±

    She sent the message and ced the phone on the nightstand. She shifted to her side and covered herself with the nket. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about anything so that she could fall asleep soon.

    Suddenly, her phone chimed again. She was surprised as everyone who knew about her injury had already sent her messages and she replied to everyone. Then who was messaging her at this time? Her heart sank with fear.

    ¡°Is he¡­? But how? No one has this number? He doesn¡¯t even know where I am? He could never get this number,¡± she thought and with shivering hands reached for the phone.

    She gulped and pressed the power button. The screen lit up and the notification appeared before her eyes. She could not believe what she was seeing. She sat up with a jerk, shocked. Frantically, she unlocked the phone.

    For the first time ever, Young-Chul messaged her back. She had no idea whether to cry or dance with happiness. All she could do was cry and she could not dance on the injured toe. She pped in tiny because she didn¡¯t want to disturb Jae-Hwa¡¯s sleep.

    Immediately she opened the conversation.

    ¡°Is your foot, okay?¡± messaged Young-Chul.

    I am fine. How are you? Did you eat well, rest well?

    Don¡¯t think about me. Think about yourself. Take leave for tomorrow and rest.

    Oh, don¡¯t worry, I am fine. There is no pain at all.

    Are you sure?

    Yes, MY. I am okay. Are you okay?

    Was unable to sleep. I was waiting for your message. Now will be able to sleep.

    You wait for my message?

    For almost five minutes there was no reply. Nivritti kept closing and opening the app thinking that somehow the app froze, or her phone was unable to receive signals. But everything was fine. Then why did Young-Chul stop messaging her abruptly? Did she make a mistake? Was that question too much to ask?

    Suddenly her phone chimed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t take this any other way. If I say this to any other person, they might think I have a crush on them. I don¡¯t have a crush on you, I can never have a crush on you. Still, your messages are like drugs that are making me better. Your affirmation tells me that I am still loved and have a lot of talent. Your messages make me smile. I am d that Thae scolded you. If he would not have done that, we would not have be friends. If we would not have be friends, you would have no idea that I was depressed and no one like you would have helped me. When first you talked about mental health, I was skeptical, I was struggling. I had no idea that I could get help. I never thought that it was not something you have to be ashamed of. I was always afraid of talking about it. I was afraid of people judging me. I was afraid of living my life on my terms. I have been living my life for my fans, my members, my family since I was young thinking that if I speak up, they will reject me. But now I want to live for myself, just like you do. I want to do things that make me happy. I know you say that you will always be there for me. But if I do something stupid, will you still be there? Or would I lose you?¡±

    Tears started streaming down Nivritti¡¯s face. Young-Chul was being vulnerable. He was talking about living his life on his own terms but was still afraid that he might lose people close to him. She has been assuring her for days and finally, he opened up.

    ¡°No matter what happens. I will always be there for you. Even if you murder someone, you can call me and I will help you hide the body,¡± she joked. She would have given anything at that moment to see a smile appear on Young-Chul¡¯s face.

    As if you have experience with hiding bodies.

    Why do you think I ran away from India? I am a serial killer and the police were about to find me.

    You know two serial killers can never be friends.

    You are a serial killer?

    I kill fans every day with my talent and good looks.

    Right. That is true. And you are not even getting punished. Lucky!

    I am very lucky. To have found you at the time that I needed someone. Thank you.

    MY! Talk to your members. They love you. They too need to understand what you are feeling.

    I am notfortable. I am trying to open up to them, but I need time.

    If you need time, tell them that. They will wait for you, just don¡¯t leave them hanging.

    I will try. Now go to sleep. You need rest.

    You too. Rest well. See you tomorrow. Good night, MY.

    Good night, Ritti.

    Nivritti had a sweet smile on her face. She ced the phone on her chest and suddenly her face contorted, her eyebrows knitted themselves, her lips pursed, and tears again started flowing from her eyes.

 Chapter 173 - 173 The Painful Expression

    173 The Painful Expression

    After chatting with Young-Chul, she felt as if the huge pressure from her chest was relieved. A sudden feeling of warmth enclosed her. A person who was known as introverted and reserved, opened up to her. He basically told her that he needed her and wanted her to stay in his life.

    After a lifetime of sadness, something good was finally happening. She had her dream job. She was appreciated for her ideas. She looked at Jae-Hwa, adoringly. Now, she had a sweet friend who didn¡¯t go back to her home so that she could take care of her. Another friend, a doctor, who came running after hearing that she hurt her leg and seven world-famous boys who came early morning to check up on her.

    She closed her eyes and big drops of tears fell from her eyes on the nket. She had a content smile on her face. Still clutching her phone in her hand, shey down, and tears started falling on her pillow. Smiling and crying, she had no idea when she fell asleep.

    Nivritti kept groaning as she could feel her bed shaking. There was a faint chirp somewhere. ¡°What is that? Why is the bed vibrating?¡± she pondered.

    ¡°What is that? What is that?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and jumped from the bed.

    Nivritti opened her eyes and looked at her. She yawned and touched her bed where she could feel the vibration wasing from. She grabbed her phone and brought it out of her nket. ¡°It¡¯s just my phone. I think I slept with this in my hand, and it fell on the bed after I was deep in sleep,¡± exined Nivritti and shut off her rm.

    Both girls yawned and sat on the bed. ¡°Who is going to the bathroom first?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You! I am going back to sleep. Take your time in the bathroom,¡± Nivritti waved her bye and threw her nket over herself.

    ¡°Aisshh¡­ your rm woke me up. You get up first, I am going back to sleep,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and started pulling Nivritti¡¯s nket.

    .....

    ¡°Ah! I am hurt,¡± pouted Nivritti, innocently. ¡°Will you force me to wake up?¡± she pouted her lips and acted cute.

    Jae-Hwa made a disgusted face and stared at Nivritti. ¡°You look so ugly. Never make this face.¡±

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Nivritti. ¡°Byeee!¡± and again went inside cover.

    Jae-Hwa groaned and got up from the bed. She looked at Nivritti angrily and picked up a pillow. With full force, she threw the pillow at Nivritti and ran to the bathroom.

    ¡°Hey!¡± shouted Nivritti and removed her nket but Jae-Hwa was already gone. ¡°Ugh¡­ this girl!¡± groaned Nivritti and shut her eyes.

    After 20 minutes, Jae-Hwa shouted from the bathroom, ¡°Ritti! Ritti!¡±

    Nivritti who was snoring woke up with a jolt and shouted, ¡°what? What?¡± For a second, she had no idea where she was. She looked around and gulped. She rxed when she realised that she was in her house in Korea.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, what?¡± Nivritti shouted back.

    ¡°Please hand me a towel from my bag,¡± requested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Use one of mine. All the towels inside the bathroom are washed. Why do you want to wet your towel?¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Really?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Jae-Hwa closed the door of the bathroom and came out after a few minutes. She came to the room in just a towel. She was hesitant to enter Nivritti¡¯s room but when she entered, she saw Nivritti was sitting on the bed with her back towards the door. She had her leg on the bed and was taking off thepression bandage.

    The moment she removed the bandage, she groaned, ¡°ah!¡±

    ¡°You, okay?¡± asked Jae-Hwa and came running near her. Nivritti raised her eyes and saw Jae-Hwa. She tucked her lips together and tried hard not to smile.

    But ended upughing and teased Jae-Hwa, ¡°Hot!!¡±

    ¡°Aisshhh!¡± Jae-Hwa hit Nivritti on her forehead. ¡°Why did you groan? Are you in pain?¡±

    ¡°It was a sting but after looking at you, all the pain is gone,¡± winked Nivritti.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and rolled her eyes at her. ¡°Go, we will bete, otherwise.¡±

    ¡°I will go after you change,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°You just stubbed your toe, if you don¡¯t stop your nonsense, I will break your leg,¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Why? Saving yourself for someone special?¡± Nivritti kept raising her eyebrows and smirking at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, just like you,¡± taunted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Wha¡­ what? Are you really a virgin?¡± shouted Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Are you not?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Who told you I am a virgin? I have a long list of boyfriends¡­ and girlfriends,¡± winked Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa took a deep breath and stared at Nivritti. ¡°If we gette because of you, I will kill you. And stop your nonsense. I know you are straight.¡±

    ¡°How do you know, darling?¡± teased Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa tilted her head and looked at Nivritti, sensuously. She slightly squinted her eyes and licked her lips. ¡°Well, I too was interested in you the moment I saw you. I was not sure how you would react so kept my feelings suppressed. Now you are inviting me, I don¡¯t think I can control myself anymore.¡± She slowly started moving towards Nivritti and ced her hand over her towel.

    Nivritti¡¯s jaw dropped with shock. With wide eyes and a dry mouth, she scooted back on her bed.

    ¡°I think¡­ I think I should¡­ go to the bathroom. Bye!¡± she jumped from the bed from the other side but the moment her legs touched the ground, she flinched in pain and sat back on the bed. It was getting difficult for her to breathe.

    ¡°Ritti! You, okay? You, okay?¡± cried Jae-Hwa. Their joke came to an end. Jae-Hwa pitifully kept staring at the painful expression of Nivritti. Nivritti¡¯s eyes were closed, and she was clutching her toe in her hand. The fine lines on her forehead kept getting deeper and deeper every second.

    ¡°Show me, show me,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and removed Nivritti¡¯s palm from the injured toe. ¡°What did you do?¡±

    ¡°I forgot¡­ and put¡­ pressure¡­ on my toe,¡± Nivritti replied with difficulty. Jae-Hwa kept blowing warm air over her toe.

    ¡°Let me get some ice. That will reduce the pain,¡± said Jae-Hwa and stood up.

    Nivritti immediately grabbed her arm and stopped her. ¡°First, dress up. You will catch a cold. I will go to the bathroom and put some hot water on my toe, that too will ease the pain. We have to get ready for office.¡±

    ¡°Take leave and rest,¡± pleaded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I am new, Jae! I cannot take leave so early in my career,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What nonsense is that?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti stood up and avoided putting pressure on her toe. ¡°See, it¡¯s fine now. It was just momentary pain. Get dressed.¡±

    ¡°Fine! Go. I will take care of the breakfast,¡± said Jae-Hwa. Nivritti smiled and nodded at her.

    Slightly limping, Nivritti moved to the bathroom. The moment she closed the bathroom door, she closed her eyes and ced her palms over her mouth so that her groans would not escape from the bathroom.

    She opened the hot water tap and filled her bucket slightly. She dipped her toe in the warm water. The moment the water came in contact with exposed skin, it stung immensely. She closed her eyes and moaned softly. She exhaled loudly when after a few seconds, her pain rxed. The hot water felt like an elixir to her injured toe.

    After she was rxed, she brushed her teeth, sat on the toilet, and took a quick bath. She also came out in a towel and entered her room. Meanwhile, Jae-Hwa was all dressed up and was in the kitchen. It would be difficult to wear pants, so Nivritti chose a skirt. A white shirt paired with a red red skirt and a red overcoat were her choices for the day.

    After she was dressed, she applied the medicine Jae-Geun gave her and again wrapped the bandage around her leg. She came out of her room and went into the kitchen to help Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Are you out of your mind?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Go and sit. Don¡¯t put pressure on your leg,¡± Jae-Hwa scolded.

    ¡°I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I will call Oppa,¡± threatened Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti scoffed, ¡°as if I am scared of him.¡±

    ¡°You have no idea, how bossy, how nosy, how stubborn he is. He will chew your ears for not listening to him. Do you want me to call him?¡± warned Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, okay, fine,¡± said Nivritti, defeated. She walked up to the couch and waited for Jae-Hwa to bring the breakfast.

    They were enjoying breakfast when the doorbell rang. Both looked at each other.

    ¡°Who came at this time?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Oppa?¡± suggested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Why would he be here early morning?¡±

    ¡°To check on you?¡± said Jae-Hwa. ¡°Let me see.¡± Jae-Hwa stood up and walked up to the door. She looked through the peephole and her jaw dropped with shock.

    ¡°What? Who is it?¡± asked Nivritti, stuffing her mouth with toast and tea.

    Without saying a single word, Jae-Hwa opened the door. Nivritti looked at the door and her eyes widened. Immediately she choked on her food and started coughing violently.

 Chapter 174 - 174 The Challenge

    174 The Challenge

    ¡°What? Who is it?¡± asked Nivritti after she saw the shocked expression of Jae-Hwa. If it would have been Jae-Geun, that was not the expression she would give.

    Like a zombie, Jae-Hwa just opened the door. Her jaw was almost to the floor. Nivritti kept her eyes on the door as she too wanted to know who arrived this early. Her throat jammed at the sight of two men who entered her house. She started coughing. Kyung-Soo and Young-Chul were standing before her.

    Kyung-Soo almost ran to her after he saw her coughing. Whereas Nivritti instantly stood up in shock. She was not expecting any member of ASD in the morning, again. But the moment she ced her foot on the ground, she closed her eyes and flinched in pain.

    ¡°You fool! Who told you to stand up abruptly? Sit down,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Why are you here so early? You gave me a shock,¡± scolded Nivritti and looked at him. Kyung-Soo grabbed her shoulders and pushed her onto the couch. He took her foot in his palms and held it tightly to ease her pain.

    Kyung-Soo gulped as he saw her calves. She had pretty legs. He knew as he had noticed that before. Softly he moved one of his hands up and with his middle and ring finger caressed her calf. He thought Nivritti might stop him, but she was too stunned to speak.

    As she said nothing, he gained more courage. He wrapped his palm around her calf and applied a little pressure. Her skirt softlynded on his palm. The red skirt against her skin was making her wheatishplexion shine even more.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked. He lifted his head up and looked at her. She was so close to him. If he would just move a few inches, he could touch her lips.

    Nivritti kept staring at Kyung-Soo. She never imagined that Kyung-Soo would try to touch her like that in front of everyone. He was caressing her calf making her feel things. His touch almost fried her brain. Her brain recognised that Kyung-Soo had asked a question but was unable to use words and form sentences.

    .....

    ¡°Are you still in pain?¡± asked Young-Chul. Ultimately his voice brought her back. Kyung-Soo too realised that he was in presence of people. He removed his hand from her smooth calf but kept the pressure on her toe.

    ¡°You better take the medicine that Oppa brought for you,¡± suggested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°First, tell me, what are you guys doing here?¡± asked Nivritti. She touched Kyung-Soo¡¯s hands and removed them from her toe. ¡°It¡¯s okay now,¡± she assured him.

    ¡°We came to pick you up,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    Young-Chul smiled at her reaction and replied, ¡°I thought she would need a drive, so I dragged Kyungsoona Hyung with me. I am not allowed to drive for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Woah! Are you in love with her?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, surprised.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted Nivritti but Young-Chul and Kyung-Soo startedughing out loud. ¡°Why are you guysughing?¡± she asked. She then looked at Jae-Hwa and scolded her, ¡°Hey, unfiltered mouth! When will you think and talk? Why do you keep asking whatever things thate to your mind?¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡± Jae-Hwa lowered her head.

    ¡°No, Jae. I am not in love with her,¡± smiled Young-Chul. ¡°Just helping out a friend.¡±

    ¡°Okay, both of you finish your breakfast and we will leave,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Wait! If we go with you, don¡¯t you think people will talk?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°We are not going to the office. We are directly going to the practice room,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But are you allowed to dance? Don¡¯t you need more rest?¡± Nivritti asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°I will take it slow. I have been instructed to take rest every half an hour,¡± he replied.

    ¡°What about Seong-ssi?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, he will meet with us in the practice room. We have asked him to bring the daily script with him,¡± answered Young-Chul.

    ¡°Have you lost your mind?¡± yelled Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°You were just discharged yesterday and today you are doing dance and are ready to shoot daily videos. Have you gone crazy?¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Calm down! I said I will take it easy. Also, we have not given any content to our fans for a week. We need to shoot a video today at any cost,¡± replied Young-Chul. Nivritti squinted her eyes in anger. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we will announce that till Rencontre is done, we will shoot weekly videos, not daily videos. Happy now?¡±

    ¡°I really want to say Hindi curse words now,¡± Nivritti gritted her teeth.

    ¡°Ohh! Teach me!¡± Young-Chul¡¯s eyes twinkled with excitement.

    ¡°Huh?¡± eximed Nivritti.

    ¡°He loves curse words,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo. Nivritti shook her head in disbelief and grabbed her cup of tea.

    The boys waited while the girls finished their breakfast. Jae-Hwa took all the tes and cups and ced them in the sink. She started washing them when Nivritti shouted, ¡°leave it. You don¡¯t have to do that.¡±

    ¡°I am noting back in the evening. Let me do this now,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, if I stay another day, my uhmma wille to stay at your house. And you don¡¯t want that,¡± informed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± nodded Nivritti. ¡°But will you leave me alone when I am injured?¡± Nivritti pouted her lips and kept blinking cutely at Jae-Hwa.

    Kyung-Sooughed out loud at her naughtiness. ¡°Cute!¡± he mumbled to himself.

    ¡°I cane to stay with you,¡± suggested Young-Chul.

    ¡°Huh! What??¡± shouted everyone at once.

    ¡°I am kidding. I can¡¯t even kid?¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Ha-ha, ha-ha, shut up!¡± scolded Nivritti afterughing sarcastically.

    Jae-Hwa cleaned the kitchen and went to the bedroom to get her bags.

    ¡°Do you need to take everything now? You cane back with me and then leave with your luggage. You can call Jae-Geun,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo immediately stared at Nivritti. Why did she want Jae-Geun toe to her house? Jae-Hwa was fine with leaving now. There was no need for that man to enter her house.

    Nivritti felt a pair of eyes on her. She nced at Young-Chul, but he was busy on his phone. She then turned towards Kyung-Soo. He was angrily staring at her. She couldn¡¯t understand why he was looking at her like that.

    ¡°What?¡± she asked. Kyung-Soo just squinted his eyes with anger and jealousy.

    ¡°No, you never know when he would be free and when he would be busy. I don¡¯t want to disturb him. I will be fine,¡± replied Jae-Hwa the moment she came out of the bedroom.

    ¡°But you don¡¯t have your car,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I will get a cab, rx,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Fine!¡± sulked Nivritti.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± announced Kyung-Soo. ¡°Jae! Give me your bags.¡±

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine,¡± she replied.

    Yong-Chul simply walked up to her and grabbed her bag from her hand. ¡°You carry yourptop bag, I will take care of it.¡±

    ¡°Youngie! Give it to me,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, you have to carry her,¡± said Young-Chul casually and pointed at Nivritti.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and Nivritti simultaneously.

    ¡°What? You are going to walk down all those stairs with that foot?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Yes, I can,¡± Nivritti¡¯s voice climbed a notch up.

    ¡°I would very much love to see that. Get up and walk till the door,¡± challenged Young-Chul.

    ¡°You think I can¡¯t do that? Watch me!¡± she epted his challenge. Slowly she stood up, avoiding pressure on her toe and wore her coat that was kept behind her on the couch. ¡°See!¡± she taunted Young-Chul.

    ¡°You just stood up, you have to walk to the door,¡± Young-Chul raised his eyebrows. Nivritti rolled her eyes at him.

    Limping she moved forward and after whole ten minutes reached the door. She raised her arms above her head in victory and shouted happily, ¡°see I told you, I can walk.¡±

    ¡°I will carry her,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I will get herptop bag,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? Guys? What?¡± Nivritti threw her arms in the air in frustration. All rolled their eyes at her and started moving out of the door. Nivritti chose a pair of sandals as it would be difficult to wear closed shoes.

    Jae-Hwa and Young-Chul moved out first and both boys ced their masks in their hands. Nivritti was standing near the door slowly cing her foot inside her sandal. She felt Kyung-Soo¡¯s breath on her neck and turned immediately. She gasped as she saw him close to herself, smiling.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± she pushed him away as her heartbeat started racing.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ waiting for you to wear your footwear so that I can lift you in my arms,¡± winked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°N¡­ um¡­ oh¡­ NK! You¡­ don¡¯t have to do that,¡± stammered Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo smiled at her and kept staring at her face for a few seconds. With a crooked smile, he started leaning towards her. In reaction to that, she started pulling away, but the door blocked her path. She thought he was leaning in for another kiss, but he moved his lips near her ears and whispered seductively, ¡°you have no idea how much I want to do that.¡±

    Without waiting for her answer, he ced his hands on her back and instructed, ¡°get your feet in the shoes, or I will lift you up and take you out of the house barefoot. Then for the whole day, I will carry you around. Do you want that?¡±

 Chapter 175 - 175 The Flights of Stairs

    175 The Flights of Stairs

    Nivritti kept staring at Kyung-Soo. He threatened to carry her for the whole day. It was difficult to get her shoes on and after his warning, she was fumbling with her shoes even more.

    ¡°No!¡± shouted Nivritti and gulped in fear. She immediately pushed her feet into the shoes and was ready to go out. Kyung-Soo lowered himself slightly to lift her up when she shouted, ¡°wait! I have to lock the door.¡±

    Kyung-Soo exhaled in frustration, ¡°fine!¡± He was dying to lift her, but she kept dying. He wanted to feel her close. ¡°Wait! Your door automatically locks when you shut it close.¡± He ced his hands over his waist and looked at her. ¡°Trying to make a fool out of me?¡±

    Nivritti ced her tongue between her teeth and lowered her head to avoid detection.

    ¡°You!!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and pulled her close to his chest. Nivritti gasped as her handsnded on his chest. His beautiful face was so close to hers. She kept blinking, taking in his beauty. Her eyes scanned all over his face, his forehead, his nicely shaped eyebrows, his monolids, his beautiful eyes, his smooth nose, his high cheekbones and finallynded on his lips.

    Her lips automatically parted when she saw his lips. She blinked once slowly, and her mind automatically started thinking about how it would feel to kiss him. She knew that it felt warm while kissing him and it was enough to calm her racing heart. On the thought of kissing him, her lips started getting dry, her throat started closing up. Her tongue automatically came out and licked her lips and she gulped, hard.

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart was ready to jump out of his chest the moment her handsnded on his chest. Her braided hair was tucked between her coat and his hand. He was lost in the white ocean that had two brown inds staring at him. Every time she would blink, he would lose the ind and when she would open her eyelids, the beautiful inds would stare at him.

    His heart stopped when he saw her licking her lips again. He immediately let her go and turned around. ¡°Shit! Shit! Shit! Why do you always do that? See this!¡± he grabbed her palm and ced it over his heart. His heart was beating way too fast for a normal human being.

    ¡°You remember what I saidst time, what will happen if you lick your lips?¡± whispered Kyung-Soo. Nivritti widened her eyes as she recalled what Kyung-Soo said inside the hospital room. He warned her that if he would again see her licking her lips, he would kiss her.

    .....

    She pushed him away and instantly moved out of her house. ¡°Jae!¡± she shouted. ¡°Wait for us.¡±

    Kyung-Soo exhaled loudly to calm himself down. ¡°One day! One day for sure she will give me a heart attack.¡± He ced his hands over his waist and exhaled again. He shook his head to get rid of the feelings that he was feeling for Nivritti and came out of her house.

    The door locked after Kyung-Soo. Nivritti was avoiding looking at him.

    ¡°Come fast!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You¡­ really¡­ don¡¯t have¡­ to pick me up,¡± muttered Nivritti. Kyung-Soo sighed loudly and the next second lifted her in his arms. Nivritti lowered her eyes and looked away from him.

    ¡°Get my mask on my face,¡± hemanded.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Do you want people to see that I am carrying you in my arms?¡± he teased.

    ¡°No!¡± she answered without wasting a single moment. She took the mask from his hand and covered his face. While she was cing the hooks on his ears he kept staring at her red face. She was turning into a tomato because her face was so close to his. He kept smirking at her and finally, his smirk hid when she covered his face with the mask.

    ¡°Woah! You are heavy!¡± teased Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Then you should put me down, now,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°You really are crazy. Other girls would have pouted after being called heavy, but you want me to put you down,¡± observed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh, this is so embarrassing,¡± cried Nivritti and hid her face with her palms.

    ¡°Hey! World famous idol is carrying you and is going to drive you around. Do you have any idea how many people would kill for something like this?¡± said Kyung-Soo with pride.

    ¡°Then kill me!¡± sulked Nivritti.

    ¡°Being in my arms is so bad?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, sadly.

    Nivritti immediately removed her hands from her face and looked at Kyung-Soo who kept climbing down the stairs carefully. ¡°What? Are you out of your mind? What the hell are you even saying?¡± she scolded him.

    ¡°You said this is embarrassing,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Of course! It is embarrassing. How would you feel if you get yourself injured and your team members have to carry you around?¡± she asked.

    ¡°When you say it like that, I guess, it will be slightly embarrassing,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You think I said that because it¡¯s you?¡± asked Nivritti. Kyung-Soo nodded. ¡°NK! You know why it¡¯s not okay for me?¡±

    ¡°Tell me!¡±

    ¡°Because you have to walk all these flights of stairs with someone heavy like me in your arms when it is not even your work. I feel bad that I am causing trouble for you,¡± said Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo scoffed, ¡°you think you are trouble for me? Do you have no idea that I am dying to have this trouble for my whole life?¡±

    ¡°NK!¡± Nivritti was flustered. ¡°What did he just say about his whole life? Did he say that he wants me for life? Did I hear right?¡± she kept thinking. Her heart started racing like crazy.

    She gulped and shouted, ¡°put me down! Put me down, NK, NOW!¡±

    Kyung-Soo bounced her in his arms to adjust her and without answering her or acknowledging her demand, he just kept climbing down the stairs.

    ¡°Why are you shouting? You are almost down. Why do you want to get down from his arms?¡± scolded Jae-Hwa. ¡°Stubborn, just like Oppa!¡± shemented.

    Finally, they reached the car and Jae-Hwa and Young-Chul went to the back of the car to ce the bags in the boot.

    ¡°Open the door,¡±manded Kyung-Soo. Nivritti didn¡¯t look at him, just reached for the door lock and opened the car door. He ced her inside the car in the back seat.

    He leaned in further to grab the seatbelt when Nivritti snapped, ¡°I can do that on my own.¡±

    ¡°I just said my thoughts out loud, as if you had no idea. Don¡¯t you know how I feel about you?¡±mented Kyung-Soo and got out of the car leaving Nivritti stunned by his reply.

    She froze with the seat belt in her hands. Her breath shuddered. Her heart started racing with fear. The thing she feared was happening. The thing she wanted to avoid at every cost was happening again. Again, a boy younger than her was falling for her. No, no, that could never happen.

    She tightened her grip on the seat belt and dug her nails into her palms. She didn¡¯t realise but tears started streaming down her face. All those years of pain started flooding before her eyes.

    The door next to her opened and Jae-Hwa jumped in the car. After her, Kyung-Soo and Young-Chul sat in the car.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. ¡°What happened? Why are you crying?¡±

    Both the boys instantly turned around to look at her.

    ¡°Huh!¡± eximed Nivritti as soon as she heard Jae-Hwa¡¯s voice. She realised that her face was wet. She let go of the seatbelt and immediately wiped her tears.

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart dropped when he realised that he made her cry. ¡°Shit! You idiot!¡± he cursed himself. He clenched his fist and with a clenched jaw looked at her stopping his own tears from flowing.

    ¡°What did you do, Hyung? Did you hit her leg?¡± shouted Young-Chul.

    ¡°No, no, I am fine. Just a little pain,¡± sniffled Nivritti.

    ¡°I told you to take the medicine oppa gave you. Where is that?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I will be fine in a minute,¡± replied Nivritti and clicked the seat belt in its ce.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Please, just drive!¡± snapped Nivritti but didn¡¯t look at him. She kept her head lowered. He wanted to look at her face, but it was not possible now.

    Kyung-Soo turned back and grabbed the steering wheel. He tightened his grip till his knuckles went white with pain. ¡°You idiot! Why did you have to tell her that? You know she is not yet ready. She is reeling with the after-effect of what that asshole did to her. And now you forced your feelings on her. You made her cry. You know everything about her. She trusted you and told you everything and this is how you repay that? I cannot even say sorry to her as Jae and Youngie are with me. I am a stupid, stupid, idiot!!¡±

    The whole way he kept ncing in the back mirror to see if Nivritti was again crying. Jae-Hwa had her hand in hers and was trying tofort her. Every time he would nce at her, he would clench his jaw in anger. He was angry at himself.

 Chapter 176 - 176 The Annoying Men

    176 The Annoying Men

    Jae-Geun woke up early in the morning and wore the shirt that Nivritti gifted him. He was happy that he would again get to see her. As he instructed Nivritti to take it easy on her leg, he thought he would give Jae-Hwa and Nivritti a ride to their office.

    His mother was busy in the kitchen when he sneaked outside. He knew that if he would tell her, she would again pack a lot of food for her, and Nivritti would keep eating the food for weeks. He smiled at the thought that she was not ready to throw the foodst time even though it was days old.

    He started his car and pondered, ¡°oh, should I have packed some food? Jaehwa is there, she will prepare something. I am sure. I just hope Ritti¡¯s leg is fine. I gave a lot of instructionsst night. Hope they did everything. Should I have told her about applying ice once again in the morning? Oh, no worries. I will take a look after I reach her house.¡±

    He pressed the gas pedal and the car moved forward. He reached the parking area of Nivritti¡¯s building and got out of his car. He was climbing the stairs when he realised, ¡°oh, so many stairs! How will she walk all the way down? Do I get to carry her?¡± his cheeks turned red. Smoke came out of his ears and he started feeling hot.

    He reached Nivritti¡¯s apartment and rang the bell. He stood outside for a minute but there was no answer. He again rang the bell. Still, there was no answer. He knocked loudly, ¡°Jaehwa! Ritti!¡± but there was no one inside the house who could answer him.

    ¡°Oh! Did they leave already?¡± he talked to himself. ¡°But¡­ am Ite?¡± he immediately took out his phone and called Jae-Hwa. ¡°Where are you?¡±

    Nivritti was now silent. She had stopped crying. Jae-Hwa was sitting next to her holding her hand and suddenly her phone rang. ¡°Who is calling me this early in the morning?¡± she pondered. She lifted her hand from Nivritti¡¯s hand and looked at her phone. Her brother was calling her.

    Before she could reply, he asked her a question. ¡°Um¡­ we¡­¡± she gulped. She had no idea what to say. She could not tell him that members of ASD came to pick her up. She then thought about why she couldn¡¯t tell him about ASD. He knew everything about one of the members being sick.

    ¡°We are going to work,¡± she replied.

    .....

    ¡°What? So early!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Why are you asking?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Because I am standing outside Ritti¡¯s house. I came to pick you guys up,¡± he exined.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, oppa. We are fine,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Did you take a taxi? How did she walk all the way down? Is her leg fine? Couldn¡¯t you wait, I would have checked her leg,¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Did you tell me that you would being? Why would I wait for you?¡± Jae-Hwa shouted back.

    ¡°Okay, okay! Rx! No need to get angry,¡± said Jae-Geun. ¡°Just take care of yourself and¡­ hers too.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± replied Jae-Hwa. Without waiting for bye from Jae-Geun, she disconnected the call.

    By then Nivritti was calm. Jae-Hwa thought that she might ask questions about the phone call, but Nivritti kept quiet. She kept her gaze out of the window and avoided everyone in the car.

    ¡°What happened to her? What did King to do her? Ahh¡­ men! Why are they so annoying?¡± she thought to herself.

    Kyung-Soo parked his car in the basement of the building and closed his eyes in anger. He had seen Nivritti crying numerous times but today he made her cry. Young-Chul and Jae-Hwa came out of the car and went to grab the bags. Kyung-Soo was hesitant to help Nivritti as he was sure that she was again going to snap at him.

    Before he opened his door, Nivritti opened hers and climbed out of the car.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± shouted Young-Chul. Hearing his shout, Kyung-Soo turned around and saw Nivritti standing out of the car.

    ¡°This building has a lift. I can walk. Stairs were the problem, right?¡± replied Nivritti, indifferently. Kyung-Soo closed his eyes and clenched his jaw again. Nivritti was never cold, never indifferent while talking to ASD members but right now she replied as if she had no feelings for Young-Chul.

    The girl who helped him get better with her kindness and warmth had no emotions right now. And that was Kyung-Soo¡¯s fault. She was trying the oldest trick in the book ¨C If someone tries to get close to you, be cold, be rude and they will run away.

    Kyung-Soo got out of the car and humbly said, ¡°let me help you.¡± She ignored his voice and started walking towards the lift.

    Young-Chul pped Kyung-Soo¡¯s upper arm and whispered, ¡°what did you do? What did you say to make her angry?¡±

    Kyung-Soo sighed and replied, ¡°I am an idiot.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Ritti!¡± Jae-Hwa called after her. ¡°Take my support.¡±

    ¡°I am fine, Jae. I can walk,¡± replied Nivritti with a smile and moved forward. Jae-Hwa froze in her path.

    Kyung-Soo and Young-Chul approached her when suddenly she turned to face them. With squinted eyes and a red nose, she stared at Kyung-Soo. Both the boys jumped back after looking at her scary expression.

    She pped Kyung-Soo on his chest and shouted, ¡°what did you do?¡±

    ¡°Ow! Jae!¡± cried Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You know she smiled at me, she just smiled at me,¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°If she smiled, that¡¯s a good thing, no?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°That was a fake smile. That¡¯s not how she smiles. Her smile is lively, cute. She looked scary right now. Her eyes¡­ it felt as if she was hiding a whole sea of sadness,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo very well knew what Nivritti was hiding behind her eyes. ¡°Sorry!¡± he said to Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh! She was shouting at you to let her go. What did you say?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Um¡­ I called her heavy,¡± replied Kyung-Soo. He could not tell anyone what he said to her. But by saying that he called heavy, he was not at all lying.

    ¡°Aisshhh¡­ you really are an idiot! Never call a girl, heavy,¡± scolded Young-Chul.

    ¡°What were you thinking?¡± yelled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Obviously I was not thinking. I made a mistake,¡± apologised Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Say that to her,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think she is in the mood to talk to me,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Are you guysing or should I let the lift close?¡± shouted Nivritti, angrily.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± all three shouted at once and raced towards the lift. Nivritti was standing inside the lift with her hands on the door, not letting the lift close.

    After everyone entered the lift, Nivritti scolded Young-Chul, ¡°why did you run? You are supposed to take it easy. I will hit you on your head if you start exerting yourself, do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sorry! No more running,¡± replied Young-Chul. He kicked Kyung-Soo on his leg and mumbled, ¡°she is angry at you, and I am getting the scolding. She told us to run to get in the lift. I did that and now she is scolding me. Everything is your fault.¡±

    Even after getting kicked, Kyung-Soo was smiling. He was happy that even though he acted like a moron, Nivritti was still caring for Young-Chul. Though she was angry, she didn¡¯t forget about Young-Chul¡¯s health.

    The lift opened and slowly they all followed Nivritti. She was careful in cing her injured foot on the ground. Due to her everyone was gettingte.

    ¡°It would have been so easier if you would have just lifted her,¡± Young-Chul looked at Kyung-Soo with anger.

    Finally, they reached the practice room. Nivritti opened the door and entered.

    ¡°What the hell?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Why are you walking on your injured foot?¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°He angered her. He called heavy,¡±ined Young-Chul.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted everyone at once, even Nivritti. She instantly looked at Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Why would he tell that to everyone? Yeah, right! He could not tell what he really said. This idiot knows everything about me, and still keeps acting like a moron,¡± contemted Nivritti. She looked at everyone.

    ¡°Hyung! How can you say that?¡± scolded Thae.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Still, you should not have let her walk on her own,¡± rebuked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Guys! I am fine. I was walking slowly,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Ah! You are so stubborn,¡± shouted Him-Chan and ran towards her. ¡°You keep lecturing everyone to ask for help and ept help. You know that would not make you weak. And don¡¯t listen to Hyung, no matter if he is intelligent but sometimes he acts like an idiot.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that¡­,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I am going to carry you to the working station, so just ept my help,¡± said Him-Chan and without waiting for her reply, he just lifted her in his arms.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti at once. But by the time she finished her word, Him-Chan had already lifted her and started walking. Kyung-Soo clenched his fists tightly the moment he saw her in someone else¡¯s arms.

 Chapter 177 - 177 The Scary, Nivritti

    177 The Scary, Nivritti

    Kyung-Soo entered right after Nivritti. Everyone shouted at Kyung-Soo for being an idiot. They only knew what Young-Chul told them. What was the reality, only Nivritti and Kyung-Soo knew. Every time he would see her limping, he would curse himself.

    Him-Chan came running towards Nivritti and lifted her in his arms. Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart stopped immediately. Just a few minutes ago, she was in his arms and because of one mistake, he lost her. Him-Chan¡¯s arms touching her back and her thighs were causing Kyung-Soo¡¯s heart to ache.

    He knew that Him-Chan had a crush on her. But he too had a crush on her. In fact, his feelings were greater than a crush. He had started liking her or maybe loving her, he was not sure. He knew that she had shut the door to her heart, locked it with multiple keys and thrown every one of them in the deepestke she could find.

    Now, he had to find all the keys one by one and slowly open up her heart. Only then he would be able to enter inside. Only then she would ept him. But for now, all he could do was get jealous after seeing her get cosy with other men. Although in his heart he knew that she would never get cosy with any men.

    He wanted to kill that asshole who broke her heart but at the same time, he wanted to thank him for going out of her life. What he did was bad, but her life was getting better without him in it.

    ¡°JH!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a few steps. Calm down!¡± said Him-Chan. He reached the benches and ced Nivritti softly on one of them. ¡°She is not all heavy, Hyung. Why did you say that?¡± he scolded Kyung-Soo.

    But Kyung-Soo was thinking about only one thing, Him-Chan touched his Nivritti. ¡°You should not touch a woman without her consent,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°And you should never call a woman heavy. Moreover, I told her that I was going to carry her,¡± rebuked Him-Chan.

    .....

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t wait for her permission,¡± snapped Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Enough!¡± yelled Nivritti. The dance hall fell silent. Everyone looked at one another. ¡°Jae! Let¡¯s start our work.¡±

    Jung-Hwa came close to all his brothers and mumbled, ¡°what did you do to her, Hyung? She is extremely angry. You know she gets scary when she gets angry.¡±

    ¡°As Johan said, I am an idiot!¡± replied Kyung-Soo. ¡°I should not have opened my mouth.¡±

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo, everyone!¡± greeted Dae as soon as he entered.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo!¡± everyone greeted him back.

    ¡°Oh, my girls are here!¡± Daemented and smiled at both the girls. ¡°I was shocked when Choi-ssi told me that you will be arriving directly here. Why the sudden change?¡±

    ¡°She hurt her leg and couldn¡¯t walk so we¡­,¡± Young-Chul started exining.

    But Nivritti interrupted in between, ¡°so I asked them where we shoulde, to the office or the dance hall. They replied dance hall and Jae brought me here. That way I would have to walk less.¡± She looked at Young-Chul and stealthily shook her head in no gesturing for him to no say another word or tell Dae about anything.

    If he would tell Dae that they were frequent visitors to her home, he could make a big deal of it and everyone in the office would again start gossiping, as they always did.

    ¡°Oh my! Show me. What happened?¡± shouted Dae and ran to Nivritti. He knelt down on one leg and tried to grab Nivritti¡¯s leg.

    ¡°No, no, please, you are elder, please don¡¯t touch my feet,¡± shouted Nivritti and abruptly stood up. She flinched in pain as she put pressure on her toe and stumbled due to the pain. Him-Chan being closest to her immediately grabbed her shoulders from behind and stopped her from falling.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Him-Chan. Nivritti had her eyes closed and she just nodded at him and moved away from him. Slowly she sat back on the bench.

    ¡°Sorry! I caused you more pain,¡± apologised Dae.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Mr. Seong!¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Why do you call me, Mr. Seong? I am not that old. I too can be your friend,¡± pouted Dae.

    ¡°Of course. What would you like me to call you?¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°You can call me by my name. Just call me, Dae. All of you, call me, Dae,¡± he looked at everyone.

    ¡°Yes, Dae,¡± all shouted at once.

    ¡°What has gotten into him? He never acted this way,¡±mented Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Maybe he is drunk, or he hit his head in the morning,¡±ughed Thae.

    ¡°Shut up, both of you,¡± whispered Korain.

    ¡°Well, howe you came with Jae?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Oh, she spent her weekend with me,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Ohh nice! What did you guys do?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Um¡­ Oppa, she and I went to the movies and enjoyed ourselves a lot. We again had a movie marathon at her home. It was so much fun,¡± Jae-Hwa was grinning from ear to ear.

    The moment Kyung-Soo heard that Nivritti saw movies with Jae-Geun his face dropped with sadness. He never did anything with her and here was Jae-Geun, he went to shopping with her, movies with her, they always spent weekends together. All he could do was think about her and follow her in hiding.

    ¡°So, you guys did not work this weekend, huh?¡± scolded Dae, mischievously.

    ¡°Just for a day, we had girl¡¯s movie night but then yesterday whole day we kept working,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Your brother was in Girl¡¯s night?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, confused.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You said you went to the movies with your brother and then saw more movies at her house. Your brother saw movies at her house too?¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, we went to the theatre and then he dropped us at her house, and he left,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, that way!¡± nodded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Why? Boys can watch movies with girls? Is a chick flick too much for a man? Will that hurt your brain?¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ didn¡¯t mean that. No, no, I will never mean that,¡± protested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Shit, Hyung! You are dead,¡± said Jeong-Eun in a sing-song tone.

    ¡°Good God, man! Just keep your mouth shut. Let them work. Everyone, warm up,¡± ordered Korain.

    ¡°Yes, Hyung!¡± everyone nodded and started stretching.

    Dae again sat next to Jae-Hwa, and all started working on their respective work. Nivritti was busy reading scripts when her phone chimed. She looked at her phone. There was a message from Chung-Ho.

    ¡°How are you? King told me about your leg. Is that okay?¡±

    She realised that Chung-Ho knew everything. Everything about Young-Chul, his condition, his hospitalization, their visit to her house and her injury. It meant that he was one of the members of the inner circle of ASD.

    She smiled at his message and replied, ¡°I am fine, and my leg is fine too. Thank you for asking.¡±

    How¡¯s work? Is Jae-Hwa doing a good job? Seong-ssi is not giving you trouble, is he?

    Both are doing fine work. Don¡¯t worry. We have you with us.

    Always. Keep up the good work.

    Nivritti smiled and ced her phone back on the table. She nced at the mirror in front of her and saw Kyung-Soo stretching his legs. She didn¡¯t want to feel anything, but all the emotions flooded her brain at once.

    She was angry at him for saying that he liked her. She was furious at him for liking her. She was sad that he liked a damaged person like her. She was guilt-ridden as now she will have to reject him when she didn¡¯t want to do that. She liked when he would be close to him but at the same time was scared as hell to again open her heart. She didn¡¯t want to face another heartbreak. She didn¡¯t want to feel dejected again.

    She shook her head to get rid of all her thoughts and concentrated on her work.

    A few minutes passed and the door opened. The choreographer of ASD arrived with a huge grin on his face.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo, everyone! Please greet your backup dancers for today,¡± announced the choreographer and opened the doorpletely allowing the backup dancers to enter.

    The whole hall was filled with giggles andughter. Almost twenty kids stormed inside the dance hall with sweet smiles on their faces.

    ¡°Woah, kids!¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    Looking at their cute faces, Nivritti smiled too. Kyung-Soo noticed that and finally breathed with ease. If she was smiling with a twinkle in her eyes, it meant that her anger was gone.

    All the kids greeted the members of ASD with different smiles on their faces. Some had a broad smile, some had a shy smile and some had a loud smile. The whole environment was jolly and sweet.

    The choreographer instructed everyone to take their position and the practice started. Nivritti looked at the kids in the mirror and counted the number of kids. She opened her phone and looked for packets of choctes for every kid in the hall.

    When she was happy with her choice of chocte, she ordered thirty packets of choctes and went back to her work.

 Chapter 178 - 178 The Chocolates

    178 The Choctes

    ASD were super sweet during the dance practice. They were extra careful to dance slowly so that kids could learn all the moves. Whereas those teenie-tiny kids were all professional. They easily kept following all the steps.

    Both the choreographer and the members of ASD kept praising the kids to boost their morale. The happiest one was Thae. He loved kids as he himself was a kid at heart. He kept ying with them, making themugh and took great care.

    The Rencontre team kept smiling at the cute kids¡¯ antics. When they would dance, they would be the most professional ones in the dance hall. But the moment the music would stop, happy screams andughter would fill the room. Because of Young-Chul, they had to take breaks more frequently.

    ¡°Why are they taking so many breaks? They never used to do that,¡± observed Dae.

    Both Nivritti and Jae-Hwa looked at each other. ¡°No idea, Dae,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Maybe they are thinking about the kids. They don¡¯t want to tire them soon,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°Maybe,¡± nodded Dae and all went back to their work.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    .....

    ¡°Is your leg feeling, okay? Why don¡¯t you lift it up? That will ease the pain if you have any,¡± suggested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Right! I will do that,¡± said Nivritti. She removed her sandals and lifted her leg. Carefully she crossed her legs and smiled at Jae-Hwa. This position really eased her pain.

    While Nivritti and Jae-Hwa were talking, Dae¡¯s eyes were on Nivritti¡¯s phone. He wanted that phone. He knew what happened in the restaurant, but he wanted video proof. If only he could get his hands on the video, he could show it to others. That way people would start talking about her role in making a member of ASD chose violence.

    But his master n was to leak that video and spread the rumour that she sent it to the media outlets. That will make ASD hate her. She saved them from a scandal and then sold the video herself, which will be a disaster for their rtionship. Maybe then others could see how wrong she was for thepany and get her fired.

    If he would leak the video, she will be fired and her friendship with ASD will end. He could kill two birds with one stone. He smirked at his brilliant n. The only thing he needed was her phone. And it was lying on the table right in front of him. He even knew the passcode.

    All were busy with their work when there was a knock at the door.

    ¡°Excuse me! I have an order for Niv¡­ Navr¡­,¡± the delivery man was having difficulty pronouncing a Hindi name.

    ¡°You mean, Nivritti,¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Yes, yes,¡± replied the delivery man happily as he saw all the members of ASD standing before him.

    ¡°Ritti! Did you order something?¡± shouted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Oh yeah. Could you take it, please?¡± she requested.

    ¡°Of course!¡± replied Jeong-Eun and the delivery man started handing him packet after packet. ¡°What?¡± asked Jeong-Eun, shocked. ¡°Guys! Help me, she ordered the whole outlet,¡± he shouted.

    Nivritti kept smiling at Jeong-Eun. After hearing his plea, Jung-Hwa and Korain ran to his help. Thae was too busy ying with the kids. Young-Chul was resting with Him-Chan and Kyung-Soo was too scared to approach Nivritti.

    Jeong-Eun, Jung-Hwa and Korain brought all the packets near Nivritti. ¡°What is all this?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    Before she could reply, ¡°Excuse me! Can I have a selfie with you guys?¡± requested the delivery man.

    ¡°Of course!¡± replied everyone and went near him. The delivery man took a photo and went away happily.

    ¡°TK!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± he shouted back.

    ¡°Come here, please!¡± requested Nivritti. Thae left the kids to y and came near Nivritti. ¡°Can you help me distribute these choctes to the kids? They will love you more after this.¡±

    ¡°You ordered choctes for everyone!?¡± he shouted. ¡°One, two, three¡­ thirty!¡± everyone looked at Thae as he kept shouting.

    ¡°Calm down! It¡¯s just chocte,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°But thirty packets?¡± shouted Thae.

    ¡°One for everyone present in this room. Thank God! Your managers are not here. That would have cost me more,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°There¡¯s chocte for me too?¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Yes, of course!¡± she replied. Thae threw himself at her and hugged her tightlyughing loudly with joy. ¡°Now help me, I can¡¯t walk,¡± she said.

    ¡°Yes, yes!¡± replied Thae. ¡°Kids! Noona has brought choctes for you. Come and get it,¡± he shouted in Korean.

    ¡°Yay!¡± all the kids shouted and came running towards Thae. One by one he distributed the choctes and asked the kids to thank Nivritti. Kids being extremely polite, they not only thanked Nivritti, but they also thanked Jae-Hwa and Dae.

    ¡°Khamsamnida Unnie, Kamsamnida Ajhumma, Kamsamnida Samcheon,¡± one of the kids said.

    ¡°What? She is unnie (big sister) and I am ajhumma (aunty),¡±ined Jae-Hwa. Thae and Nivritti startedughing out loud.

    Kyung-Soo saw herughing and his heart was at ease even more. He realised that she was happy being near all the kids. She told him about being a mother and could not be one. That would damage a lot of people but here she was ordering gifts for kids,ughing with them.

    ¡°What are youining about, I am samcheon,¡± pouted Dae.

    ¡°That is even worse. She thinks I am your age,¡± sulked Jae-Hwa. Thae and Nivritti startedughing louder.

    ¡°Oh, shut up you two!¡± shouted both Dae and Jae-Hwa.

    When the kids were done, Nivritti handed a packet to both Dae and Jae-Hwa. ¡°Eat! Don¡¯t mind kids. I bribed them with choctes, that¡¯s why I am unnie,¡± sheforted both of them.

    ¡°And the remaining packets?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°Give one to your choreographer sir,¡± replied Nivritti. She then turned around at the boys and shouted, ¡°do you need an invitation card? Come here.¡±

    ¡°Woah! Woah! Coming,ing,¡± shouted Young-Chul.

    Thae went to give a chocte packet to the choreographer and came back. Nivritti handed the remaining packets to the ASD.

    ¡°There is still one left,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    Nivritti immediately grabbed it. ¡°That is mine.¡± Kyung-Soo smiled at her. He knew how much she loved choctes.

    Everyone opened their packets and dumped a piece in their mouths, except Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What is wrong? You don¡¯t like choctes?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I like them but can¡¯t eat them,¡± replied Jung-Hwa, sadly.

    ¡°Huh¡­ why? Are you on diet?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Are you kidding me? You dance so much, work so hard in the gym, yet you are on a diet?¡± she shouted.

    ¡°I have to maintain my abs,¡± said Jung-Hwa and lifted his shirt showing his sculpted eight-pack abs. Jae-Hwa coughed all the chocte that was in her mouth on herptop screen. But there was no reaction from Nivritti.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°That is good. Good job. But one piece of chocte is not going to turn that pack of biscuits back into the dough. In fact, the choctes I ordered are dark choctes, that are good for your health if eaten in small amounts,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°But I can¡¯t,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Have your trainer told you to lose weight or go on a diet?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, this idiot does that on his own,¡± answered Thae.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°Are you out of your mind? Do you know how dangerous that could be? You have a trainer, a dietician, yet you are going on a diet on your own. Are you an idiot?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jung-Hwa, scared.

    ¡°Stop this nonsense immediately. If you want to go on diet, ask your dietician to prepare a chart for you. They will tell you everything ording to your height and weight. They will monitor your daily calorie intake and consider the health of your health and other inner organs. If I hear that you are doing such stupidity without any supervision, I will hit you on your head, do you understand?¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± Jung-Hwa immediately opened the packet of chocte and dunked a piece inside his mouth.

    ¡°And you, all of you, his seniors! Is this how you take care of your maknae? Letting him go on a diet without supervision? If anything happens to Rencontre because of that, I will kill you all,¡± she shouted at them.

    ¡°Do you think he listens to us?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°Then give him a tight p. You all have raised him to be a brat. One p and he will be fine. Even his ears will open, and he will start listening to you all,¡± she snapped at Korain but kept staring at Jung-Hwa with anger.

    ¡°But I have to maintain my abs,¡± sulked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Why? Why do you have to do that?¡± she rebuked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Fans like my abs,¡± he replied.

    ¡°You never show your body. You make your fans guess what¡¯s underneath that shirt. How does your fan like them, then?¡± she asked.

    ¡°But I like making abs,¡± pouted Jung-Hwa.

    She pped his arms in anger and exined, ¡°looking after your health, exercising, building muscles, is all good when done properly. You cannot take such a decision on your own. You have the facility, use that. Ask for help from your trainer, your dietician, your nutritionist, or whoever you feelfortable with. Don¡¯t damage your body by thinking that you are working for it. You are not trained for that. Leave that to the professionals. You do what you do best.¡±

 Chapter 179 - 179 The Right Decision

    179 The Right Decision

    Nivritti kept exining Jung-Hwa about the negative effects of going on self-diet. He had his head lowered while she kept scolding him.

    ¡°Fine!¡± replied Jung-Hwa. ¡°I understood.¡±

    ¡°And listen to your hyungs,¡± scolded Young-Chul.

    ¡°Okay, I will,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± all the members shouted in shock.

    ¡°Look at the sun, someone, look at the sun and tell me which direction it rose from,¡± teased Him-Chan. All startedughing at his tease.

    ¡°Ha-ha, so funny,¡± sulked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Do you know magic?¡± Korain asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Huh¡­ what?¡± asked Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°He never listens to us. One word from you and he is all ¡®okay¡¯,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Wow! You will be a great mother,¡±mented Thae.

    Nivritti¡¯s heart stopped. ¡°What?¡± she mumbled.

    ¡°You ordered choctes for every kid, even for us. You didn¡¯t even forget a single person. And first, you scolded JJ but then exined why his decision is bad. You are fair and kind and treat everyone with respect. You will be a great mother,¡± exined Thae.

    Nivritti gave him a fake smile and immediately looked away. ¡°Um¡­ you guys enjoy the chocte. I will be back in a few minutes,¡± she said and stood up carefully.

    ¡°What happened, Ritti?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Nothing! Just have to go to the bathroom,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Let me help you,¡± said Jae-Hwa and stood up.

    ¡°Sit down!¡± Nivritti cleared her throat as she was on the verge of crying. ¡°I am fine.¡± And she started moving out of the room.

    ¡°What happened? Was she about to cry?¡± asked Thae, worriedly.

    ¡°No, you know she is still in pain. Maybe that¡¯s what it was,¡± exined Kyung-Soo. But he knew the reason she acted this way. Thae¡¯s sentence caused her pain. He had been looking at her since the moment she kept giving out the gift packets to every kid. She looked happy to see the kids happy.

    She evenughed when kids called Jae-Hwa, aunty. Like a mother, a big sister, she even scolded Jung-Hwa for his stupid decision. She had all the qualities to be a good mother and she was about to be one, but she had to abort her pregnancy. That impacted her a lot and Thae¡¯s words about her being a mother, hurt her again.

    He saw when her face changed expressions and her eyes filled with tears. She again controlled herself and stopped herself from crying. Kyung-Soo closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he was unable to help her at that moment. He really wanted to hit Thae¡¯s head for saying those things to Nivritti.

    He kept staring at her trying to limp her way out of the room. No one except him knew that her heart was severely aching right now. He also knew that he could not run after her. He waited for a few minutes and closed his packet of choctes.

    ¡°I too need to go to the bathroom. No one, take a single piece of chocte from my box,¡± he ordered everyone and walked away. He reached the bathroom section and ced his ears on the door of the female washroom. There was no sound. He knocked to see if anyone was inside, but no one replied.

    He sighed, ¡°where is she?¡± suddenly a bulb lit over his head. Her favourite ce to cry was the stairs. It was always secluded, and she could cry without anyone finding her there.

    He immediately ran towards the stairs and opened the door. He sighed with relief after he could hear her sobs. Finally, he found her. His hunch was right. She was sitting on the stairs and facing towards the wall. But her sobs were muffled as he kept her face inside her palms.

    He had no idea how to approach her. Was she still angry with him? How would she react after he approaches her? He pondered for a minute. But it was getting hard for him to see her crying. He walked up to her and softly sat next to her.

    ¡°I am sorry on TK¡¯s behalf,¡± he said softly. But Nivritti kept sobbing. ¡°Ritti!¡± He ced his hand over her shoulder and made her look at him. One look at him and she threw herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his broad chest and hid her face in his shirt.

    Kyung-Soo raised his arms to his side in shock as she abruptly hugged him. He then sighed after realising that she always did that. That was her go to move. He was now wishing that he would have worn his white cashmere shirt as that shirt always provided herfort whenever she cried.

    He exhaled loudly and wrapped his arms around her back and kept patting her with adoration.

    ¡°I am sorry, really sorry. He should not have said that,¡±forted Kyung-Soo. She kept sobbing in his arms.

    For a few minutes, Kyung-Soo kept rubbing her back to calm her down whereas she buried her face in his chest and kept sobbing.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I am here. Please calm down. I am sorry about Thae. He should not have said that. I will make sure no one talks to you about that,¡± he againforted.

    Nivritti slightly raised her head and looked at him. He moved his hands and softly wiped her tears. ¡°It¡¯s not his fault. He didn¡¯t know,¡± sniffled Nivritti. ¡°He has no idea that the woman he is calling a good mother is¡­ a murderer.¡± She again hid her eyes with her palm and sobbed.

    ¡°Ritti! Please look at me,¡± he pleaded. She removed her hand and looked at Kyung-Soo. He again wiped her tears and caressed her cheeks. ¡°You said that when you had the abortion it was just a zygote. It didn¡¯t even be a foetus, then how did you kill a child? You even said that you were not ready to be a single other and also the societal pressure would not have let that child live a happy life. So why do you still feel guilty?¡±

    ¡°Because I am an idiot. Because I thought that my first love would be myst love. Because I thought my first love would seed. Because I thought that I would grow old with my first love. Because I thought we would have fun with our kids. Because I thought I will live happily ever after with my husband and my kids. Because I thought my dreams coulde true. But everything kept shattering one by one and all of that is my fault,¡± cried Nivritti.

    ¡°How is that your fault?¡± asked Kyung-Soo. ¡°You loved him unconditionally. You gave him everything, your emotional, physical, your mental love. You even supported him financially. But instead of supporting you, he left you alone to deal with every problem. He didn¡¯t even try to talk about your future, he just decided everything on his own. He didn¡¯t even pay you the courtesy of telling you about his marriage on his own. Tell me this, would you have been happy to raise his kid by yourself, a man who didn¡¯t even love you the way you loved him?¡±

    Nivritti immediately stopped crying and looked at Kyung-Soo. She never really thought about that. Would she have been okay with raising Ritvik¡¯s kid on her own? Would that kid have not made her remember her every heart break, every mental torture she experienced?

    ¡°Do you think you would have risen so highly in your job if you would have a single mother? You don¡¯t even know if your family would have supported you. Would you have been able to raise that kid without any help? Don¡¯t you think you would have resented that kid after years? Don¡¯t you think his kid would have given him licence to harass you all your life?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti just kept staring at Kyung-Soo. All his points were valid but still, the heart in her chest was aching for a kid. The kid that she pictured in her arms, the kid that she pictured running all around her house, the kid that she pictured growing up before her eyes.

    ¡°One thing I know for sure is that was a no-win situation. Either you would have given birth to your kid and be a single parent or abort the pregnancy and feel guilty about it. Both the options would have led to your sadness. Ritvik would have a reason to be in your life even if you didn¡¯t want it. Just look at your situation now, he has no reason to pester you, he is married to someone else, but still, he keeps harassing you. Imagine what he would have done if you gave birth to his child. Did you want to uproot your child every few years to get away from him? Did you want to have a long custody battle? I really think that decision that you took at that time was the right one.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Now, you have a good job, good friends, your family is with you. If you really want to be a mother, adopt a child. Now you have a whole vige, we all will help you raise that child. Ritvik won¡¯te for the child and your family can help with the child,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    Tears started falling from her eyes. She contorted her lips and grabbed Kyung-Soo¡¯s shirt. She rested her head on his chest and tears kept falling down her face. ¡°Thank you for your kind words,¡± she cried.

 Chapter 180 - 180 The Past Life

    180 The Past Life

    Him-Chan looked at Nivritti and saw tiny drops of tears in her eyes. He felt bad for her. Maybe her leg was paining. But she excused herself and went to the bathroom. After a few minutes, Kyung-Soo went to the bathroom. Him-Chan didn¡¯t think more about it, but he wanted to help Nivritti.

    Everyone was munching on the choctes Nivritti gave them except Jung-Hwa. He ate two pieces and closed his box. Him-Chan kept stuffing his face with choctes but kept thinking about Nivritti.

    ¡°Why was she crying? Was it because of pain or something TK said? It was so difficult for her to walk. People say you should take rest after stubbed toe, but she came to work. She was so angry at MY hyung for not taking care of himself, but she does that to herself. I think she has no one to scold her that¡¯s why she does such stupid things. Oh! How will shee back from the bathroom? Will she be able to walk? It took her ages to get out of the room. And where is NK hyung? Wait! Is he helping her? What if he again calls her heavy? He is sometimes moronic. No, I want to help her. She felt so good in my arms. And thatvender smell, that is so heavenly. Should I go out and see if she needs help? These idiots will make fun of me. What should I say? Yeah, I can go to the washroom to wash my hands. But then again, I can use the one in the practice room, the one that is for our bathing. The only thing it does not have is a toilet. Who designs bathrooms like this? Maybe because of the smell. I will have to say that I too have to go to relieve myself, that is the only viable option,¡± he kept pondering upon his n.

    ¡°ASD! Let¡¯s start with the practice,¡± shouted the choreographer.

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± shouted everyone.

    ¡°But NK hyung is not here. Let me go and call him back. I too have to go to the bathroom,¡± shouted Him-Chan and ran away immediately.

    ¡°Woah! It was urgent for him,¡±ughed Korain. Everyone smiled at his taunt and went near the choreographer and started waiting for Kyung-Soo and Him-Chan.

    Him-Chan first went to the bathroom and washed his hands. ¡°Hyung! Are you here?¡± he asked. But there was no reply. He checked all the stalls, but everyone was empty. ¡°Where is he?¡±

    ¡°Did he go to the other bathroom that is at the end of the corridor?¡± he thought. ¡°But why would he go so far?¡±

    .....

    He came out of the bathroom and went near the women¡¯s bathroom. He knocked at the door and asked, ¡°Ritti! Do you need any help moving back to the dance room?¡± Again, there was no answer.

    ¡°Why is no one replying? Where are they?¡± asked Him-Chan to himself.

    Meanwhile on the stairs, Kyung-Soo kept consoling Nivritti.

    ¡°Thank you for your kind words,¡± she said and kept crying. Him-Chan heard her voice and sob and looked in the direction that it wasing from. He saw the door to the stairs. Slowly he walked near the stairs and through the small ss opening in the door he looked inside. Kyung-Soo had Nivritti in his arms, and she kept sobbing.

    ¡°Did he make her cry again?¡± he was angry at his big brother.

    ¡°You are always wee. Just don¡¯t feel bad about your decisions. Your past life made you what you are now, who you are now. So, embrace everything, every decision, every failure, every win because everything was a part of your life, good or bad,¡± educated Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Wait! He is consoling her? Past life? What does he know about her past life?¡± contemted Him-Chan. ¡°Does he talk to her often? Is she close to him that she told him about her past life? And what failure is he talking about?¡± Him-Chan¡¯s whole body burned with jealousy. He knew nothing about her whereas Kyung-Soo wasforting her about something from her past. She was in his arms too.

    He clenched his fists and opened the door making Nivritti and Kyung-Soo flinch in fear. ¡°I have been looking all over for you guys. What are you doing here? Why are you crying, Ritti? Did he say something to you?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ what happened, JH¡­¡± Kyung-Soo had no idea what to tell him.

    So, Nivritti took the reins of the situation in her hand. ¡°No, no, JH, everything is fine. I came out of the bathroom, and it was difficult to walk so he suggested that I should sit down for a few minutes,¡± she smiled at Him-Chan.

    ¡°But what was he talking about your past life?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    Nivritti gulped with fear. ¡°Did Him-Chan hear everything? What did he hear? How much did he hear?¡± she blinked her eyes and licked her lips as her lips went dry. Him-Chan¡¯s mouth fell open as he saw her licking her lips.

    ¡°He was just talking about a book he read. He was telling me some quotes, trying to divert my mind from my pain,¡± lied Nivritti.

    ¡°Ohh!¡± eximed Him-Chan. ¡°Well, we need to get back. Choreo sir is waiting for us. We should keep the kids waiting.¡±

    ¡°Are you okay, now?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah, better,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°You should see a doctor if the pain is unbearable,¡± suggested Him-Chan.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry a doctor checked my wound,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Jae¡¯s brother?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes,¡± answered Nivritti and smiled at him.

    ¡°Let me help you,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine now, JH,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Hypocrite!¡± shouted Him-Chan.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± Nivritti was taken aback.

    ¡°You scolded MY hyung for not taking care of himself. You just scolded JJ for going on a diet without proper supervision. You were just crying because of pain and now you don¡¯t need help? If everyone needs help, why don¡¯t you? If everyone has to take care of themselves, why don¡¯t you?¡± educated Him-Chan.

    ¡°Woah! Okay, chill! You can help me,¡± replied Nivritti. Him-Chan shed his brightest smile at her. ¡°But you are not going to carry me,¡± she warned. His smile instantly faded. Kyung-Soo sniggered at herment. ¡°Stopughing!¡±

    ¡°Well,e one! Put your weight on my shoulder,¡± said Him-Chan and lowered himself for Nivritti.

    ¡°Ugh! Why you guys are so tall?¡±ined Nivritti.

    ¡°Why are you so tiny?¡± taunted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I am not tiny!¡± shouted Nivritti and all three started walking towards the dance room.

    ¡°Hey! Hyung! Stop calling her names. First heavy, then tiny, why are you being like this today,¡± scolded Him-Chan.

    ¡°She called us tall and then said ¡®ugh¡¯. What is wrong with being tall?¡±ined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Maybe she is jealous. Because she is so tiny,¡±ughed Him-Chan. Kyung-Soo too startedughing.

    Nivritti hit both the boys on the back of their heads and rebuked, ¡°you both are so bad. I will find the worst scripts for you two. I am going to delete the best ones right now.¡± But both the boys keptughing at her.

    Finally, they reached the dance room and Him-Chan helped her to the bench and left for his practice.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Dae. ¡°Why were you crying?¡±

    ¡°What? I was not crying,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Everyone saw the tears in your eyes,¡± informed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ohh! Just pain!¡± lied Nivritti. Well, maybe that was not a lie. She felt pain and that¡¯s why she cried. Problem was, instead of her leg, her heart was aching.

    ¡°I told you to take the medicine but nooo¡­ why would you listen to me? I am just a stranger who works with you,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Stop talking nonsense!¡± scolded Nivritti. ¡°I am sorry for not taking the medicine. I thought I could manage the pain, but I was wrong. The moment I reach back home, I will take one, I promise.¡±

    ¡°You should have taken a leave,¡± suggested Dae.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti! All you had to do was read and find scripts. That can be done from home,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to take a leave this early in my job, Dae. Really, guys! I am fine. Let¡¯s concentrate on work,¡± sheforted both Dae and Jae-Hwa.

    With a smile on her face, she again focused on her work.

    Lunchtime arrived and today, ASD chose to enjoy their lunch with the kids. The Rencontre team had lunch together and after lunch, all took half an hour¡¯s break. Young-Chul chose to sleep during that half hour while sitting next to Nivritti.

    Dae found that bizarre. No one had ever seen Young-Chul showing interest in a girl or a boy for that matter. He always preferred being alone. Extremely rarely one had seen him talking with boys but never with girls. His mind again was on fire due to jealousy.

    ¡°What does this girl have? Even Young feelsfortable with her,¡± he pondered.

    After half an hour all went back to their work. Before 5 pm ASD said goodbye to the kids. They didn¡¯t want to keep them working for long. Cute kids again thanked Nivritti for all the choctes. She cutely smiled at every one of them. Her heart was at ease now after Kyung-Soo¡¯s words.

 Chapter 181 - 181 The Uncomfortable Car Ride

    181 The Ufortable Car Ride

    Now it was everyone¡¯s turn to leave for their home.

    ¡°Jae! You should call a cab,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh yeah, right!¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Why cab? If you don¡¯t have your car, I can drop you off,¡± suggested Dae.

    ¡°No, no, Seong-ssi, I will be fine,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Come on, Jae! I told you to call me Dae. And it will be no trouble. You have so many bags, let me help,¡± offered Dae.

    ¡°Fine, Dae,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Jae, Ritti, I will drop you,¡± suddenly Young-Chul shouted from the end of the dance hall.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine Young. I will drop Jae. You can take Ritti with you,¡± replied Dae.

    .....

    ¡°Okay, Dae,¡± Young-Chul raised his thumb at him and smiled.

    ¡°See you tomorrow!¡± Nivritti bid them goodbye and stood up with her bag.

    ¡°Give me that,¡± said Jung-Hwa, abruptly.

    ¡°Where do youe from?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°I am driving you with MY hyung,¡± smiled Jung-Hwa. Nivritti too smiled at his cute expression. She waved at Jae-Hwa and slowly started walking out of the room.

    ¡°JJ! Instead of carrying the bag, carry her, otherwise we will reach home tomorrow,¡± Young-Chul shook his head in disbelief.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti, Kyung-Soo, and Him-Chan immediately. ¡°No, no, don¡¯t. stop treating me like a kid,¡± she shouted. ¡°I am not going anywhere with you,¡± she pouted.

    ¡°Okay, okay, fine, walk like a sloth,¡± said Jung-Hwa. Kyung-Soo and Him-Chan sighed with relief.

    Jung-Hwa drove the car with Young-Chul sitting next to him and Nivritti in the back seat.

    ¡°Make sure to take medicine tonight,¡± ordered Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, I know,¡± said Nivritti. ¡°MY! When is your next session?¡±

    ¡°I have sessions on every Wednesday and Thursday. So, the day after tomorrow,¡± he replied.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I am good. I am trying to do everything they say, and I have your messages to keep mepany,¡± he turned around and smiled at her.

    ¡°You guys message every day?¡± asked Jung-Hwa shocked.

    ¡°No! I do. He never replies,¡± she answered.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. I was about to get a heart attack, phew!¡± sighed Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What??¡±ughed Nivritti.

    ¡°Ohh! He never replies to anyone. If it¡¯s urgent he will give you a call but never replies,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°But you used to attend script department meetings. How did youmunicate with CH?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°He knows me, he just messages me with the time and date, and I arrive at the mentioned time. Simple!¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°Why do you have a phone?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Good question!¡±ughed Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°But¡­ um¡­ you are active on social media. You have ounts on numerous apps, and you post regrly,¡±mented Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, you got it all wrong. He never posts. Our PR team maintains his social media, they post everything,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Woah! Really!!¡± Nivritti was shocked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°Ritti! Give me your IDs. Let¡¯s follow each other on social media apps,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    Nivritti looked ufortable. ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t have ounts on any social media,¡± she replied.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted both Young-Chul and Jung-Hwa. She looked at Young-Chul who was looking at her and shrugged her shoulders. Jung-Hwa who was driving kept ncing at her in the rear view mirror.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    Nivritti couldn¡¯t tell them the real reason. The real reason was, Ritvik, who kept stalking her on her social media, who kept liking her every post, who kept finding her everywhere no matter where she went or how many houses she changed, no matter how many times she blocked him, he would pop-up after making a new ount.

    To hide from him, she deleted every ount on every social media and almost cut herself from thend of the inte.

    ¡°Um¡­ you know my job has me staring at a screen 24¡Á7, just reading, and reading and writing. First of all, I do not have time to maintain my ounts and second, that would increase my screen time. I don¡¯t want to wear sses when I grow old,¡± she replied, awkwardly. She knew she was lying but she had no other options. ¡°I only have ounts on messaging apps.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s make a group chat of us and the Rencontre team,¡± suggested Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°No!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Rencontre team has Mr. Seong too. He does not know a lot about what happened between us, the restaurant drama, MY¡¯s health issues. He does not know that you guyse to my house¡­¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°¡­Which was my house,¡± Young-Chulpleted her sentence.

    ¡°Right! I don¡¯t think we should include him,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Fine, then let¡¯s leave him. We all and you and Jae, let¡¯s make a group,¡± giggled Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Let¡¯s add CH too. I hope he knows everything. He knows about the restaurant. Does he know about you, MY?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, he knows. He even came to visit me. He is one of the people who have been with us since the start. He alone used to write ideas and scripts for us and then we grew and now he is head of that department. We all like family. He knows everything about us, and we make a point to tell him,¡± exined Young-Chul.

    ¡°Really? Wow!¡± smiled Nivritti.

    Finally, they reached Nivritti¡¯s house and Young-Chul grabbed her bags.

    ¡°Let me carry it,¡±ined Nivritti.

    ¡°Why do you want to put more pressure on your leg?¡± scolded Young-Chul.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± she started walking towards the stairs.

    Jung-Hwa came out of nowhere and swept her off her feet. Within seconds she was in his arms.

    ¡°What¡­ what are you doing? Put me down!!!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Do you want toe to the office tomorrow?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes!¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Then keep your mouth shut and let me carry you,¡± rebuked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Excuse me! Did you shout at me?¡± she was taken aback.

    ¡°Yaaa! Screaming is not your property. Other people can scream too,¡± replied Jung-Hwa and started climbing the stairs.

    ¡°But you guys don¡¯t have your mask on,¡±ined Nivritti.

    ¡°We will be gone in a jiffy,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°Still, what if someone sees you?¡± cried Nivritti.

    ¡°No, no, keep talking loudly, that way you won¡¯t attract any attention,¡± taunted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± she said and shut up.

    Jung-Hwa carried her all the way up to her house and ced her feet softly. She inserted her code in the keypad and opened the door.

    ¡°Thank you, guys, for everything,¡± she smiled awkwardly at them.

    ¡°If you keep thanking us, I will hit you on your head,¡± mocked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Woah! My dialogue is being used on me. Great!¡± and all three startedughing.

    ¡°We should leave,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Bye, see you tomorrow,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I will get permission from Choi-ssi and will make a group,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Nivritti raised her thumb at him.

    The moment they left she sat on the couch with a thud and softly ced her feet on the table. Her toe was tingling with pain. She made a point to remember taking her pain medicine tonight.

    Meanwhile,

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Jae!¡± said Dae and grabbed her bags. Dae parked his car on a different level from ASD as that had VIP parking reserved for them with extra security and no one other than ASD members were allowed to park on their floor.

    Dae ced her bag in the trunk of the car and made her sit next to him in the passenger seat. He started the car and came out of the parking lot.

    .....

    ¡°Ritti is your good friend, right?¡± he initiated the conversation.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I am envious that you have such a good friend, even though she is so new to our team. I have been working so long in this team, yet I don¡¯t have such a good friend,¡±mented Dae.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, now you are our friends too,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    He removed his hand from the steering wheel and ced it over her thighs. Jae-Hwa froze instantly at his gesture. With a smirk on his face, he patted her thighs and said, ¡°thank you for that. I will make sure to be a good friend to you all.¡±

    Jae-Hwa was in too much shock. She had no idea what to say or do. She wanted to jerk his hand away, but she was frozen with fear. His touch was making her uneasy. Her jaws were clenched, and she had no idea whether to cry or shout at him. He never touched her before, then why was he doing something like this?

    He finally patted her thigh one more time and lifted his hand. ¡°So, did you find any more giarised scripts?¡± But Jae-Hwa didn¡¯t answer. She was still frozen in time. ¡°Jae!¡± he shouted. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, fine,¡± gulped Jae-Hwa. ¡°Did you say something?¡±

    ¡°I asked about the giarised scripts. Did you find any new ones?¡± he repeated.

    ¡°Um¡­ yes, I found some new ones,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Oh! So Ritti¡¯s idea didn¡¯t work,¡± hemented.

    ¡°Well¡­ we¡­ can¡¯t make people stop coying scripts. All we can do is ban them from posting again and participating again,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Right!¡± he smiled at her and dropped her at her home. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± was all she could reply.

    The moment she closed the car door, Dae saw a phone screen lit up inside his pocket. He took the phone out of his pocket and saw it was a video call. The disy said ¡°headache¡±.

 Chapter 182 - 182 The Good Day

    182 The Good Day

    It was a new day for Dae. He woke up early smiling. He was going to get his revenge. He knew Nivritti¡¯s passcode. All he needed was to get a hold of that footage. He would get a lot of money today. His walk had a bounce to it.

    ¡°You look happy today,¡± said Myung-Ok.

    Dae softly wrapped his arms around her waist and twirled her around,ughing loudly. ¡°My dear wife! Today is a good day,¡± chuckled Dae.

    ¡°Wow! Such good spirits on Monday! Oh, are you getting a bonus today?¡± she smiled, excitedly.

    ¡°Something like that,¡± smiled Dae and twirled her around again. He lifted her in his arms and the whole room filled withughter.

    ¡°Okay, okay, put me down, put me down, getting dizzy,¡± shouted Myung-Ok andughing, Dae softly ced her on the ground. ¡°I will get your breakfast. Get ready!¡±

    While Dae was getting ready, his wife ced all the food items on the table. Smiling and skipping, Dae came to the kitchen to have his breakfast.

    ¡°You are never like this? I like this. You look good when happy,¡±mented Myung-Ok.

    ¡°Thank you, dear wife. But I can never look as beautiful as you,¡± replied Dae and stuffed his mouth with soup.

    .....

    Happily, he reached the office and after greeting Chung-Ho, he went to his seat. He just had to look for an opportunity when Nivritti would leave her phone alone and the world would be his. He kept waiting for the girls to arrive, but the office timings started, and both were not in the sight.

    ¡°Seong-ssi!¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi!¡± Dae stood up.

    ¡°Go to the dance practice room. Girls are on their way, they will directly go to that room. They are noting here. Take the video script for ASD with you,¡± announced Chung-Ho.

    ¡°They are going there directly. Why?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°You will soon find out. Please go, ASD is waiting for you,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi!¡± said Dae. He grabbed hisptop and ced it in his bag. After collecting the daily video script for ASD, he moved towards his car.

    ¡°She is directly going there, why? Oh, why she always gets special treatment? I never received anything like that,¡± groaned Dae and kept walking towards his car.

    He forgot that not only Nivritti, but Jae-Hwa too was getting the same treatment. But in the fog of his jealousy, he wentpletely blind. He even forgot that no one in the history of Rencontre worked so closely with ASD, so it was impossible for him to get the same treatment before. He forgot that it was because of Nivritti that the script team working for Rencontre were getting special treatment. All he remembered was how to get his revenge.

    He drove his car to the practice room and with a big smile on his face he entered the room. He saw that everyone was standing close to each other except Him-Chan, he was near the girls. He greeted everyone and everyone looked at him.

    Happily, he asked why the girls chose toe to the dance room directly and avoided going to the office. Young-Chul started exining but Nivritti interrupted him in between and finished his sentence for him.

    ¡°Did Young just say ¡®we¡¯?¡± he pondered. ¡°I heard the word ¡®we¡¯. Another secret? But what? No worries once I get a hold of her phone every secret will reveal itself.¡±

    ¡°Oh my! Show me. What happened?¡± shouted Dae and ran to Nivritti. He knelt near her and tried to grab her leg. But Nivritti never let him touch herself. He jumped away from him shouting not to touch her feet. ¡°Why? Do I have thrones sticking out of my palms? What the hell does she think of herself, I can¡¯t even touch her? This filthy girl! She thinks she is superior to me?¡± Dae clenched his jaw in anger.

    But he saw that she flinched in pain after standing up in a hurry. He had to show concern for her. He asked sorry for causing more pain, but she assured him that she was doing fine.

    ¡°Yeah, keep doing fine. By tomorrow, you won¡¯t be fine,¡± heughed at the back of his mind. Another crazy thought shed in his mind. He wanted to make everyone believe that he was a sweet, sweet man. And to do that he would have to make them believe that he was the best friend they would ever have.

    Sweetly he pouted andined that why everyone called him Seong-ssi. They all that nicknames for each other so why not for him? Everyone settled on the name ¡®Dae¡¯. He wanted to know more details as to why the girls came together.

    Nivritti informed him that Jae-Hwa spent her weekend with her and they enjoyed the days watching movies and doing work. He somehow sensed that Nivritti was being extra rude to Kyung-Soo. While replying to him, she was fine but while talking to Kyung-Soo, she would keep snapping at him.

    ¡°What happened there?¡± he pondered.

    All started working and suddenly Nivritti¡¯s phone chimed. Dae nced at her phone and smiled. That phone was the key to his happiness, and he was getting it today at any cost.

    Suddenly the choreographer came in and in came a busload of kids shouting, giggling, smiling, andughing. Dae rolled his eyes at the sight but saw that Jae-Hwa and Nivritti were happy. He faked his smile. He kept looking at Nivritti¡¯s face who was sitting before him and kept smiling after he would see her smile.

    He noticed that today ASD were taking breaks frequently. He found that bizarre. ASD were known as dance machines, they could dance for hours without break, then what happened today?

    ¡°Why are they taking so many breaks? They never used to do that,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°No idea, Dae,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Maybe they are thinking about the kids. They don¡¯t want to tire them soon,¡± suggested Nivritti. Dae just nodded and they went back to their work. While ASD were dancing and Nivritti and Jae-Hwa were talking, his eyes were fixed on Nivritti¡¯s phone. It was silently lying on the table in front of Nivritti¡¯sptop.

    His attention broke when a delivery man arrived. He had a lot of packets in his hands. He found out that they were choctes that Nivritti had ordered for everyone.

    ¡°This is how she gets everyone on her side. She bribes them. She thinks kids will love her just because she gave them choctes. And why only kids? She only gets gifts for everyone else, except me. Am I invisible to her?¡± Dae clenched his fists in anger.

    Finally, she revealed that she bought choctes for everyone present in that room. Dae was surprised. For the first time ever, she got something for him. ¡°She thinks I will forget about revenge just after getting these cheap choctes, she has another thinging at her,¡± Dae Gritted his teeth.

    He didn¡¯t mind when the kids called him uncle but after Jae-Hwa kept pouting, he thought he could act like he too was offended, that would make him appear as human as possible. He had to n ahead so that no one could doubt his intentions.

    Everyone was happy to receive the choctes except Jung-Hwa. Everyone was eating but not him. Nivritti opened her bag of scolds and insults and started dumping everything on him. She gave him an earful for going on a diet on his own.

    ¡°Why is she so nosy? It¡¯s his wish. Let him do whatever he wants,¡± Dae rolled his eyes at her. ¡°Just because she is fat, she does not others to look beautiful, jealous girl!¡±

    Then something happened, what, he had no idea. All he saw were tiny drops of tears in Nivritti¡¯s eyes. ¡°Oh! Now what? Is this another n to get ASD care for her? Why is she crying now? Drama Queen!¡±

    She excused herself and ran away from the room. She said that she was going to the washroom, but it was clear to Dae that she was again hiding something. ¡°How many secrets this girl has?¡±

    Kyung-Soo went to the bathroom after a few seconds, but Dae paid no heed to that. Finally, the choreographer called them to continue the dance practice. Him-Chan said that he will go out and bring Kyung-Soo. The rest of the ASD went near the dance team and started warming up.

    Dae looked at the table. The table was filled with chocte boxes and the bags they came in. Nivritti¡¯s phone was hidden behind one of the packets. Jae-Hwa was still stuffing her face with choctes and kept reading scripts.

    Suddenly her phone rang, and she picked up the phone.

    ¡°Yes, Uhmma!¡± she chimed on phone.

    This was the moment Dae was waiting for. Jae-Hwa was distracted by the phone call. No one else was near the table, no one was even paying attention to the Rencontre team. Dae stood up and started cing all the boxes inside the paper bags, showing off that he was cleaning the table.

    ¡°Dae! Leave it, I will help you,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Go talk to your mother,¡± requested Dae.

    ¡°Yes, uhmma I wille home tonight,¡± Jae-Hwa said on the phone.

    Dae kept cleaning the table and finally, his eyesnded on Nivritti¡¯s phone. He ced his palm over her phone and covered itpletely. He nced around, no one was looking at him. He opened the phone immediately and ced the phone on silent, he even turned off the vibrating mode and ced the phone in his pocket.

    Within a second he cleaned the table and neatly ced the chocte bags in a single line. He was grinning from ear to ear as he was sessful in getting the phone.

 Chapter 183 - 183 The Sexual Relationship

    183 The Sexual Rtionship

    Dae cracked his knuckles and with a smile on his face looked at hisptop. He had to read a ton of scripts, but his mind was on Nivritti¡¯s phone. Although he was happy to have it, he still was terrified about what he would do or say if anyone found out that he had her phone.

    He had that phone on silent so even if anyone rang her phone, no one would hear its ringtone and that would make it difficult to find it. Now he just needed time alone to check the contents of the phone.

    Jae-Hwa came back after talking with her mother and sat in her ce. All others were waiting for Him-Chan and Kyung-Soo. Finally, they arrived. Him-Chan was walking while supporting Nivritti. He helped her all the way to the working station and left for practice.

    Dae was dying to know why she was crying. What happened suddenly? Did someone say something that hurt her? Or was it another secret that she was hiding? He asked her why she was crying. She lied that she was not crying. When Jae-Hwa scolded her that everyone saw tears in her eyes, she said that she was feeling ufortable due to pain, hence the tears.

    He could feel that something was off. Her eyes were slightly red. No matter how much she was smiling and trying to hide the fact, it was clear that she cried. All he wanted was the reason. But this girl was like fort Knox, she didn¡¯t spill any beans.

    He rolled his eyes and to appear polite suggested that she should have taken leave, the same way he sent her home after Thae spilt coke on her. She replied that she didn¡¯t want to take a leave so early in her job. Dae sighed with disbelief, ¡°drama queen! She thinks not taking leave will create a big impression. It¡¯s your work, Ms. Ritti. The way you are working your way through the members of ASD, you will climb the stairs of promotion very soon. And these idiots, don¡¯t they get what she is trying to do? She is trying to find a man among them by being their friend. I don¡¯t doubt if she strings two or three of them along. I very well know girls like her. Poor Jae! She does not know what kind of girl she is being friends with. She will break her heart.¡±

    ¡°Just look at Jae, perfect features, perfect figure, why don¡¯t these boys look at her? What is it about this stupid Indian girl that they like? Yeah, she has big eyes and double eyelids and full lips and nice cheekbones and a somewhat likeable figure, but except for those features, nothing is attractive. I would not be interested in her at all even if we were thest humans on this. Jae on the other hand, uff¡­ I have had my eyes on her since the day she joined. If only, I was not married,¡± he stared at Jae who was beingforted by Nivritti.

    Lunchtime arrived, and the kids had their food with ASD. They were so happy that they were sharing food with their favourite idols. A few kids came and offered a few pieces of food to Nivritti which she happily ate. Kids giggled shyly and ran away.

    Dae clenched his fists and his whole body shook with jealousy. His blood started boiling. Why everyone liked her was beyond his imagination. All he knew was she was taking his glory away from him. She took away Rencontre from him. She took away his bonus, she took away any chance of his promotion.

    .....

    His jealousy suddenly changed into shock when he saw Young-Chul choosing to sit close to her and resting his eyes for a bit. He had seen him sleeping and resting but he did that away from everyone. He never wanted anyone close to him. If any of the boys disturbed him or touched him while he would sleep, he would shower curse words on them.

    And here he was sitting close to her. He was sure that their thighs were touching. He never saw Young-Chul showing any interest in any girl. Then why was she special?

    ¡°What does this girl have? Even Young feelsfortable with her,¡± his shock again changed into envy.

    The whole afternoon he kept ncing at her with a clenched jaw and squinted eyes. He hated her with every cell in his body. He wanted her gone at any cost. And his wish was about toe true. He realised that he had to get a hold of a reporter to get the news out in the world. And he knew the perfect person for that. The famous paparazzi reporter who had exposed so many actors and idols in her lifetime.

    The problem was he had no idea how to contact her. He thought of asking Jae-Hwa and Nivritti as they were younger than him and would know how to navigate the world of the inte.

    ¡°Girls! If you want to contact someone and have no phone number, how would you do that?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Ohh! Who do you want to contact, Dae?¡± teased Nivritti.

    Daeughed shyly and said, ¡°I read a bookst night. I love the story and characters. I want to contact the writer topliment her and ask her advice on the book that I am writing.¡± He lied smoothly.

    ¡°Wow! You are writing a book. That¡¯s great, Dae,¡± pped Nivritti with excitement.

    ¡°Yes, Dae, that¡¯s awesome,¡± nodded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t know how to contact her,¡± sulked Dae.

    ¡°Do you know if she has any social media ount?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, right. If she has an ount, you can send her a DM. you can tell her how much you liked the book and then ask her for advice,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, but don¡¯t just write ¡®hi¡¯ and leave it. Write everything, like why you contacted her, what you like about her book and then leave a message that if she would have time, he would like to get advice. If she replied then you can ask her questions,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°What is wrong with just writing ¡®hi¡¯?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Oh! Famous people don¡¯t reply with just ¡®hi¡¯. They will ignore it. You have no idea how many creeps are there on the inte. And she is a girl so she will be extra careful, so you need to be extra, extra polite, and respectful,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°When have I never been polite and respectful?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°She does not mean that, Dae. You don¡¯t know how many creeps we girls have to fight with, every day. We know you, the writer does not. So, you have to also tell her what you do. She would be more interested to know that you are a scriptwriter, so you know the basics of writing a book. That way she will help you more,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Ohh!¡± eximed Dae. ¡°Thank you, girls!¡±

    ¡°Wee, Dae!¡± both Nivritti and Jae-Hwa smiled at him.

    ¡°Okay, should I contact her now or after I check her phone? If I contact her beforehand and find nothing on the phone, she will never talk to me again. She will never believe me again. I will wait till I have proof,¡± pondered Dae.

    Finally, the time to leave approached and he offered to drop Jae-Hwa at her house. That way he would get time to spend with her. He can try again to think against Nivritti. He wanted them separate, but their friendship was getting stronger.

    Nivritti went away with Young-Chul and Jung-Hwa and Dae took Jae-Hwa with him. He stared at Young-Chul and Nivritti when they were walking out. When Young-Chul suggested that Jung-Hwa should lift her up, Dae was taken aback. How close were they that they had no issue touching each other? Were they sleeping with each other?

    How many boys was she sleeping with? Did she start sleeping with them after she helped Jung-Hwa in that restaurant, or she helped him because they were already sleeping together? What was her rtionship with them? No man likes a girl if he can¡¯t get anything from her. It was obvious to him that ASD had some kind of rtionship with Nivritti and all he could think about was, a sexual rtionship.

    He saw them walking out of the room and then ordered Jae-Hwa to get her bags. His lift passed the VIP level and again he gritted his teeth. ¡°They park on this level, and I have to park below them. Am I below them? Am I inferior to them? Everyone looks down upon me, I will show them tonight. ASD, get ready for a scandal.¡±

    Dae and Jae-Hwa reached near the car, and he ced the bags in the trunk. He pressed his key fob and the car unlocked.

    ¡°Go, sit in the car. I will lock the trunk ande,¡± said Dae.

    Jae-Hwa moved towards the back seat and started opening the door. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t make me look like a driver. Sit in the passenger seat,¡± pouted Dae. ¡°We are friends, right?¡±

    Jae-Hwa nodded and went to the front door. Smiling awkwardly, she opened the door and sat inside. She was notfortable sitting next to Dae. She already had to sit next to him every day but that was before so many people. Sitting next to him, alone, that too in a confined space was making her feel ufortable.

 Chapter 184 - 184 The Unlocking of Phone

    184 The Unlocking of Phone

    With a devilish smile on his face, Dae sat next to Jae-Hwa and started his car. He noticed that his pants pocket lit up in a square light. He knew he ced his phone on the charger as soon as he sat inside the car which meant that the phone that was active right now was Nivritti¡¯s phone.

    He nced at Jae-Hwa to check if she noticed the phone in his pocket. Of course, she would ask why he was carrying two phones. No one ever saw him carrying two phones in life and that would create doubt in her mind. He had to think of a way to divert her mind.

    First, he thought of engaging her in conversation. ¡°Ritti is your good friend, right?¡± he broke the ice.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± smiled Jae-Hwa. But he could that it was an ufortable smile.

    ¡°Is she feeling uneasy with me?¡± pondered Dae.

    ¡°I am envious that you have such a good friend, even though she is so new to our team. I have been working so long in this team, yet I don¡¯t have such a good friend,¡± hemented.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, now you are our friends too,¡± chuckled Jae-Hwa, awkwardly.

    ¡°She is definitely feeling ufortable. Should I make her more uneasy? That way she will notice nothing else. But what should I do?¡± Suddenly he shed a devious smile and removed his hand from the steering wheel. Softly he ced his hand over Jae-Hwa¡¯s thighs. Jae-Hwa gasped and froze instantly at his gesture. With a smirk on his face, he patted her thighs and said, ¡°thank you for that. I will make sure to be a good friend to you all.¡±

    He noticed her expression and realised that his n seeded. He fried her brain with his touch. Now she would not think about anything else rather than his inappropriate touch. Even though he just touched her to divert her attention from himself, he liked touching her. He could tell that her skin was soft even though he was just touching the fabric of her dress.

    .....

    Suddenly he realised that he was married and what he was doing was inappropriate. He patted her thighs onest time and removed his hands. By that time, Jae-Hwa¡¯s mind had turned into charcoal. There was nothing inside her skull that she could use to think.

    Dae asked her about the giarised scripts, but Jae-Hwa could not answer him. She was still in shock. He shouted her name, and she came out of hera. Finally, she answered that she had found some new giarised scripts. Dae taunted that Nivritti¡¯s idea failed, it didn¡¯t work. People were still posting copied scripts.

    Again, Jae-Hwa took Nivritti¡¯s side and argued that it would be impossible to make everyone stop copying from others. At least after marking those giarised scripts, they were banning the writers from participating again.

    Through clenched teeth, Dae smiled at her reply. He gripped his steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white. ¡°No matter what I say, this girl always talks in favour of that moron girl,¡± chided Dae. ¡°Well, not after tonight. She will be gone, and the rencontre team will be mine.¡±

    In his jealousy, he forgot that he was the head of the rencontre team and even if he would get Nivritti fired, it still would be her idea. There was no changing that.

    Finally, the car reached Jae-Hwa¡¯s house. He said goodbye to Jae-Hwa, and she got off the car. The moment she was out again the phone in his pocket lit up. He took it out and saw the name ¡°headache¡±.

    ¡°Headache! Who is that?¡± he thought.

    He heard the sound of his trunk opening and immediately hid the phone. Jae-Hwa took her bags out and shut the trunk. Without even ncing at Dae she walked inside her house.

    Dae immediately moved his car away from Jae-Hwa¡¯s house. He drove like a maniac and reached his house. The phone kept ringing and ¡°headache¡± kept disying on the screen all the way.

    ¡°Stop calling, whoever you are,¡± he shouted at the phone.

    Finally, he was out of his car, and he ran towards the stairs. He ducked into a stairwell and took out his phone first. He created a new username and made a profile, just to talk to the person he was going to sell the information to.

    He then searched for the username ¡®missmatch¡¯ the popr paparazzi who kept following actors and idols and posted hidden news about them. Whatever she posted on her handle always went viral and would result in big scandals.

    She exposed so many couples, so many bullying cases, and so many extramarital affairs, if she would have opened her agency, it would have been one of the best news agencies, but she was happy being a paparazzi. Manypanies paid her money to keep quiet.

    So many articles were written about her saying that she was a self-made millionaire. She was still finishing her college and she was equally famous as an idol or an actor. Everyone in the entertainment world knew about her and secretly was scared of her.

    He opened the message section of her profile and typed a little information about him. He told her that he worked in K&Q and has some information about ASD. He told her that he had proof of June being involved in a violent act and he was willing to send it to her. He told her everything about the restaurant, its location, the date the assault happened, everything.

    While he was waiting for her answer, he took out Nivritti¡¯s phone and inserted the code. The phone unlocked. He opened her gallery. There was not a single photo or video.

    ¡°What??¡± he shouted. ¡°How is her gallery empty? Does she not take any selfies? She spends so much time with ASD and Jae-Hwa, does she not take a single photo? What the hell? Where is that video? WHERE IS THAT VIDEO???¡± he yelled at the top of her lungs.

    Suddenly his phone chimed. His heart jumped out of his mouth. He stopped breathing. ¡°Did she reply me back?¡± he asked himself. He looked at his phone. His eyes widened when he saw her reply.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if this is a joke, but I am going to have this conversation with you. I searched for the restaurant you mentioned and the date that you mentioned. There is nothing in the news, but I found somements on themunicator app. It coincides with the location and date. So, I am willing to take a look at what you have. But if you are wasting my time or making a fool out of me, make sure, I will make it my life¡¯s mission to destroy you,¡± replied ¡®missmatch¡¯.

    Dae gulped after reading her warning. He had no idea what to do, what to reply. He thought he would find the footage in Nivritti¡¯s phone but there was nothing there. He cursed himself for contacting her before checking Nivritti¡¯s phone. He had thought about that. He had nned to check the phone first and then contact ¡®missmatch¡¯ but in excitement, he made a mistake.

    He kept raking his brain on what to do, how to reply her back. Should he delete his ount? Should he leave her on read? What if she could trace him and approach him? What would he do then? But his ount was an anonymous one. How would she find out? But she said that she would destroy his life for wasting her time. Could she do that? Was she so powerful?

    His worry changed into anger as he realised that everything happened because of Nivritti. ¡°Who keeps their phone empty? But that manager said that she took that footage in her phone, the one and only copy. SO WHERE IS IT?¡± he screamed.

    He again opened every single folder in her phone but could not find that footage. Abruptly a notification popped up on her phone. It was a message from someone named ¡®JJ¡¯. He knew that she called June, JJ. It was a simple ¡®hi¡¯.

    ¡°June and Nivritti message each other?¡± pondered Dae. ¡°Wait! I can send this message to ¡®missmatch¡¯ and tell her that June is having an affair. That too will create a problem and Nivritti will have to leave thepany,¡± smirked Dae over his evil n.

    And the next moment a few more notifications appeared. Mostly it was ¡®hi¡¯s and ¡®hello¡¯s. Someone named ¡®NK¡¯ asked, ¡°why have we made this group?¡±

    JJ replied, ¡°so we can talk about MY hyung health here. Now, we can post it here, and everyone can read it. No need to send his medical report to Ritti separately.¡±

    The notification disappeared after seconds.

    ¡°Medical report? What are they talking about?¡± pondered Dae. He dragged the notification down and pressed on the messages. He was waiting for the app to open but to his shock, a keypad appeared on the screen asking him to enter the code.

    ¡°She keeps her messaging app locked? What is she hiding here?¡± he asked. He knew the code so happily, he punched in the number, but the screen just shook, and a message appeared, ¡°wrong password. Try again.¡±

 Chapter 185 - 185 The Group Chat

    185 The Group Chat

    Jung-Hwa immediately took out his phone and started climbing down the stairs. His attention was on his phone, so he almost tripped on thest stair of that floor.

    ¡°What are you doing? Do you want to injure your leg like Ritti?¡± shouted Young-Chul.

    ¡°Sorry! Was trying to make the group chat,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Do it after we reach home, idiot. And don¡¯t keep thinking about it while driving too, keep your focus on road,¡± Young-Chul pped the back of Jung-Hwa¡¯s head.

    ¡°Sorry, Hyung,¡± apologised Jung-Hwa and closed his phone. They both walked up to their car and Jung-Hwa drove the car to the ASD mansion.

    ¡°Did you drop her off?¡± asked Korain as soon as they entered the house.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Young-Chul and went to his room. Jung-Hwa jumped on the couch next to Thae who was watching TV while munching on sweets. Jung-Hwa grabbed a few sweets and dumped them in his mouth. Korain was busy in the kitchen while others were in their room.

    After a few minutes, Young-Chul came to the living room after changing his clothes. He saw Jung-Hwa sitting on the couch munching on sweets andughing at the TV. He pped the back of his head and asked, ¡°weren¡¯t you going to make a group?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right! I totally forgot. Let me ask Choi-ssi first,¡± said Jung-Hwa and took out his phone.

    .....

    ¡°What group?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°I just want to make a group with all of us and the Rencontre team minus Seong-ssi in it,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°But we already have a group, just add Ritti and Jae to it,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t think sometimes, do you?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Thae innocently.

    ¡°He means that we need a separate group if we want something to discuss among us, no one else needs to know or wants that information,¡± exined Korain.

    ¡°Ohh!¡± eximed Thae.

    ¡°What did Choi-ssi say?¡± asked Young-Chul while measuring rice to put it into the rice cooker.

    ¡°He says ¨C you kids make a group and keep me out of it. I don¡¯t want you good morning or good night messages,¡± Jung-Hwa read the message he received from Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Korain. ¡°Choi-ssi is always straight to the point.¡±

    Within seconds Jung-Hwa created a group and named it ¡®RASD¡¯. R from the first letter of rencontre and rest from ASD. After he added everyone to the group, he sent a message to the group. ¡°Hi!¡±

    Dae was frantically checking Nivritti¡¯s phone for the video she got from the restaurant that the manager told him about. ¡°Did he tell me a lie? But I paid so much money to him. I will kill him. I WILL KILL HIM,¡± shouted Dae.

    He was again checking every folder in her phone. Suddenly a notification appeared on her screen. JJ from RASD, ¡°Hi!¡±

    ¡°JJ? She calls June, JJ. June and Nivritti message each other?¡± Dae kept thinking. ¡°Wait! If I don¡¯t have the video, I can still send this message to ¡®missmatch¡¯ and tell her that June is having an affair with someone in the script department. They work with each other every day, they see each other every day, she even gave him a gift and today she gave him choctes. That too will create a problem and Nivritti will have to leave thepany,¡± smirked Dae over his evil n.

    Thae excitedly picked up his phone and messaged, ¡°Hi!¡±

    Dae again saw a message from someone named TK. He recognised him as Thae.

    Korain too picked up his phone and replied, ¡°Hello!¡±

    Again Dae saw a message from SK.

    Young-Chul rolled his eyes and messaged, ¡°Hello!¡±

    ¡°Woah! Ohh! What?¡± everyone present in the living room started hooting and teasing Young-Chul.

    ¡°You never send messages, Young,¡± Korain patted Young-Chul on his back and smiled at him.

    ¡°She will again scream at me if I don¡¯t reply,¡± Young-Chul smiled faintly.

    ¡°He too is scared of her,¡± gasped Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± shouted Young-Chul.

    Dae again saw a message from MY. ¡°One by one every member of ASD is replying. What is this?¡± thought Dae.

    ¡°Why have we made this group?¡± Kyung-Soo messaged in the group.

    ¡°Where is he?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°In his room,¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°He couldn¡¯te down and ask this. He had to send a message, oh, sozy!!¡±mented Jung-Hwa. He then typed on his phone, ¡°so we can talk about MY hyung health here. Now, we can post it here, and everyone can read it. No need to send his medical report to Ritti separately.¡±

    Dae kept reading all the messages as they kept appearing in the notification.

    ¡°Medical report? What are they talking about?¡± He dragged the notification down and pressed on the messages. He thought that app would open, and he could read all her messages but to his shock, the lock screen of the app appeared before him.

    ¡°She keeps her messaging app locked? What is she hiding here?¡± he asked. He knew the code, so he immediately punched in the number, but the screen just shook, and a message appeared, ¡°wrong password. Try again.¡±

    Jeong-Eun replied, ¡°ohh! Nice idea. Wah! Girls are here too.¡±

    ¡°Great work, JJ!¡± messaged Him-Chan atst. They kept waiting for the girls to message but neither Ritti nor Jae-Hwa messaged in the group.

    Jae-Hwa was still in shock after Dae¡¯s touch, and she kept scrubbing her thighs while in the shower to get rid of the sensation. Whereas Nivritti¡¯s phone was in Dae¡¯s hands making him angrier as it refused to unlock.

    ¡°What?¡± Dae immediately checked his phone where he saved her passcode. It was 20482048. After double-checking the code, he again pressed the code in her number, but the message was the same that it was the wrong password.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just four numbers,¡± he contemted. He pressed 2048, again the app refused to open. ¡°Let me try something else,¡± he thought and pressed everybination of 2, 0, 4, and 8 he could think of. But the app never budged.

    He clenched the phone tightly in his fists and groaned loudly in frustration. ¡°What the hell is happening to me? Why can¡¯t I win with this girl? Either she is prepared for every disaster and is very cunning or she is extremely lucky. Ahhh¡­¡±

    With as much force he could apply, he threw her phone at the wall in front of him. The phone¡¯s corner hit the wall. The ster of the wall came out with the impact and the phone fell to the ground with a thud.

    Even after destroying her phone, he was not satisfied, screaming like a maniac, he kept jumping on her phone. The ss of the phone kept crunching under the pressure. After he let go of his anger, he grabbed her phone from the ground and dumped it in a garbage can.

    Now he had to take care of ¡®missmatch¡¯. He didn¡¯t want her to message him back calling him names. Heposed a message lying that he was a fan and just wanted her to reply to him. He was sorry that he lied but he was happy that she messaged him back and was sorry to waste her time. He immediately deleted his anonymous ount.

    Grunting and shouting he moved towards his house. He opened the messaging app on his phone and sent an apology to Jae-Hwa. ¡°I feel like you were ufortable in my car. Sorry if I did anything to make you feel like this. I would never do anything to make anyone feel uneasy, please forgive me if I was in wrong.¡±

    After reading his messages, she thought for a few hours, ¡°maybe he was just being friendly. He didn¡¯t mean anything by that. He is married and everyone knows he loves his wife.¡± After Jae-Hwa was feeling okay, she too messaged the group saying, ¡°Hi! Thank you for adding me.¡±

    But there was no message from Nivritti. ASD had their dinner together and Jae-Hwa again messaged in the group, ¡°Ritti! Are you okay? How¡¯s your leg?¡± Again, there was no reply.

    Kyung-Soo was getting worried about her, ¡°everyone has replied once. Why is she not replying?¡±

    ¡°Maybe she is busy,¡± replied Thae stuffing his face with food.

    All had their dinner and retired for the night. But Young-Chul couldn¡¯t sleep. He didn¡¯t receive his good night from Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa again messaged, ¡°where are you Ritti? Why are you not replying?¡±

    All the boys opened their doors at the same time and looked at each other. Young-Chul was ready to go out. He was wearing a hoodie and jeans.

    ¡°Why are you dressed like this?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°She has not sent a good night message to me. Something is wrong,¡± Young-Chul was breathing heavily.

    ¡°But you guys dropped her off at her house,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Hyung! I don¡¯t know. All I know is she always sends me a goodnight message. I want my message. She berated everyone for sending reports about me, now it¡¯s her turn,¡± shouted Young-Chul and started walking out of the house.

    ¡°I will drive you,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and ran towards him. He grabbed his car key and walked with Young-Chul.

 Chapter 186 - 186 The Non-deliverable Messages

    186 The Non-deliverable Messages

    Young-Chul wasying on his bed after a big dinner. He ate too much, and his heavy stomach was making it uneasy for him to sleep. He kept changing his sides to feelfortable. But he was notfortable at all.

    His mind kept going to his phone. He grabbed his phone and checked for messages. There was none. He opened the group chat. Thest message was from Jae-Hwa asking Nivritti about her leg. But Nivritti never replied. He opened the details of that message. Everyone had seen it except Nivritti.

    He sat up with a jerk. ¡°Everyone saw it except her?¡± he was shocked. She didn¡¯t even see the message. How busy was she? And doing what? She was not even allowed to walk. What was she busy with? He checked for every message sent in the group. Everyone had seen and read the messages except Nivritti. She had not seen a single message that was sent to the group.

    ¡°Something is wrong!¡± he said. He bit his lips and kept clenching his one fist in frustration. He was never the one to initiate the conversation but now he would have to break that rule. He typed ¡°good night¡± and sent that message to Nivritti.

    He kept staring at his phone for minutes. The message was sent but was not delivered. ¡°What is happening?¡± He jumped from his bed and opened his closet. He changed into a hoodie and grabbed his mask.

    Suddenly his phone chimed, and a smile appeared on his face. He thought Nivritti replied to him. He ran to his phone and immediately unlocked it. He was disappointed to see that the message was from Jae-Hwa scolding Nivritti for not replying. ¡°Where are you Ritti? Why are you not replying?¡±

    Young-Chul started breathing heavily as his mind started forming scenarios about idents that could have befallen Nivritti. Not a night went by, that she didn¡¯t message him. Even though he never replied to her, she always replied to him except the night that she didn¡¯t message him in anger.

    But she promised that she would never stop messaging him. She said that even if he didn¡¯t reply to him, she will keep sending him messages. At least that night, the messages were delivered to her phone but tonight, it was not even being delivered to her.

    Young-Chul opened the door and every member of ASD was standing at their doorstep. All opened the door at the same time with their phones in their hands. All looked at each other, everyone was in their pyjamas except Young-Chul.

    .....

    ¡°Okay, why is no one asleep?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°Why are you not sleeping?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Why is she not replying? I told her we will make a group. Why is she not replying?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Why are you dressed like this?¡± asked Korain to Young-Chul.

    ¡°She has not sent a good night message to me. Something is wrong,¡± Young-Chul was on the verge of hyperventting.

    ¡°Good night?¡± inquired Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°After she heard about my depression, she has been sending messages to me every night. It has been one of the reasons I sleep well. I want my message!!¡± shouted Young-Chul.

    ¡°Okay, okay, maybe she is sleeping, she forgot, she was tired, there are a number of reasons. You cannot go to someone¡¯s house at this hour,¡± justified Him-Chan.

    Suddenly everyone¡¯s phone chimed together. All immediately checked their phone. All collectively clenched their jaws and stared at Thae. It was a message from Thae saying, ¡°Ritti! Reply back, now!!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± he asked innocently.

    ¡°We all could have done that, GENIUS!!¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°No need messages are not being delivered to her. She has not seen or read any of the messages sent in the group,¡± exined Young-Chul.

    ¡°You checked that?¡± asked Kyung-Soo, worried.

    ¡°Yes, every single message. Something is wrong,¡± yelled Young-Chul.

    ¡°But MY, you guys dropped her off at her house,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Hyung! I don¡¯t know, okay. I don¡¯t know. All I know is she always sends me a goodnight message. I want my message. She berated everyone for not sending reports about me, she scolded me for not replying to her, now it¡¯s her turn,¡± shouted Young-Chul and started walking out of the house.

    ¡°Wait! You are not allowed to drive,¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°I will drive you,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and ran towards him.

    ¡°I aming too,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Me too,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°No one is going anywhere except NK and MY. My needs to check on her and he needs someone to drive him. All others are staying put,¡± ordered Korain.

    ¡°But Hyung,¡± protested Him-Chan.

    ¡°Do you think four men barging into a woman¡¯s apartment thiste at night is good?¡± asked Korain. ¡°My God! You just said that,¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°Right, sorry,¡± apologised Him-Chan.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will inform you all the moment I reach her house,¡± said Young-Chul. Kyung-Soo grabbed his car key and walked with Young-Chul. Kyung-Soo didn¡¯t even change his clothes. He just came out in slippers and his silk pyjamas.

    All the boys came out near the garage to see Young-Chul and Kyung-Soo drive away.

    ¡°Oh, is she alright?¡± asked Jung-Hwa, sadly.

    ¡°She will be fine,¡± Korain wrapped his arms around Jung-Hwa and gave him a back hug.

    ¡°Since she met us, since she came to K&Q, she has been in pain, Hyung,¡± sniffled Jung-Hwa. two water drops fell on Korain¡¯s arms.

    ¡°Are you¡­¡± Korain turned Jung-Hwa around and confirmed his suspicions. He was indeed crying. ¡°Are you crying?¡±

    ¡°First, this idiot scolded her and made her cry,¡± Jung-Hwa pointed at Thae. ¡°Then NK hyung scolded her in the copy room, then she got hurt saving Jae, she was hurt but concentrated on saving me, getting me out of there, then she had to fight with her own department for me and Jae, we triggered her cynophobia, she had to go see a therapist, even when she was dealing with her fear, she made sure MY hyung was okay, and then NK hyung had to fight with her making her hurt her toe. She was hurt, and in pain yet she ordered choctes for us. Every time she always thinks of us, not her pain,¡± sobbed Jung-Hwa and threw himself in Korain¡¯s arms.

    Korain immediately hugged his little brother and patted his back. ¡°It¡¯s okay, JJ. Some people are born angels. They always think about others no matter how much pain they are in. And God looks after them. I am sure she is fine. There must be a problem with her phone. MY will call us saying that she is fine, mark my words.¡±

    ¡°Yes, JJ, she is fine, I know it,¡± Him-Chan sniffled.

    ¡°Stop crying everyone, you are making me cry,¡± shouted Thae.

    ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s go inside and wait for MY hyung to call,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°He is right,¡± said Korain and pushed everyone inside the house.

    Kyung-Soo drove as fast as he could. His heart was beating out of his chest. He was breathing heavily. He just wanted to ditch the car and ran to Nivritti. Somehow, he was feeling that the car was dying him. He wanted to see Nivritti as soon as possible. If something would have happened to her, he would just die.

    Young-Chul nced at Kyung-Soo and ced his hand over his shoulder. ¡°Just concentrate on the road. Don¡¯t think about that. We will find out soon enough,¡± said Young-Chul. Kyung-Soo looked at him and nodded.

    ¡°Do you have a mask in the car?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°I might have one, look in the glovepartment,¡± gulped Kyung-Soo. His throat felt like thrones were sticking out of it. It was getting difficult for him to gulp. His lips, his mouth, his throat, everything felt dry.

    Even though the AC in the car was on, he was feeling hot. He opened the window and let the air in. He exhaled and inhaled for minutes trying to calm himself down. Young-Chul was busy looking for a mask in the glovepartment. Finally, he found one.

    Their car reached Nivritti¡¯s building and as it waste at night, the parking area was almost full. Kyung-Soo had to drive all around to find an empty space. ¡°How many cars are here?¡± shouted Young-Chul in frustration. ¡°here!¡± he handed a mask to Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°We are here, she is fine, we are here, she is fine,¡± Kyung-Soo kept repeating and parked the car like a pro.

    ¡°Who is supposed to calm whom?¡± mumbled Young-Chul.

    Both the men were sweating due to worry. It was getting difficult for them to breathe. Suddenly Young-Chul¡¯s phone rang. It was Him-Chan. ¡°Did you guys reach her house?¡± Him-Chan asked.

    ¡°Just reached her parking area. Will call you after we enter her house,¡± replied Young-Chul, urgently.

    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± said Him-Chan and disconnected the call.

    Both Young-Chul and Kyung-Soo jumped out of the car and ran up the stairs to Nivritti¡¯s apartment. They skipped several stairs in hurry and breathing heavily, they reached her door.

    Young-Chul pressed the doorbell but there was no reply. He was growing impatient, he kept pressing her bell unable to hear any sounds from inside.

    ¡°Oh, move!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and pressed the code in the keypad. He flung the door open, and both ran inside.

 Chapter 187 - 187 The Anger

    187 The Anger

    Kyung-Soo and Young-Chul rushed all the way to Nivritti¡¯s apartment to find out why she was not replying to their messages. All the other boys kept waiting for updates. Jung-Hwa cried a lot thinking about her.

    Young-Chul rang Nivritti¡¯s bell like a maniac. He was not sure if he even heard a voice from inside. But Kyung-Soo was losing his patience. He was terrified of things that could happen to Nivritti. He just threw Young-Chul to the side and absentmindedly punched in Nivritti¡¯s code like a reflex.

    He pushed the door open and ran inside. His jaw dropped the moment he saw the scene before him. Nivritti was standing in front of them, rubbing her eyes and looking at them shocked. She was dressed in a red camisole and ck shots. As two men barged into her house, she stared at them for seconds and then a loud ear-piercing scream escaped her mouth.

    Young-Chul jumped at the door and shut it closed so that her neighbours would not hear her scream sote at night. Meanwhile, Kyung-Soo jumped near Nivritti and ced his palm over her mouth. Nivritti tried to step back but he ced his other hand on her waist and pulled her closer to make her stop screaming.

    No one could tell who was more shocked, Nivritti, after seeing Kyung-Soo and Young-Chul barging in, or Young-Chul, after realising that Kyung-Soo knew Nivritti¡¯s passcode, or Kyung-Soo, after seeing Nivritti safe and sound before him but screaming her head off.

    ¡°It¡¯s us, please stop screaming,¡± requested Nivritti. She nodded. Kyung-Soo slowly removed his hand and let her go. She immediately jumped away from him.

    She opened her mouth and shut it again, her jaw kept moving but no sounds came out. After the reality set in, Kyung-Soo immediately lowered his eyes with respect, but Young-Chul just moved near her in anger.

    Looking at Young-Chul walking towards herself, she came out of her shock. ¡°Wha¡­ what are you both doing here?¡±

    Young-Chul grabbed her shoulder, turned her around and pushed her, ¡°cover yourself and then we can talk.¡±

    .....

    She immediately looked at him and asked, ¡°what?¡± Young-Chul just lowered his eyes at her exposed neck and cleavage. Nivritti lowered her gaze to see what he was pointing at. She again let out a scream and covered her chest with her hands and ran towards her room.

    The door of the bedroom shut with a bang and a series of profanities and ows and ouches were audible all over the house. Young-Chul shook his head in disbelief and sighed loudly.

    ¡°Who would say that sometimes she thinks like a genius?¡± he rolled his eyes. He then turned and faced Kyung-Soo who awkwardly grinned at Young-Chul. He crossed his arms over his chest and asked Kyung-Soo, ¡°tell me this, how do you know her passcode?¡±

    Kyung-Soo¡¯s eyes widened. It seemed as if he saw the angel of death staring at him. He gulped hard as his mouth went dry. He opened his mouth, ¡°a¡­ ah¡­ the¡­ I mean¡­ what¡­¡± not a single word from his mouth made sense.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me about vowels. Give me an answer. How do you know her passcode?¡± repeated Young-Chul.

    ¡°Now tell me what are you two doing here?¡± shouted Nivritti and walked into the living room.

    Both Kyung-Soo and Young-Chul looked at her. She threw a white t-shirt over her red camisole as the red was still visible under the white t-shirt. Kyung-Soo was d that she barged in at the right moment as he had no answer for Young-Chul regarding her door¡¯s passcode.

    Young-Chul squinted his eyes and moved close to her. He raised his hand and hit her on her shoulder.

    ¡°Ow!¡± cried Nivritti.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you message me? Why weren¡¯t you replying to any of our messages?¡± shouted Young-Chul.

    ¡°MY¡­¡± before Nivritti could reply, Kyung-Soo too approached her and pped her on her other arm. ¡°Oo!!!¡± she screamed.

    ¡°Do you have any idea how worried we were?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. ¡°Answer him! Why didn¡¯t you reply to any of our messages?¡±

    ¡°Sshhhh¡­¡± she ced her forefinger on her lips and shushed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Are you shushing us?¡± scolded Young-Chul and again hit her.

    ¡°Ow! What? No! tell me this, did you tell Jae that you guys wereing here?¡± she asked.

    ¡°No,¡± replied Kyung-Soo, confused. ¡°Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°1¡­ 2¡­ 3,¡± she pointed at her door. The very moment a loud knock and continuous ringing of the bell hit their ears. All that noise was apanied by the shouting of Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Open the door now,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You both are telling me, you couldn¡¯t hear her screaming while she kept climbing my stairs?¡± Nivritti rolled her eyes. ¡°Please open the door before she wakes up the whole building,¡± she requested Kyung-Soo.

    Kyung-Soo moved to the door and opened it. Jae-Hwa was still shouting, ¡°I will kill you the moment you open the door. How dare you ignore me? Open the do¡­¡± Jae-Hwa lost her voice when she saw Kyung-Soo standing at the door.

    ¡°King?¡± she mumbled.

    ¡°Just get in before my neighbours kick me out,¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°Why did youe alone at this time of night, you idiot!¡±

    ¡°She is not alone,¡± said Kyung-Soo and opened the doorpletely. Jae-Geun was standing at the threshold smiling awkwardly. Nivritti facepalmed and shook her head in disbelief.

    ¡°You dragged him here at this hour,¡± shouted Nivritti. Kyung-Soo immediately pulled Jae-Geun inside and closed the door.

    ¡°You!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. ¡°You have no right to shout. Come here,¡± yelled Jae-Hwa and jumped at Nivritti. She started hitting Nivritti on her upper arm and back.

    ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop it,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t stop. Keep hitting her,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± screamed Nivritti.

    ¡°Do you have any idea how we felt?¡± Young-Chul again hit her.

    ¡°We thought something happened to you,¡± Kyung-Soo too again approached her and raised his arm to hit her but stopped himself.

    But not Jae-Hwa, she kept hitting her. ¡°Do you have any idea how many times I called you? How many messages have I left you?¡± Jae-Geun immediately ran to his sister and lifted her in one arm and pulled her back.

    ¡°Yeah, she chewed my ear off. She even asked me to call you,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°All are waiting for news about you. No one in the ASD mansion has slept till now. JJ made a group as he told you, but you never send any messages. I didn¡¯t reply to you, and you were all angry. Do you have any idea what happened to me when I didn¡¯t receive your goodnight message? What do you have to say about yourself?¡± scolded Young-Chul. ¡°Look at NK hyung, he is here in his pyjamas. He didn¡¯t want to waste time changing clothes. We came here running. And you were sleeping, peacefully, without thinking about your friends.¡±

    Nivritti kept staring at him, blinking her eyes profusely. She never heard Young-Chul talk so much in so little time. He was a man of few words. Yet he sent her a page long message and just monologed before her.

    ¡°Answer him!¡± shouted both Jae-Hwa and Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Um¡­ I lost my phone,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± all shouted at once.

    ¡°When I left in the morning, I had my phone with me. I remember as I chatted with CH in the practice room. But after you dropped me off, I checked my pocket, my bags and could not find my phone. Maybe I left it in the practice room or dropped it somewhere, I am not sure,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, no, no! you lost your phone?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Why are you worried?¡± she asked.

    ¡°What if someone found your phone and read our chats? They will know that Young was in the hospital,¡± cried Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Shit!¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°What? No, that¡¯s not possible. First, they will have to crack my code, next my messaging app is double-locked, and I never saved your names. It is all NK, MY, JJ, etc. And don¡¯t you think if someone would have cracked my phone, everything about Young would have been in news by now?¡± assured Nivritti.

    ¡°How are you so calm?¡± asked Young-Chul. ¡°You just lost your phone. Don¡¯t you have important information on your phone?¡±

    ¡°I back up everything. Everything is floating in clouds. I logged in to all my ounts through myputer, made a copy and deleted every piece of information, every message from my phone,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What about photos, videos?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°There was nothing on my phone. I don¡¯t take photos and since I came to Korea, I have been busy with my work. The only ces I visited were with you guys and we never took any photos. I don¡¯t have any social media ounts, I just have a few online payment apps and messaging apps. I blocked every payment app and deleted messages from the messaging app. Simple!¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Wahhh!!!¡± pped Young-Chul. He grabbed her head and started rotating it in every direction.

    ¡°What?¡± she pped his hands off.

    ¡°Do you really have a brain inside or aputer?¡± he asked, impressed.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡±ughed Nivritti.

    ¡°You shouldin to the police,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°About what?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°That you lost your phone,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

 Chapter 188 - 188 The Lost Phone

    188 The Lost Phone

    Everyone kept hitting Nivritti on her arm in anger. She could that everyone was scared and worried for her, especially Kyung-Soo. His face had fear written all over it. The way he held her close to him finally made him realise that she was safe.

    Everyone first berated her for not replying to their messages and asked why she didn¡¯t reply. She informed everyone that she lost her phone. Kyung-Soo and Young-Chul freaked out for a minute, but she assured them that everything was fine. Jae-Hwa even asked her to report her phone stolen.

    ¡°I lost it, no one took it or stole it. I doubt the police will even file a report about it. It was my mistake, I lost it somewhere. I will look for it near the practice room, maybe it is somewhere there. I tried looking at my stairs but¡­¡± replied Nivritti.

    But before she couldplete her sentence, Kyung-Soo shouted, ¡°are you out of your mind? Who told you to walk on stairs with that foot? Do you want to injure yourself further?¡±

    Nivritti lowered her head and looked down in shame. She knew she should not have done that.

    ¡°And then you had to run when Young told you to change your clothes. Couldn¡¯t you walk slowly?¡± he kept berating her.

    ¡°He is right. With an injury like that, people are advised to rest and not put pressure on it. If you will keep doing this, it will take a lot of time to heal,¡± interjected Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°You, sit down,¡± Young-Chul ordered Nivritti. Nivritti pursed her lips and slowly walked to the couch and sat down. ¡°I have to call everyone else they too wille running here,¡± said Young-Chul and took out his phone. He dialled thest number he received a call from, Him-Chan¡¯s number. Within a single ring, he picked up the call.

    .....

    But the voice that streamed in, was of Jung-Hwa, ¡°how is she? Where is she? What happened to her? Why was she not replying?¡± Jung-Hwa kept shouting question after question.

    ¡°Calm down, JJ. Give me a moment to reply,¡± said Young-Chul, casually.

    ¡°Yes, Hyung, you are on the speaker. We all are listening,¡± spoke Him-Chan.

    ¡°She was not replying because she lost her phone,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted everyone from the other side of the phone. ¡°How? Where? Did she look for it? When did she find out?¡± who asked which question no one had any idea.

    Young-Chul ced his hand over his forehead and rubbed his temple in frustration. ¡°Shut up!¡± he shouted at his brothers. ¡°One question at a time. If you keep babbling like this how will anyone reply?¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡± all said in unison on the phone.

    ¡°Young, what if someone found her phone, they can get our details from it,¡± shouted Korain, abruptly. ¡°Ask her to log in to all her ounts and delete everything important.¡±

    ¡°Oh, great minds think alike!¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Hyung, she was one step ahead of you. She already removed everything from her phone,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°But not the sim card,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°What about it?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Anyone can misuse her number, use it tomit a crime as the number is in her name she cannd in trouble,¡± exined Korain.

    ¡°Let me put you on speaker, exin it to her,¡± said Young-Chul and pressed the speaker button.

    ¡°Are you okay, Ritti?¡± asked Korain, immediately.

    ¡°Yes, SK, I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Should I hit you on your head? Why weren¡¯t you replying?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa immediately.

    ¡°Um¡­ MY told you that I lost my phone, right?¡± Nivritti scratched the back of her neck in confusion. Young-Chul just informed him that she lost her phone then why was Jung-Hwa repeating his questions?

    ¡°I know. I just wanted to shout at you,¡± yelled Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Feel good now?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, thank you very much,¡± sulked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Are you done?¡± Korain scolded Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Sorry, Hyung,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°So, Ritti, you need to file a report with the police that you lost your phone,¡± suggested Korain.

    ¡°What? Why? What can they do?¡± she asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s not about what they will do. It¡¯s about the copy of the report that you will get. You can show that report to the simpany and get a copy of the same sim, you won¡¯t have the change your number. Even if you want to change your number, you should get a copy of the report so that any crimemitted with your number, the police report will exonerate you,¡± exined Korain.

    ¡°I told you,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae! What are you doing there at this time?¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°Just like you sent these two here at this time of night, she too came to check up on me,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Alone?¡± asked Jeong-Eun, shocked.

    ¡°No, her brother drove her here,¡± smiled Nivritti and nced at Jae-Hwa. Her cheeks were red after hearing his voice.

    ¡°Wow! Miss popr!!¡± teased Korain. ¡°You have good friends. You should treat your friends tomorrow for looking after you,¡± he tried to make the environment lighter and slightly fun.

    ¡°Done!¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Young, make sure she is okay ande home soon. You too need your sleep,¡± ordered Korain.

    ¡°You guys go to sleep, NK hyung will go back soon. I am staying here,¡± announced Young-Chul.

    ¡°What?¡± everyone altogether shouted except Nivritti. She had a different exmation, ¡°excuse me!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Oppa, you leave too, I am staying here,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°If he is staying, I am staying here too,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You have not brought any clothes. I will stay here with you, and we can leave early in the morning and then you can get ready for your office,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No!!¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°No one is staying here. Everyone, go back to your houses.¡±

    ¡°What if you need something? How will you call someone?¡± scolded Young-Chul.

    ¡°What will I need in the middle of the night? I was asleep before you guys barged in,¡± yelled Nivritti.

    ¡°I am not going anywhere, you cannot make me,¡± sulked Young-Chul and sat down on the couch in front of Nivritti.

    Nivritti shook her head in disbelief and stood up. ¡°Children!¡± she mumbled. Kyung-Soo immediately stared at her.

    ¡°There she goes, again with ¡®children¡¯ nonsense,¡± he thought.

    She walked near Young-Chul and looked at him. Her serious expression changed into a mocking smile. While smiling, she grabbed his ears and made him stand up. ¡°Ow, ow, ow!¡± screamed Young-Chul and stood up.

    Nivritti walked with Young-Chul and took him near the door. ¡°Go, back home. I only have one bed and I am not letting you sleep on the couch. You need a good night¡¯s sleep else your mental health will be hampered. Come here early, you have to take me to the police station. On second thought, you don¡¯te. You sleepte till morning. Someone else cane to pick me up.¡±

    ¡°I wille,¡± shouted Thae from the phone.

    Because of Young-Chul¡¯s stubbornness, everyone in Nivritti¡¯s apartment had forgotten that the phone call was still connected. Thae¡¯s voice made them realise that everyone could hear one another.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s better that someone like me would take you to the police station. If an idol would be seen before the police station, they will have questions,¡± interrupted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Who is that?¡± asked Thae.

    Nivritti waited for Jae-Geun or Jae-Hwa to reply but both just kept staring at her. Nivritti rolled her eyes and replied, ¡°that¡¯s Jae-Geun, Jae-Hwa¡¯s brother.¡±

    ¡°Well, he is not wrong. It would be better if helps you,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Ow! Let go of my ear,¡± shouted Young-Chul.

    ¡°Oh, right!¡± said Nivritti and let his ear go. She then pressed his ear softly to ease the pain. ¡°Please, MY, you need rest. Go home.¡±

    ¡°I am thirsty. I want water. Guys! Talk to you when I get home,¡± said Young-Chul on the phone and disconnected the call.

    ¡°Fine! I will get you water,¡± Nivritti replied, defeated.

    ¡°You, sit down. I can get water myself,¡± sulked Young-Chul and again rubbed his ear, the one she pulled. ¡°Everyone, sit down. I will get water for everyone.¡±

    Young-Chul went into the kitchen while others sat on the couch.

    ¡°You guys are something else! Whoes to someone¡¯s house, sote at night?¡± Nivritti shook her head in disbelief.

    ¡°You were not replying, and we all knew you were hurt,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°So?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°How did you feel when we were not replying to you? You kept asking us about Young and then you threatened us that the next time that happens you will hit us on our head. Still, you are asking ¡®so¡¯?¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Right, sorry! I didn¡¯t mean to worry any of you. I have been trying to rake my brain trying to recall where I might have lost my phone, but I have no answer,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Well, now don¡¯t think about that. Now we know and everyone¡¯s mind is at ease. Tell me which phone you want, I will get it for you,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Why? What do you mean? Why would you buy it? I can buy a phone for myself,¡± said Nivritti, offended.

    ¡°He is just trying to be nice, not calling you poor, don¡¯t get offended,¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

 Chapter 189 - 189 The Solution

    189 The Solution

    Kyung-Soo proposed that he would buy a phone for Nivritti, but she was angry at his insinuation. She never wanted anything from anyone. She was always a proud independent woman. So, when he suggested she was offended.

    ¡°You really think I would do something like that? Try to offend you?¡± pouted Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti realized that she overreacted. ¡°I am just saying that I can buy a phone for myself, you don¡¯t have to do that,¡± sighed Nivritti.

    ¡°And we could have bought scarves and choctes for ourselves. You didn¡¯t need to do that,¡± pointed Young-Chul and ced a tray of sses on the table.

    ¡°Hey! Those were gifts! And choctes were for kids, you guys were there so I bought one for you¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°And what is he trying to do? Bribe you?¡± asked Young-Chul while cing the ss of water in front of everyone. He gave the first ss to Kyung-Soo, then Nivritti, then Jae-Hwa and atst to Jae-Geun. For the first time, he looked carefully at Jae-Geun. Before that, he was more concentrated on Nivritti and scolding her.

    He was too concerned and worried about her. She didn¡¯t reply to him and that made him angry. He didn¡¯t care about anything or anyone except Nivritti. He only had eyes for her.

    But now he had the time to look at others. Finally, he noticed that Jae-Hwa too rushed to Nivritti¡¯s house in her pyjamas, she just threw an overcoat over her night dress. He looked at Jae-Geun. He was wearing a pink shirt and trousers. Young-Chul¡¯s hands froze and he blurted out, ¡°oh my! You are gorgeous!¡±

    ¡°Huh!¡± Jae-Hwa spewed the water from her mouth spraying the water all over Young-Chul¡¯s face.

    .....

    ¡°Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! But the thing you said about Oppa made meugh. Sorry, Young,¡± apologised Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No, no worries. I just observed that he was handsome,¡± replied Young-Chul. Jae-Geun immediately handed his handkerchief to Young-Chul. He wiped his face and then said to Jae-Geun, ¡°have you tried to be an actor or an idol? You would be famous.¡±

    ¡°Oh, he hates K-pop,¡± interrupted Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and Young-Chul.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± smirked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± replied Jae-Geun, embarrassed. He looked at Nivritti and shook his head in no as stealthily as possible. Nivritti just smirked at him and let him off the hook.

    ¡°Liar! You always taunt me,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You are my sister, that¡¯s why. Now shut up,¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Okay, you guys should leave. MY needs his sleep, get out,¡± reprimanded Nivritti.

    ¡°Isshhh¡­ why so adamant to kick us out? It¡¯s not like you have a boyfriend who ising to visit you,¡± sulked Young-Chul.

    ¡°And why would I hide my boyfriend?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± shouted Young-Chul.

    ¡°Good night, MY. There, there is your good night message. Now, leave. You guys destroyed my sleep. I need to go back to my bed. The painkiller he gave me is strong,¡± yawned Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, okay, leaving,¡± said Young-Chul and started cing the sses on the tray.

    ¡°Leave it. I will clean it in the morning,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°So eager to throw us out,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Aisshhh¡­ I really have to deal with kids at this time of night!!!¡± shouted Nivritti, frustrated.

    Everyone just stood up and started running towards the door in fear. Nivritti waved her hand at them and said, ¡°bye.¡±

    ¡°Should I take a look at your feet?¡± offered Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Just leave!!¡± shouted Nivritti, angrily.

    ¡°Fine, fine!¡± Jae-Geun raised his hands in defeat and walked out. All others followed him, and the door locked behind them.

    ¡°I need to change the passcode,¡± Nivritti shook her head in disbelief. Suddenly a bulb lit over her head, ¡°shit! He entered the passcode in front of MY, that idiot!¡± She facepalmed, hard.

    ¡°She is scary when she gets angry,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yeah, tell me about it. I thought MY was the scary one but then we get to know her,¡± nodded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hey!¡± protested Young-Chul and threw his hand in the air in disbelief.

    ¡°So, you wille here tomorrow?¡± Kyung-Soo inquired with Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yes, I will take her to the police station. Don¡¯t worry,¡± smiled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What are you going to do about her phone?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What can I do? She will kill me if I buy a phone for her on my own,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ask, SK Hyung, he can find a way. You know they think alike, both are smart,¡± suggested Young-Chul.

    ¡°Good idea,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    They all climbed down the stairs and went to their respective cars and drove away.

    Nivritti walked up to her bed and tucked herself inside the nket and slept smiling. Young-Chul, who never used to reply to her came to get his good night message personally. Jae-Hwa dragged her brother to check up on her. She had had friends before but not like them.

    When she didn¡¯t use to reply to her past friends, no one ever came to check up on her. No one even knows what happened with her and Ritvik. She broke all her ties with her so-called friends. But this, the feeling she felt just now was something else, this rtionship was something else.

    Both brother and sister reached their house and walked in quietly as they didn¡¯t want to wake their parents.

    Whereas after Young-Chul and Kyung-Soo reached their mansion, all the boys came running to the garage even before Kyung-Soo could park his car.

    ¡°Ha-ha, she threw you out,¡± Jung-Hwa startedughing the moment he saw Young-Chul.

    ¡°Wah! He was crying a few minutes ago and now look at him,¡± Korain hit Jung-Hwa on his head.

    ¡°Hyung!¡± pouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Where did she lose her phone?¡± asked Jeong-Eun. All the boys walked inside the house, together.

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t know,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°So, she is going to the police station tomorrow, right?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes, hyung, she is going,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo. ¡°Jae-Hwa suggested that, and she shut her down but when you exined, she said she will go.¡±

    ¡°Good! How is her leg?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°Same! But she took the medicine, thank God for that,¡± answered Young-Chul.

    ¡°So, you got your good night message?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°Yes, I did. Now I am going to sleep,¡± announced Young-Chul and started moving towards his room.

    ¡°Wait! Everyone, I want to ask you all something, mostly SK hyung,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°I want to buy a phone for her, but she does not want it from me. MY even counterpointed that she keeps giving us gifts but is adamant that she will not ept it from me,¡± said Kyung-Soo, sadly.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Korain rubbed his chin and kept thinking for a few seconds. ¡°Then let¡¯s all give her that.¡±

    ¡°What? You want to give her seven phones?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°Where did he get his brain from?¡± Korain rolled his eyes at him.

    ¡°Sorry, hyung, continue,¡± Thae lowered his head in shame.

    ¡°I mean let¡¯s all contribute and buy her a phone. That way all her friends are giving her a gift and she won¡¯t feel offended, nor will she reject it,¡± exined Korain.

    ¡°I told you he will find a solution,¡± smiled Young-Chul.

    ¡°And even if she wants to get angry, she can¡¯t get angry at every one of us,¡± Korain shrugged his shoulder.

    ¡°If we are including all her friends, let¡¯s include Jae-Hwa too,¡± suggested Him-Chan.

    ¡°Wow, hyung, I love you,¡± Jeong-Eun jumped over him and hugged him tightly.

    ¡°Okay, okay, enough,¡± Him-Chan pushed him away immediately.

    ¡°PJ, send her a message in the group,¡± suggested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Right away, hyung,¡± smiled Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°But Ritti can read the message in the group. Don¡¯t you guys want it to be a surprise?¡± said Thae.

    All sighed, rolled their eyes at him and went to their respective rooms. ¡°What? What did I say?¡± Thae asked innocently. ¡°Oh right! She lost her phone so cannot receive any messages,¡± Thae hit his forehead softly and smiled at his own intelligence. He was proud that he figured it out himself.

    Jeong-Eun opened the group chat and sent a message to Jae-Hwa. He knew everyone could read the messages, so he was formal with his tone.

    ¡°Jae! We have decided that we all will contribute and get a phone for Ritti. That way she won¡¯t deny, and we all can pressure her to take the phone. Want in?¡±

    Within a few seconds, she replied, ¡°yes, and my Oppa too wants to chip in, if it¡¯s with you all.¡±

    Kyung-Soo, who was reading the messages, dropped his shoulder sadly. ¡°Why is he so interested in her? And why was she teasing and smirking at him? Fine, he is handsome, he is a doctor, he cares for her, but is he a good friend just like me? Am I her good friend? But I don¡¯t want to be just her friend,¡± pouted Kyung-Soo.

    Before he could reply, Korain messaged, ¡°of course, he can, he too is her friend, right?¡±

    Jae-Hwa replied, ¡°yes, he is. Thank you, Coin [smiley emoji]¡±

    ¡°You are very wee, Jae [smiley emoji],¡± Korain messaged.

    .....

 Chapter 190 - 190 The Police Station

    190 The Police Station

    Kyung-Soo was getting jealous after reading the exchange between Jae-Hwa and Korain. He was getting furious with Jae-Hwa for suggesting that her brother too wanted to contribute to buying the phone for Nivritti.

    He wanted to give her something on his own, but she outright refused. What was wrong with giving her a gift? He was proud that she was an independent woman, but such a woman too is entitled to receive gifts.

    He was even angry at his Korain hyung for saying yes to Jae-Geun. He kept murmuring profanities at Korain and pping his bed in anger. He grabbed his pillow and screamed into it.

    Message after message kept chiming.

    ¡°Which phone are you thinking of, NK Hyung and how much we will have to pay?¡± messaged Jung-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo immediately read the message and opened the search engine and searched for thetest phone. The foldable phone was the newest one on the market. He copy-pasted the link for that phone in the group. The price was about 2,000,000 won.

    ¡°Woah!¡± messaged Thae.

    ¡°I will pay 1,000,000 won, the rest of you guys can pay equally,¡± messaged Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Do you want to get a scolding again?¡± messaged Young-Chul.

    .....

    ¡°We all will pay equally. As Jae is earning less than us, we can give her a discount. Let her pay the least, rest we will pay proportionally,¡± messaged Korain.

    ¡°Aww¡­ thank you, Coin. You are the best,¡± messaged Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, so I am ordering the phone now and will give the address of our dance room. She would get the phone by noon. Jae! Make sure she does not go to buy a new phone by then,¡± messaged Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Done!¡±

    ¡°NK Hyung! Send the breakup of the money,¡± requested Him-Chan. Kyung-Soo calcted the least amount for Jae-Hwa and then broke the remaining amount into eight equal parts. He messaged his calction to the group.

    ¡°We are sending the money now. Send your ID for everyone¡¯s convenience,¡± ordered Korain.

    Kyung-Soo obliged and sent his online payment ID to the group. Within seconds, Kyung-Soo¡¯s phone started chiming with the message for receiving money in his ount. The moment he received money from everyone, he ced the order for the phone.

    Everyone said good night and went to sleep.

    The next morning, Jae-Hwa and Jae-Geun woke up early as they had to go to Nivritti¡¯s ce and then take her to the police station. Both brother and sister got ready and left home early without even having breakfast. They didn¡¯t even tell their parents and left before they could even wake up.

    Nivritti was still asleep under the influence of the medicine when the light from the window streamed in. She groaned and looked out the window. As she only had a clock in her living room she had to walk to that room, half-asleep. It was only six in the morning. She went back to bed and fell asleep instantly.

    Her stupor broke when she heard the rm. She patted all over her bed to find her phone and shut off the rm, but she could get a hold of her phone. She groaned when she realised that her phone was lost and the sound she heard was not her rm but her doorbell.

    ¡°Who came so early in the morning?¡± she groaned and lifted her nket. Squinting her eyes as she was unable to open them all the way, she got off her bed and moved to the living room. She nced at the clock it was seven in the morning.

    ¡°Ritti? Are you awake? Open up,¡± Jae-Hwa¡¯s voice came in from the door.

    Nivritti opened the door and looked at the brother and sister. ¡°What are you doing here so early?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Get ready, we have to go to the police station and then the office,¡± ordered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°But I am still sleepy,¡± groaned Nivritti and rubbed her eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s the pain medication. You will feel groggy. Just take a bath, that will help you a bit,¡± suggested Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I will make coffee and breakfast and then we will leave. Go, hurry,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti hung her head to her side and nodded at Jae-Hwa with her eyes closed. But she didn¡¯t move an inch. She just stood there with her head hung to her side.

    Jae-Hwa pped before her face and woke her up, ¡°wakey-wakey! Go, bathroom, get ready.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Nivritti walked to her bedroom, took out her clothes and crawled to her bathroom. In the meantime, Jae-Hwa and Jae-Geun prepared breakfast. Nivritti made sure to shower from her head. The lukewarm water hitting her head made her wake up a little, but her toe kept tingling as the water kept hitting her exposed skin.

    She came out fully dressed in a white shirt and brown trousers with a towel on her head.

    Jae-Geun just nced at her and his heart stop. She had no make-up on yet was looking beautiful. Her hair waspletely covered with the towel. Her faint pink lips had a tint of brown in them. Without any make-up the most prominent feature on her face was her big eyes. Jae-Geun could spend all his life looking into those eyes.

    ¡°Feeling better?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°A bit, but my toe is aching. I think getting water on it was a bad idea,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Let me look at it,¡± offered Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, my God! You are hurt, I am a doctor. What is your problem? What is wrong with getting help?¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? I always ask for help. You have already looked at it and gave me medicine. Why do I need to keep showing you, my wound?¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°So, you get a medicine one time and then don¡¯t follow up with your doctor?¡± rebuked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t¡­¡± Nivritti had no reply to his question.

    ¡°Just sit down,¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Okay, doctor!¡± Nivritti saluted him, mockingly making Jae-Geun smile at her naughtiness.

    Nivritti sat down on the couch. Jae-Geun grabbed her leg as softly as possible and ced it on the table. The skin of her toe was bright pink. He pressed the joint of the toe and Nivritti flinched in pain.

    ¡°You are putting pressure on it. You need to stay off your leg and always keep it elevated. Where is your first-aid box and the medicines that I gave you?¡± he asked after checking on the wound.

    ¡°I will get it,¡± said Jae-Hwa and went to Nivritti¡¯s bedroom. She brought the first-aid kid that had all the medicine in it.

    Jae-Geun first dried the wound with cotton and applied the antiseptic cream he brought for her. He covered the wound with a bandage and then wrapped thepression bandage on her foot.

    ¡°You should take this medicine with you. If you can¡¯t tolerate the pain, take one after lunch,¡± suggested Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Then I will feel sleepy,¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, I know. That¡¯s why I said if you cannot tolerate the pain, then only take the medicine. But keep it on you and when youe back, apply a coldpression near the wound, that too will ease the pain,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Okay,¡± nodded Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa brought breakfast for all, and they ate together. After having a cup of coffee, Nivritti was feeling way better. They grabbed all their bags and their coats and came out of the house. Jae-Geun drove Nivritti to the nearest police station, and she filed aint about losing her phone and losing her sim card.

    The police asked her a series of questions and after they were satisfied, they gave her a copy of the report. Nivritti thanked the officers, and all left the police station. The time was racing by and it was almost time for the office.

    Nivritti wanted to buy a phone, but Jae-Hwa informed her that no phone outlet would be open so early in the morning. She offered her help to look for a phone during lunch hours and then afterwards Nivritti could pay her. Nivritti liked that idea and Jae-Geun drove them to the K&Q building.

    ¡°Walk as slowly as you can, don¡¯t put pressure on your leg,¡± warned Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yes, doctor,¡± replied Nivritti and she got off the car. Jae-Hwa too walked slowly with her. The guard greeted her good morning as always and after seeing that she was walking slowly asked her about her health. He also said that he didn¡¯t see her yesterday. She replied that her foot was hurt but it was nothing serious. She thanked him for his concern, and they walked to the lift.

    Finally, they reached their department where only a few had arrived. Chung-Ho was sitting in his seat editing some script on his system.

    ¡°Good morning, CH!¡± greeted Nivritti.

    ¡°Good morning, Choi-ssi,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Good morning, Jae-Hwa,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°What? Nothing for me,¡± pouted Nivritti.

    ¡°You don¡¯t reply to me, I don¡¯t reply to you,¡± snapped Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I sent you messages asking about your foot, but you never replied,¡± scolded Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Hello, everyone,¡± interrupted Dae.

    ¡°Hello, Dae,¡± said Nivritti. Jae-Hwa didn¡¯t even open her mouth.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± asked Dae with a smile on his face. Jae-Hwa nced at him and lowered her head, in shame or fear, no one could tell.

 Chapter 191 - 191 The Uncomfortability

    191 The Ufortability

    Jae-Hwa was staring at the floor, biting her lips with fear. The fabric of her trousers was in her palms, and she was holding onto it for her dear life. Her knuckles were turning white. Even though Dae apologised to her for his behaviour she still felt uneasy in his presence.

    Nivritti looked at her and found her expression, bizarre. She thought that Jae-Hwa was fine in the morning, she was smiling and happy. She was cheerful when she was in her house, while driving, and also at the police station. She even replied to Chung-Ho with a broad smile then what happened all of a sudden.

    Something was off with Jae-Hwa, she just could not put her finger on it. She just knew that Jae-Hwa was thinking about something and that something was making her afraid and ufortable. She ced her hands over her shoulder and pressed on it tofort her. Jae-Hwa lifted her head and gave a faint smile to Nivritti. Nivritti was shocked at her gesture. It was the same expression that she saw on her face when they were in the restaurant.

    Something or someone made Jae-Hwa afraid. But there was no one here. It was just her team, many of which were still arriving. She made a point to ask her what happened and to help her in any way possible.

    Nivritti realised that Dae was waiting for her reply. ¡°He was scolding me because I didn¡¯t reply to his message.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then I should do that too,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, I send you a message asking about your injury, but I received nothing from you,¡± pouted Dae. His acting of getting hurt was on point. Nivritti felt bad for not replying to both of her seniors.

    ¡°Dae, CH, I am sorry for not replying but yesterday I lost my phone,¡± answered Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°What? Where? How?¡± asked both Chung-Ho and Dae.

    ¡°I have no answer. One moment I had it with me and the next I lost it,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, you replied to my message when I asked you about your foot in the morning,¡± recalled Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Right, and that is thest time I remember my phone being near me. After that I have no idea what happened or where my phone went,¡± replied Nivritti. She again looked at Jae-Hwa who was avoiding looking at everyone.

    Nivritti ced her palm over Jae-Hwa¡¯s palm and pressed it as tightly as possible. With her touch, Jae-Hwa rxed and let go of her trousers.

    ¡°Oh, do you have any sensitive items on your phone? What if someone gets a hold of that?¡± asked Dae. He was trying to be extra sneaky.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dae. I took care of everything. I even filed a police report,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Dae, scared. After the name of the police, he started sweating. His mind started creating a scenario that the police were hitting him and pushing him inside a jail cell for stealing Nivritti¡¯s phone. ¡°Why, police?¡± he stammered. ¡°It¡¯s not like someone stole it, you lost it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, for the issuance of the copy of the sim,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Dae triedughing but an awkward chuckle escaped his mouth. ¡°Why did this girl have to file a police report? What if someone finds out I took her phone? Shit!¡± thought Dae and kept his fake smile on his face.

    ¡°Are you okay, Jae?¡± asked Chung-Ho after he noticed that she was extra quiet today. Everyone was talking except her.

    ¡°What?¡± Jae-Hwa looked up at Chung-Ho. He brought her back from hernd of thoughts.

    ¡°You are awfully quiet. What happened? Are you okay?¡± asked Chung-Ho, again.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± she replied and looked at him. But her eyes automatically diverted towards Dae. One nce at Dae and she again lowered her head. Nivritti and Chung-Ho noticed that and looked at Dae for exnation.

    It was clear that Dae¡¯s presence made Jae-Hwa ufortable. Even Dae picked on that vibe. ¡°Shit! This girl will be death of me. I am trying to get her away from Nivritti, but she is moving far away from me,¡± pondered Dae.

    Now he had to do damage control. Before Jae-Hwa would talk about him, he knew he had to say something and control the narrative. ¡°I think she is still angry about yesterday,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Angry?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yesterday?¡± queried Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, while talking I ced my hand on her leg and I think she hated my touch. Although I apologised to her but looks like she didn¡¯t forgive me. Sorry, Jae! I didn¡¯t mean anything by that touch. If I made you feel uneasy or you got angry at me, I apologise from the bottom of my heart. You are my junior, I cherish all my juniors and we are friends. I assure you I will not do anything to make you feel like that ever again. Sorry, please forgive me,¡± Dae joined his hands and apologised to Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s okay. Please don¡¯t apologise, you already did that. I was just not feeling okay when you touched me. I know that you had no intention of making me feel bad, but you know confined space and unfamiliar touch, I just didn¡¯t like it,¡± said Jae-Hwa. It looked like she forced herself to speak those words.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s shake our hands and be friends for life,¡± smiled Dae.

    But Jae-Hwa hesitated. ¡°I think we should take a break from physical touch. She still feels awkward, Dae. Give her some time and when she will feel okay, I am sure she will approach you by herself,¡± protested Nivritti and ced her arm around Jae-Hwa¡¯s shoulder.

    Dae gritted his teeth but kept a giant smile on his face. His eyes almost closed after he kept the smile on his face. Crow¡¯s feet appeared at the corner of his eyes. He wanted to choke the life out of Nivritti¡¯s body. ¡°She has to poke her nose every time in every matter,¡± he snapped at Nivritti but never let the smile fade.

    ¡°Yes, yes absolutely, you are right. I must give her space. Sorry, Jae-Hwa for being insensitive. I will keep it in mind. Let¡¯s start our work,¡± said Dae while clenching his fists.

    Nivritti pushed Jae-Hwa along with her and all went to their seats. Nivritti looked at Jae-Hwa and wanted to curse at her. She came to her house and never spoke about what she was feeling. She thought of asking Jae-Hwa if she was feeling okay, but she thought that it would be rude to ask that question in front of Dae.

    She didn¡¯t even have her phone else she could have messaged her. And she didn¡¯t want to ask her any personal questions on the K&Q messaging service on her system. She would have to wait to get Jae-Hwa alone, away from Dae and ask her what happened in detail.

    They worked in the office for about two hours when Thae arrived in the script department.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo, Choi-ssi,¡± greeted Thae.

    ¡°Good morning, Kat,¡± replied Chung-Ho. ¡°You arete today.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we all slepttest night, so wake upte,¡± replied Thae.

    Nivritti shook her head as she knew why they werete. All werete up waiting for Young-Chul and Kyung-Soo toe back. On one hand, she was happy that they came to check up on her but on the other hand, she was angry that they didn¡¯t take care of themselves. Their schedule was already busy and they were wasting time on her.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Thae and came near Nivritti. ¡°Give me your bag.¡±

    Nivritti opened her mouth to protest but Thae shut her up with a show of his forefinger. She put herptop on sleep and ced it in her bag. She stood up to go when Chung-Ho interrupted, ¡°guys! This Friday Hu-ssi has asked for an update meeting. Make sure to keep the numbers of scripts you read and details about them with you.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± all three replied and went away with Thae. Nivritti was walking slowly due to her leg and Jae-Hwa and Thae were walking close to her.

    But not Dae, he was walking ahead of them, murmuring to himself, ¡°oh, it¡¯s just stub toe. Why does she have to act like she broke her leg? I have had greater injury than her and I never needed help. I hope she breaks her leg, stupid moron! Who does she think she is? Jae-Hwa was ready to shake my hands but no, she had to butt in. what did I do, just ce my hand over her thighs. Why is that a big deal? ASD can hug Jae-Hwa but I cannot simply ce my hand on her leg. Since when that is a crime? Girls nowadays are getting more sensitive. It was not like I was making a move on her. I am happily married, and my wife is more beautiful than her. Yeah, Jae-Hwa is young, but I am not interested. Oh, kids can walk faster than her.¡± He kept grinding his teeth.

    ¡°Sorry, Dae, for walking so slow,¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Can she read minds?¡± thought Dae, shocked. He turned around and looked at Nivritti. With a sweet smile on his face he replied, ¡°no, no, it¡¯s okay. I can understand. It is hard to walk with an injury. Don¡¯t mind me, walk at your pace.¡±

 Chapter 192 - 192 The Vibe Check

    192 The Vibe Check

    All reached the parking area and as usual, the girls sat in the back seat and Thae and Dae in the front. No one talked during the whole journey. Thae could not ask about Nivritti¡¯s phone in front of Dae. Nivritti could not ask about Young-Chul or How Jae-Hwa was feeling in front of Dae. She just held Jae-Hwa¡¯s hands the whole way.

    After a few minutes, they reached the practice room. The whole way Nivritti was on the lookout for her phone. But she knew that no one would leave a phone lying on the floor alone, they would definitely pick it up. The moment all entered the room, all greeted Dae and the girls.

    Dae moved towards the working station and as usual, Nivritti was walking slowly.

    ¡°How¡¯s your foot now?¡± inquired Korain.

    ¡°Better,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Liar!¡± interrupted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Young-Chul and stared at Nivritti.

    ¡°She is joking, chill!¡± smiled Nivritti, awkwardly.

    ¡°No, you were in pain in the morning,¡± protested Jae-Hwa.

    .....

    ¡°And you were not speaking a few minutes ago,¡± Nivritti gritted her teeth.

    ¡°Ritti?¡± emphasized Young-Chul.

    ¡°It just tingled after I took a bath. But now see it¡¯s all fine,¡± exined Nivritti and wiggled her toes. ¡°Jae-Geun checked my wound again and he said everything is okay. It¡¯s healing nicely.¡± A smile shed on Young-Chul¡¯s face.

    ¡°He also told you to take medicine if pain increases,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, if pain increases. It¡¯s fine because of thepression bandage, rx,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Fine, next time if you ask me how I am doing, I will give the generic reply that I am doing fine,¡± warned Young-Chul.

    ¡°MY!! I didn¡¯t give you a generic reply. I told you what I was feeling at that moment. When it ached in the morning, I told Jae-Geun about that,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°And after that, you didn¡¯t let him check on your wound,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti stared at her and snapped, ¡°what will it take for you to shut up?¡±

    ¡°Fine! I won¡¯t say a thing,¡± sulked Jae-Hwa and walked towards the working station. Today she made sure that she would not sit beside Dae. She chose to sit in front of him. Dae noticed that. He wanted to say something to her, but he knew that would blow the matter out of proportion and he wanted to be in the good books of everyone.

    He wanted everyone to like him. If everyone would like him, then no one would doubt him in future when he would destroy Nivritti¡¯s future. His one n failed but he had other tricks up his sleeves. The moment they left their department today a new n formed in his mind. The new n was going to destroy her reputation in front of the CEO. But for that, he needed to be extra careful.

    He made a point to stay away from Jae-Hwa for time being. She was acting weird before him and now Chung-Ho and Nivritti knew what he did. Even though he apologised for his behaviour, everyone saw how Jae-Hwa acted in his presence and that would attract attention towards him.

    He nced at Nivritti, she was still talking to the boys and Thae had her bag in his hands. ¡°What are they talking about?¡± thought Dae.

    ¡°Did you guys find any phone when you arrived at the venue?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°You think you lost your phone here?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°Last I saw my phone was in this room and then I have no idea. If it would have fallen from my pocket when JJ was carrying me upstairs in my building, we all would have heard the noise of a falling phone. I also checked my stairs but nothing. So, most probably my phone is somewhere in this building, or someone picked it up,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°What did the police say?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°They asked for my phone number and said that they will try to trace the sim. If they could not trace it, they will trace the IMEI number. But if the phone is switched off, nothing can be done. Once anyone switches on the phone and if something pops up on their radar they will inform me,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Wait!¡± said Korain and dialled her number. The automated message told Korain that Nivritti¡¯s phone was switched off. ¡°This says that your phone is switched off.¡±

    ¡°No problem! Jae will go out during lunch and will buy me a new phone,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°That¡¯s good!¡± Korain raised his eyebrows, awkwardly.

    Nivritti smiled at everyone and slowly moved towards the working station. She looked at Jae-Hwa sitting away from Dae and sighed. ¡°What happened that she is so afraid? Even after Dae apologised, she is acting worried and afraid. I have to find out,¡± thought Nivritti.

    Thae walked with her and ced her bag next to her.

    ¡°Thank you, TK,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    Thae gently ced his hand over her head and patted it with a cute smile on his face. ¡°You are wee.¡± Thae reached near his brothers who were talking about Nivritti¡¯s phone.

    ¡°When is it arriving?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°By noon,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But how will we give her the phone in front of Seong-ssi? He doesn¡¯t know that we know about her phone and that we visited her housest night,¡± inquired Young-Chul.

    ¡°Oh, right! He does not know and if we give her the phone before him, he will ask questions,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like him. He never passed my vibe check,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°Yeah, you didn¡¯t like Ritti at first but now she is your friend,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I made a mistake and she was new. I didn¡¯t have time to check her vibes. But he has been with us for years, I never got any good vibes from him,¡± protested Thae.

    ¡°Wait! Why is Jae sitting next to Ritti and not in her usual seat?¡± observed Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°She always sits next to Seong-ssi and today she is sitting next to Nivritti,¡± exined Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Maybe she too got a negative vibe from him,¡± replied Thae.

    ¡°Okay, we are getting off-topic. How are we going to give her the phone? How are we going to stop Jae from going to the market to buy a phone for Ritti?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°You tell us, you are the intelligent one,¡± mocked Him-Chan.

    ¡°What about Kyungsoona? He has the highest IQ among us,¡± protested Korain.

    ¡°He is book smart, you are street smart. Think of something,¡± scolded Young-Chul.

    ¡°Okay, give me some time. You all should think too,¡± snapped Korain.

    ¡°Annyeonghaseyo!¡± the dance teacher entered the room and greeted everyone. ¡°Why are we standing and not warming up?¡±

    ¡°Where are the dancers?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°They will be here in five minutes. As you said you will bete, I informed them to arrivete too,¡± informed the choreographer.

    ¡°Okay, sir!¡± Him-Chan bowed down to his teacher.

    All boys started warming up and the Rencontre team started reading the scripts. Every half hour they would take as Young-Chul needed to take it easy.

    The boys were sitting next to each other with Young-Chulying t on his back. Jung-Hwa was sitting in front of Korain who was massaging Jung-Hwa¡¯s shoulders. Suddenly, Korain gasped.

    ¡°What? What?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°I know what we can do,¡± replied Korain. All looked at him and Young-Chul sat up with a jerk.

    ¡°About?¡± asked Thae, innocently.

    Jeong-Eun rolled his eyes and stared at her. ¡°He is talking about Ritti¡¯s phone,¡± Jeong-Eun exined.

    ¡°Oh!!¡± eximed Thae.

    ¡°Tell us, Hyung,¡± pleaded Him-Chan.

    ¡°Kyungsoona! Call Manager Park and tell him that he has toe and take everyone to lunch,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°What will that aplish?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Let me finish,¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°Sorry, hyung,¡± Kyung-Soo lowered his head and shut his mouth.

    ¡°Tell him that he has to bring our food here. As Ritti is injured, she will not go to lunch, she will prefer to eat it here. Jae too will say no as she would not want to leave Ritti alone. We cannot go to any restaurant without informing thepany, so we will also have to stay here. The only remaining person is Seong-ssi, we will have to persuade him to leave with the dancers for lunch,¡± exined Korain.

    ¡°That can work. The phone will arrive close to noon. No one will be here except us, and we can easily hand her the phone. She can also shout at us without anyone knowing that we are being scolded,¡± said Kyung-Soo, excitedly.

    ¡°You think she will scold us?¡± gulped Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Definitely!¡± replied Young-Chul as if that was the obvious answer.

    ¡°Okay, I will call Manager Park and tell him our n. But what do you guys want to eat, I will have to tell him that,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    The boys told him what they wanted to eat, and he added two more portions of noodles and rice for Nivritti and Jae-Hwa and gave instructions to his manager.

    The day went by, and lunchtime arrived. Before the manager¡¯s arrival, the delivery boy arrived and he almost fainted when he saw the members of ASD. They had to make him drink water to make sure that he would stand upright.

    The delivery boy could not talk or walk, he just kept smiling like an idiot. He calmed down after ASD took a photo with him. He shook hands with everyone and then left, happily, jumping all the way.

 Chapter 193 - 193 The New Phone

    193 The New Phone

    Kyung-Soo epted the delivery and ced the phone in his bag. Now all he had to do was wait for his manager to arrive. The boys were getting impatient waiting for their manager. They kept ncing at Nivritti and the Rencontre team. They were busy reading the scripts on theirptops. Nivritti was sitting cross-legged on the bench as she was forbidden to keep her leg hanging for longer periods.

    The ASD¡¯s manager, Mr. Park, arrived a few minuteste. He had a lot of packages in his hands and the moment he arrived, he greeted everyone. The boys beamed with happiness as soon as they saw him.

    Kyung-Soo and Korain ran to the manager to grab the packets from his hands. The manager smiled at the choreographer and the dancers and announced, ¡°attention guys! We are going to ¡°Servings¡± for lunch. We want to treat you for your hard work. Please apany me. Let¡¯s enjoy our food.¡±

    ¡°Servings?¡± shouted the choreographer. ¡°The expensive restaurant that you need to make a reservation first. It is all booked for months, how did you get a reservation?¡±

    ¡°I booked the whole restaurant, sir,¡± replied manager Park.

    ¡°Wow! You are great!!¡± said the choreographer and smiled at manager Park.

    ¡°Rencontre team, you guys are invited too,¡± shouted Manager Park.

    All three looked at Manager Park and smiled at him. Young-Chul stared at Nivritti and shouted, ¡°not you!¡±

    Nivritti lowered her head and pouted, ¡°I know.¡±

    .....

    ¡°You can have food with us,¡± Jung-Hwa ran towards her and sat next to Dae.

    ¡°You are not going?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Security issue, Seong-ssi, I mean Dae. We cannot go to a restaurant without permission from PR people,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°I will stay with her too,¡± interrupted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, we thought so too, we ordered food for you too,¡± smiled Jeong-Eun and sat next to Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°If my girls are not going, I will stay too,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°No!!!¡± every member of ASD shouted at once including manager Park. Nivritti and Jae-Hwa widened their eyes and stared at everyone in shock. They looked at the boys, then at each other, again and boys and finally rested their eyes on each other¡¯s faces.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± murmured Nivritti.

    ¡°I have no idea,¡± whispered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You should go, Dae. They are having a barbecue. Go, enjoy your food, don¡¯t think about them, we will take care of them,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Woah! Young, you use to speak so less. I almost feel special when you talk to me,¡±ughed Dae.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± Young-Chulughed sarcastically. ¡°You tter me, Dae.¡±

    ¡°Please, Dae, go. Don¡¯t stop yourself from enjoying a meal because of me,¡± pleaded Nivritti.

    ¡°But how can I enjoy when my team would not be there with me,¡± pouted Dae. ¡°As if!! Huh!! She thinks she is so important that I would stop living my life because of her, wench!¡± thought Dae.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, please enjoy your food,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Is it okay, Jae?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Jae-Hwa was taken aback by the sudden query. She looked at Dae who was waiting for her answer. ¡°Yeah, please go. We will be fine. I cannot leave her alone in pain,¡± Jae-Hwa smiled awkwardly.

    ¡°Okay, I aming manager Park,¡± shouted Dae and shut the p of hisptop. He ran towards everyone and after saying goodbye, the whole dance room was empty. The boys seeded in their n.

    Kyung-Soo took out the phone from his bag and handed it to Young-Chul, ¡°you give it to her.¡±

    Young-Chul stared at Kyung-Soo, shocked and refused to take the packet from him. ¡°You give her. I don¡¯t want a scolding.¡±

    ¡°Please!¡± Kyung-Soo tried to hand the package over to Young-Chul.

    ¡°You are elder, you give her,¡± Young-Chul pushed the package back towards Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Oh, give me that!!¡± snapped Korain. ¡°Pick up the food packets, you cowards!¡±

    The boys moved towards the working station and Korain sat in front of Nivritti right next to Jung-Hwa. All others found their seat and sat down. Jeong-Eun had already reserved his seat next to Jae-Hwa and was happily sitting next to her.

    Young-Chul sat next to Jeong-Eun and Him-Chan and Kyung-Soo sat near Jung-Hwa. Thae had plenty of space to seat, but he chose to drag a chair to the working station and sat in between Nivritti and Korain. ¡°Ha-ha, I am the head of the family,¡± he joked.

    ¡°Head of the family? Then you give her the phone,¡± whispered Korain.

    ¡°I said head of the family not moron of the family. You give her,¡± Thae whispered back with a fake bright smile on his face.

    ¡°Aisshhh¡­ cowards!¡± murmured Korain. ¡°Distribute the food,¡± he snapped at Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Right! Sorry, Hyung,¡± said Jung-Hwa and started taking out the food from the packets.

    While he was cing the food, Korain looked at Kyung-Soo for help. Kyung-Soo just rolled his eyes and signalled to Korain that he will take care of the situation. He said, ¡°Ritti! SK Hyung has something to say to you.¡± And he threw Korain under the bus.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Korain with shock. His blood boiled at Kyung-Soo. He wanted to pick up the hot bowl of soup and threw it at Kyung-Soo¡¯s head but that would be a waste of food.

    ¡°Yes, SK,¡± said Nivritti.

    Korain looked at her with fear but with a sweet smile on his face. Kyung-Soo and Young-Chul were trying hard not tough at Korain.

    ¡°Um¡­ how is your leg?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°It is¡­¡±

    Before Nivritti could reply to him, he dumped the phone packet before him and blurted out, ¡°this is for you.¡± And immediately stood up with a jerk.

    Nivritti looked at him confused at his bizarre reaction. ¡°Are you giving me a bomb?¡± she asked.

    ¡°What? No!¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°Then why did you jump away?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Will you just open the packet?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa, annoyed.

    ¡°Okay, chill!¡±forted Nivritti and opened the packet. The paper bag had a big white packet inside with a golden ribbon tied to it. She took out the box and looked at everyone. Everyone was slowly backing away from her.

    She blinked a few times and looked at everyone. She again looked at the box and untied the ribbon. Inside the white box was a small rectangr white box with a picture of a foldable phone on it. ¡°What¡­ the¡­ hell?¡± she shouted.

    Everyone jumped from their seats and ran away from her. She stuck her tongue on her upper teeth and closed her eyes in anger. The first person she attacked was Kyung-Soo. ¡°Did you not hear what I said to you yesterday?¡± she shouted.

    ¡°About?¡± asked Kyung-Soo in a soft tone, innocently.

    Nivritti pped her hands on the table and made a motion to stand up. Thae immediately ran to her and pushed her back on the seat. ¡°Don¡¯t stand, you will hurt your feet again. Scold while sitting,¡± he pleaded.

    ¡°What?¡± she shouted again. ¡°What am I going to do with you guys?¡± She again looked at Kyung-Soo, ¡°you, exin yourself.¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t give you the phone,¡± interjected Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°You, shut up! I have a lot to talk with you, just you wait!¡± she chided Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°This is from all of us, Ritti!¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked. ¡°Why? Why? Why would you?¡±

    Korain sat back in his seat, looked directly into Nivritti¡¯s eyes, and exined, ¡°our friend was in need, and we helped her. What is wrong with that? You can put yourself in harm¡¯s way to protect your friend and we can¡¯t even spend a little money? How would you have gone to buy a phone with your injured leg?¡±

    ¡°I will have to go to buy a sim card on this leg?¡± pointed out Nivritti.

    Korain was surprised at her logical attack. He snapped, ¡°Don¡¯t use your brain at me. Tell me what is wrong with giving gifts to friends? Are you not our friend?¡±

    ¡°I am, but,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Then shut up and take it. All your friends, including San brother and sister, contributed too,¡± chided Korain.

    ¡°Jae¡­ Jae-Geun paid too?¡± she looked at Jae-Hwa with wide eyes. ¡°Oh my god! This is how you use the group?¡± She looked at Jung-Hwa and scolded, ¡°this is why you created the group?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we created the group to help friends, and this is our help, just take it,¡± Jung-Hwa scolded back.

    ¡°But guys, this is too much. This is a very expensive phone,¡± she looked at everyone defeated.

    ¡°Please ept it, won¡¯t you listen to your cutie?¡± pouted Thae, cutely.

    Nivritti scoffed at his cute face and startedughing. ¡°Fine! But that means you are giving me free rein to give you gifts too.¡±

    ¡°You have already given us gifts, scarves and choctes,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°And he already finished his choctes,¡± mocked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°What?¡±ughed Nivritti. ¡°Why do you do things at extremes?¡±

    ¡°You said that I should eat choctes,¡± protested Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°One or two pieces a day not the whole box. First, you won¡¯t eat because you are dieting and then you will devour whole packets,¡± she facepalmed.

    Jung-Hwa stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at her. She chuckled at looked at everyone, ¡°are you guysing back? You all act as if I hit you every time.¡±

 Chapter 194 - 194 The Connection

    194 The Connection

    ¡°Stop acting ande here,¡± Nivritti shouted at everyone.

    ¡°Yeah, we should eat. Seong-ssi woulde back anytime,¡± said Him-Chan. All started moving towards the benches.

    His sentence was like lightning fell on her. ¡°Shit! You guys sent everyone away because you wanted Dae out of the picture? Ahh¡­ first you spent so much money on phone and then on food to give me the phone. Are you out of your mind?¡± shouted Nivritti. Everyone again froze in their path.

    ¡°So, you wanted us to give you the phone in front of Seong-ssi. Should we also tell him that we visit you at your house? Or about what you did in the restaurant? Or how did you injure your leg? Or should we tell him about Young? Should we include him in all our dramas?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No,¡± Nivritti lowered her head. Everyone came back, sat in their seats, and opened the food packets.

    ¡°Yeah, leave him. Never include him in our friendship. I don¡¯t like him,¡± Thae blurted out.

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti and Jae-Hwa looked at each other and then at Thae.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you like him, TK?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He just gives me a¡­ a¡­ different vibe. I really can¡¯t exin. He is always sweet, too sweet if you ask me. He has been working with us for ages, he talks to us nicely and gives us good scripts, but he never acknowledges anyone else. I have never seen him praise his team or his subordinates. Yesterday was the first day in all these years that he said that he wanted to be our friend. I think he is jealous seeing that you two are our friends,¡± exined Thae.

    .....

    ¡°Yeah, he never said anything like that. He was all business before that. And then there was the gossip about him a few years back,¡± said Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Gossip?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, it was being said that he was making his subordinates, especially girls, resign. One of the stories was very popr,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°Oh my god! This office and gossip. Don¡¯t people have real work to do?¡± Nivritti rolled her eyes.

    ¡°What was the gossip?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae!¡± Nivritti tried to stop her, but Jae-Hwa was adamant about learning everything.

    ¡°Remember I told you, there was a girl who resigned before you joined thepany? I even told you that I was warned not to cross paths with him,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, there was a girl, she only worked for a month, and she quietly resigned. She was under him and used to write scripts for us. She was good but she resigned abruptly,¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°But why?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No one knows,¡± replied Korain and took a bite of his food.

    ¡°Do you think he harassed her or something like that?¡± inquired Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Why are you asking all this? Did he say something to you? Who told you not to cross paths with him?¡± asked Jeong-Eun, worried.

    Jae-Hwa looked around. All were staring at her, even Nivritti. Nivritti ced her palm over Jae-Hwa¡¯s hands andforted her. Only Nivritti knew what happened to her but still, Nivritti had no idea what she felt at that moment, the moment Dae touched her.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Some of my colleagues told me when I joined thepany, but he never said anything to me. This is the first time I am working so closely with him. I just wanted to know more about him,¡± Jae-Hwa smiled awkwardly. ¡°We should finish our food.¡±

    All smiled at Jae-Hwa and concentrated on their food.

    Nivritti knew something was disturbing Jae-Hwa. She knew that Dae touched her, and he apologised to her, but Jae-Hwa was not feeling like herself. She needed to talk about her feelings and Nivritti had to find the right time for it. ¡°Jae! What about getting the sim after our lunch?¡± proposed Nivritti.

    ¡°Will you be able to walk?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°I will walk slowly, don¡¯t worry,¡± she assured Young-Chul.

    ¡°Okay. Did you like the phone?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, I do. Thank you, everyone,¡± she smiled at Young-Chul and looked at everyone.

    ¡°You are wee,¡± said Korain.

    All happily ate their food while talking andughing.

    ¡°What am I going to tell everyone? How do I have such an expensive phone? Should I tell them I robbed a store?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°And took one phone?¡± Him-Chan rolled his eyes at her.

    ¡°No, no, rest of the phones, I sold them,¡± sheughed.

    ¡°Wah! Criminal!¡± giggled Thae.

    ¡°But what will you tell Dae when he sees your phone?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°That I bought it on EMI. Simple!¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Wah! You have answers to every question,¡± praised Thae.

    ¡°It¡¯s justmon sense, TK,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, for him,mon sense is not thatmon,¡± teased Jeong-Eun. Everyone burst outughing at Jeong-Eun¡¯s taunt. Thae picked up his spoon and threw it at Jeong-Eun in anger.

    ¡°Your sense is notmon, idiot!¡± yelled Thae.

    ¡°You are an idiot. Why did you throw a dirty spoon at me?¡± shouted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Because I couldn¡¯t throw you out of this room,¡± chided Thae.

    ¡°I will throw you out of the house,¡± snapped Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Fight! Fight! Fight!¡± Korain started putting gasoline in the fire. Young-Chul just rolled his eyes and focused on his food.

    ¡°What?¡±ughed Nivritti. ¡°Instead of stopping them you are urging them to fight, some Hyung you are.¡±

    ¡°Oh, they just fight verbally, and we have seen these hundreds of times. We just want them to fight for real, these verbal fights are getting boring,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You guys really are siblings!¡± smiled Jae-Hwa. Nivritti looked at her and saw her genuine smile and finally, her heart was at ease. Jae-Hwa was slightly better now.

    After all finished eating, the three maknaes collected the food packet and dumped them in a dustbin. Jae-Hwa picked up her purse and was scrolling on her phone while waiting for Nivritti to get ready to move out.

    ¡°Take your medicine and rest. We will be back after getting the sim,¡± Nivritti instructed Young-Chul.

    ¡°What about you?¡± he questioned back.

    ¡°What about me?¡±

    ¡°Are you going to take your medicine?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No, I was instructed to take medicine if pain increases but I feel fine for now,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Ahnn¡­ oppa!¡± abruptly Jae-Hwa picked up a call and talked on her phone. ¡°Yes, she is here. Ritti! Oppa wants to talk to you,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    Kyung-Soo immediately looked at Nivritti. ¡°Why is he calling her now?¡± he clenched his jaw.

    ¡°Hello, SJ!¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Hello, SJ. SJ!!! Why does she have to give him a nickname? Huh,¡± sulked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Hi, Ritti! Heirana called me as she could not reach you on your phone. I told her you lost your phone, so she gave me a message,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, that means¡­¡± said Nivritti, excited.

    ¡°Yes, she will take you on as a patient,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yes! Nice!¡± shouted Nivritti, happily.

    ¡°What is he telling her?¡± whispered Jung-Hwa to Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°How would I know?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo, angrily. Nivritti immediately nced at him. He mouthed ¡°sorry¡± for being loud.

    ¡°Yeah, she wants a session with you tomorrow at eight. Will that be okay?¡± inquired Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, that is more than okay. I will be there, please tell her,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°When will you get your phone?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, my phone! I will talk about that in detail next time I see you,¡± she gritted her teeth.

    ¡°Are you angry? You sound angry,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No, not at all. Just meet me tomorrow. I tell you how not angry I am,¡± taunted Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa immediately snatched the phone and said on phone, ¡°she is angry that we bought an expensive phone for her.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I was getting that vibe,¡± said Jae-Geun. ¡°What about sim?¡±

    ¡°We were about to go out for sim,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, be safe. See you at home and tell her to walk slowly and not to put pressure on her leg,¡± instructed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Will do that,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa and disconnected the call.

    Kyung-Soo instantly elbowed Jung-Hwa. ¡°Ow! Ow!¡± yelled Jung-Hwa and looked at Kyung-Soo. He signalled Jung-Hwa towards Nivritti. Jung-Hwa understood what he was trying to do.

    ¡°What was that about?¡± asked Jung-Hwa making Kyung-Soo proud.

    ¡°Oh, remember, I was searching for a therapist,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°You found one?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she smiled. ¡°And tomorrow is my first session. Wait! You too have a session tomorrow, what time?¡±

    ¡°Oh, seven in the evening,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    .....

    ¡°Mine is eight,¡± chuckled Nivritti.

    ¡°Who is your doctor?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Doctor Tan Hei-Ran,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey! That¡¯s my doctor,¡± Young-Chul stood up in excitement.

    ¡°Wah! You guys are destined together or what,¡±mented Thae.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Rx! He means destined to be together as friends,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo. Nivritti found his reaction somewhat bizarre.

    ¡°Why is he fine when Thae called someone else my destiny? Is he not bothered by that? Wait! Why do I want him to be bothered? I just chided his head off for telling me about his feelings yesterday and now I want him to feel jealous. Am I out of my mind?¡± Nivritti mentally hit herself on the back of her head. ¡°I don¡¯t want him to feel anything for me but at the same time, I want him to feel emotions about me. I really need to talk with my doctor. I am going mad.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you both have the same apartment, you both are seeking therapy and now you have the same doctor, wow! Hyung, I am jealous. I too want such a connection with someone,¡± remarked Jung-Hwa.

 Chapter 195 - 195 The Narration

    195 The Narration

    All wereughing at Jung-Hwa¡¯sment even Kyung-Soo. But Nivritti felt as if someone stabbed her heart. ¡°So, it¡¯s okay if someone attaches my name with other people?¡± Nivritti sulked and nced at Kyung-Soo. But he was oblivious of her emotions.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Jae! JJ keeps talking nonsense,¡± Nivritti pulled Jae-Hwa and moved out of the room.

    ¡°Did she look angry to you guys?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Angry? No. A bit annoyed? Yes,¡± replied Korain.

    Nivritti and Jae-Hwa reached the main entrance of the building when they saw all the dancers, manager Park and Daeing back from their lunch. Nivritti immediately hid her palm behind her back to hide the phone.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± shouted Dae. ¡°What are you doing outside? Why are you walking on that injured leg? You should rest.¡±

    ¡°I wish, Dae but I have to buy a new phone and get a sim and without my identification, I cannot get them,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°You could have asked me and Jae. We would have helped you,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°You could have gotten the phone but what about the sim, Dae? Don¡¯t worry I am feeling fine, and Jae is with me,¡± replied Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°Do you need any help, Ms. Rathod,¡± asked Manager Park.

    ¡°No, Mr. Park, I am fine. You all should go in. Hope you had a lovely lunch,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh yes! Thank you for asking. I will go in, you please take care,¡± Manager Park bowed before her and then signalled everyone to follow him.

    ¡°Let mee with you,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°No!!¡± shouted both Nivritti and Jae-Hwa, simultaneously. First, Jae-Hwa didn¡¯t want him near herself. Second, Nivritti didn¡¯t want him with herself as she wanted some alone time with Jae-Hwa to ask her about Dae and third, both didn¡¯t want him with themselves as they had to hide the fact that ASD gave a phone to Nivritti.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine, Dae. We don¡¯t want to trouble you,¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°It¡¯s no trouble, let¡¯s go,¡± he grabbed Nivritti¡¯s and Jae-Hwa¡¯s arms and stood between them.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± A beautiful woman climbed out of a luxurious car and addressed them.

    ¡°Wah!¡± eximed Jae-Hwa and stared at the woman. The girl was d in pink from head to toe. She had a pink silk ribbon tied to her hair like a hairband. She was wearing a white shirt paired with a bright pink skirt and jacket. Her high boots covered her slim calves. Half of her beautiful face was covered withrge ck sunsses. She looked like a celebrity.

    ¡°Yes, please,¡± nodded Nivritti.

    ¡°I am looking for Seong Dae,¡± said the girl.

    ¡°You are in luck, he is Seong Dae,¡± said Nivritti and pointed at Dae. She looked at him, Dae¡¯s mouth was open, and he was staring at the beautiful girl with wide eyes. Nivritti immediately unlinked her arms and stood away from Dae. Jae-Hwa followed suit.

    ¡°We need to talk, alone,¡± said the girl and stared at Dae.

    ¡°We will see youter, Dae,¡± shouted Nivritti and pulled Jae-Hwa away with her.

    ¡°Wow! She was beautiful,¡±mented Nivritti.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°She looked familiar, but I can¡¯t put my finger on it. I know her somehow, I have seen her,¡± Jae-Hwa kept rubbing her forehead and spoke.

    ¡°Maybe you saw her somewhere. Maybe she was a trainee or something. She looked like a model, maybe you saw her on TV,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°Hmm, no, not that, not on TV, somewhere else. Oh, where did I see her?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, don¡¯t get worked up. Tell me where I can get a sim,¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°There is a shop nearby. Let¡¯s go,¡± replied Jae-Hwa and took Nivritti to the nearest store.

    After proper verification and showing the police report, the store issued her a duplicate sim. The technician helped her insert the sim in her new phone and told her to wait for a few hours in order to get the sim activated.

    She thanked the technician and walked out of the store. Nivritti sighed, ¡°Jae! Can we sit somewhere for a bit?¡±

    ¡°Is your leg troubling you?¡± asked Jae-Hwa, worried.

    ¡°No, I just want to rest my leg so that it won¡¯t trouble me at night,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to that small convenience store. Most Korean stores have tables and chairs so that people could eat store bought food there,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, we can have some juice too,¡± said Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa grabbed Nivritti¡¯s hand and helped her walk all the way to the store. She made Nivritti sit down and went to buy two bottles of juice.

    ¡°Feeling fine?¡± she asked and ced the juice in front of Nivritti.

    ¡°Sit!¡± Nivritti softly grabbed Jae-Hwa¡¯s arm and made her sit next to her. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I am fine. Are you fine?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae! You know you can talk to me,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, I know. I tell you everything,¡± said Jae-Hwa and took a sip of her juice.

    ¡°Really? Then why didn¡¯t you tell me about Dae?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I wanted to but first I was too shocked. When I came to my senses, I wanted to call you but then JJ made that group. All kept asking about you, but you never replied. Then Oppa came home and asked about you, I had no answer. He made me call you, but it said that call could not bepleted. Even he called you from his phone and then we rushed to your house. I wanted to talk to you then but NK and MY were there. Also, in the morning, Oppa was there. We really didn¡¯t have any moment alone after that,¡± Jae-Hwa was looking down and fidgeting with the wrapper on the bottle of juice.

    Nivritti took her hand in hers and pressed hard. ¡°Tell me everything.¡±

    Jae-Hwa sighed and looked at Nivritti. Her eyes filled with tears. Nivritti looked sympathetically at Jae-Hwa. ¡°You know you left, and I went to the parking lot with Dae. I wanted to sit in the back, but he insisted that I should sit in the front. He said that he would look like my driver, and I didn¡¯t want to offend him. He kept saying ¡®we are friends¡¯. At first, he did nothing but sitting close to him in such a little space felt awkward and ufortable. I don¡¯t why but he always keeps talking about you and our friendship.¡±

    ¡°About our friendship?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, he always talks about you. Once he even asked me if I am not jealous of you,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°And yesterday was not the first time he touched me,¡± said Jae-Hwa, sadly.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡±

    ¡°Yes, he always does that. He touches me and then apologises for touching me,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae! Tell me everything in detail,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°The day he lost his phone and you suggested that he should look for it in his bag. He said that I should im that idea as mine which was a bizarre thing to say. When we were leaving for home, I am sure that he tripped me and then saved me from falling. He pulled me closer to himself and his hands were on my waist. I felt like electricity ran through my body. I didn¡¯t think much about it that day.

    ¡°I ran away from him, but he called me back and started spewing nonsense about you. He said that every good idea came from you, and you were getting annoying day by day. He said that I must be jealous of you and from now on I should be smart and start telling everyone that your ideas were mine.

    ¡°He said thatpetition was tough and I need to work smart to survive in this industry. When I took your side, he just drove away. Then yesterday, he again started talking about you and our friendship and when I said that we were good friends, he said that he was envious of our friendship. He said that you are new, yet you have a lot of good friends, and he has been working for long, but he never had such a friendship with anyone.

    ¡°To ease his mind, I just said that we are friends now too. I don¡¯t know if he took that as a signal and he ced his hands over my thighs. I tell you I wanted to puke at that time. I froze. I even stopped breathing. His touch was creepy. He had a smirk on his face. I didn¡¯t like his expression, his touch, I just wanted to jump out of the car. He just kept saying that he will be a good friend to us.

    ¡°Even though he touched me over my clothes, it seemed as if his touch was seeping through my clothes to my skin. My stomach turned and I clenched my fists and curled my toes. I don¡¯t know how or why but he removed his hands and started talking about giarised scripts.¡± narrated Jae-Hwa, sadly.

 Chapter 196 - 196 The Harassment

    196 The Harassment

    Nivritti was silently listening to Jae-Hwa¡¯s story. Jae-Hwa had her head lowered with shame. She was unable to look Nivritti in the eyes. Nivritti held her hand while she was telling her everything. She was shocked to know that Dae kept asking about her.

    Why was he trying to turn Jae-Hwa against her? Why he kept asking about her? What did he mean by presenting Nivritti¡¯s ideas as hers? Why was he jealous of her? Why was he asking Jae-Hwa to be smart? Was he biased towards her? Did he want her to seed or Nivritti to fail?

    But Nivritti never did anything to him, so why was he against her? He always talked to her nicely, she never got the vibe that he didn¡¯t like her. So, why was he pitting Jae-Hwa and her against each other?

    ording to Jae-Hwa, he touched her twice and asked her about her friendship with Nivritti. Why? What was his end game? Did he hate Nivritti too much or did he like Jae-Hwa too much? But Dae was married, yet he was interested in someone else. Was what Nivritti thinking, true? Was he interested in Jae-Hwa or something else was going on here?

    No matter what he was thinking, all Nivritti knew was Jae-Hwa felt ufortable with his touch and his words.

    ¡°He kept saying my name, but my brain was fried with his touch. For minutes, all I could hear was ringing in my ear and my vision went white. So, he shouted my name, and I came back to my senses. Finally, he removed his hand from my thigh. And he asked me about giarised scripts. He asked if I found any new ones. I replied yes and again he pointed out your name. He said that your idea about dealing with giarism didn¡¯t work at all. He kept taunting that your idea didn¡¯t work, and people were still posting copied scripts,¡± continued Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti just kept looking at Jae-Hwa and hearing everythinging out of her mouth. Jae-Hwa was venting and Nivritti was letting her vent. She had so many questions, but she kept her mouth shut.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why but I saw his face change expression. He looked annoyed when I said that your idea was good and that writers were responsible for posting copied scripts. All we could do was ban such people. I think he wanted me to take his side and bash your idea, but I took your side, and he was annoyed. Finally, he dropped me outside my house and drove away,¡± Jae-Hwapleted her story.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Nivritti.

    .....

    Jae-Hwa hid her eyes with her palm and started crying. Nivritti dragged her chair next to her and wrapped her arms around her body and hugged her tightly. She didn¡¯t say a single word, just let Jae-Hwa cry her heart out.

    After a few minutes, Jae-Hwa raised her head and looked at Nivritti. ¡°You know I didn¡¯t talk to anyone after that. I could not speak or look anyone in the eyes. I just jumped in the shower and kept scrubbing my thigh where he touched me. After scrubbing and applying soap hundreds of times, I came out of the bathroom. JJ created the group and the boys kept messaging. I was waiting for your message. I knew that if your name popped on my phone that would give me courage but you never replied.¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be, it¡¯s not your fault,¡± sniffled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°It¡¯s neither yours,¡±forted Nivritti. ¡°Then how you came back to your senses?¡± she asked.

    Jae-Hwa took out her phone and showed a message to Nivritti. It was the message Dae sent her. ¡°I feel like you were ufortable in my car. Sorry if I did anything to make you feel like this. I would never do anything to make anyone feel uneasy, please forgive me if I was in wrong.¡±

    ¡°Did he say something when he first touched you?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°The first time, I was about to fall when he saved me and grabbed my waist. He then touched my cheeks and asked if I was fine. But I was too shocked to reply. What he did next was shocking. He knelt down and apologised to me. At first, I thought that he tripped me on purpose, but he apologised for that too he said his foot touched my foot by mistake. I felt bad that a senior was kneeling down and apologising to me. And his apology seemed genuine,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°So, he touches you and then apologises to you?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, immediately. He never even gives me the opportunity to tell him that I don¡¯t like his touch. He does that and the next moment apologises for his mistake. Why does this keep happening to me? Remember when he grabbed hisptop by reaching after leaning on me?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, I do, and I also remember that you told me about he fired a lot of girls and one resigned. Do you think they did that because he was harassing them?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°But he again apologised to me in front of you and Choi-ssi. I never said anything to him yet he himself volunteered the information to you guys,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°That does not mean that you didn¡¯t feel ufortable with his touch. What you felt was genuine and right. Never discard your feelings. Talk to him, tell him what you felt no matter if he apologised. You need to confront him,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°And tell him what?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Whatever you felt at those moments. What your body felt. Tell him if you ept his apology. If you do, it¡¯s good, if not, that should too be eptable to him. He expressed his feelings, you should too do that. If his feelings are valid, yours are too. Tell him that such things must never happen in future. If he felt bad, he should stop doing such things,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t. What if he retaliates? He is my senior,¡± stammered Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°So, if he is your senior, he has the licence to harass you. What you felt and what he dides under sexual harassment, you know that, right?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± tears again streamed down Jae-Hwa¡¯s face.

    ¡°Jae! I am not asking you to file a report with HR. I am just asking you to confront him and tell him about how you felt. If he really felt bad for making you ufortable, if he is a good person, he will definitely understand your point of view. I like to think he is the nice person who saw me in distress and allowed me to go back home. I like to think that he is the senior who tried to look at my leg when he found out that I was injured. Even though he is an elder, he didn¡¯t hesitate to kneel down to take a look at my leg. He has been guiding us since the beginning during all this Rencontrepetition,¡± reassured Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, he knelt and apologised to me, and it is a big deal in our culture. Maybe you are right. I should try to talk to him. But I am scared. Will you be there with me?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Always!¡± Nivritti kissed Jae-Hwa¡¯s temple andforted her.

    ¡°But one thing keeps disturbing me,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Why does he keeps asking about you and keeps putting you down? He never does any of that if he is before ASD or Chung-Ho. But when he is alone with me, he always tries to get me to say something bad about you,¡± sighed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°That I cannot tell you. Maybe he does not trust me as I am new. Maybe he will open up to me after some time,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°I really need to find out what happened with those girls,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, fine, I will ask CH. He must know everything.¡±

    ¡°But you hate gossip,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°This is for you. You need the answers, and I will get them for you. In the meantime, be ready to talk to Dae. Tell him never to touch you,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I sat next to you today,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I know,¡± Nivritti patted Jae-Hwa¡¯s back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I am here for you and sorry you could talk about this with me before.¡±

    ¡°Not your fault. On the contrary, when you didn¡¯t reply, for the time being, I forgot everything about Dae. All I could think was why were you not replying and if you were okay. I was so scared that you might be hurt that I didn¡¯t even think about what Dae did to me. Thank you for that. It was a good thing in hindsight that you lost your phone,¡± Jae-Hwa urgently hugged Nivritti.

    They remained in that position for long, hugging each other adoringly.

    ¡°Thank you Ritti, for hearing me out,¡± said Jae-Hwa and broke the embrace.

    ¡°I will hit you on your head,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± protested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Stop saying thank you, you idiot! You came running in the middle of the night to check if I was doing okay. Should I say thank you?¡± rebuked Nivritti.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Because that¡¯s what friends do. They listen to each other, they worry about each other, they care for each other, they love each other. That¡¯s what friends do,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°And apparently one scolds the other,¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± Nivrittiughed sarcastically. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Dae would be waiting for us.¡±

 Chapter 197 - 197 The Girl in Pink

    197 The Girl in Pink

    Dae was happy to get away from Nivritti and Jae-Hwa. For the first time, Jae-Hwa sat far away from him. And he knew why. He wanted to get Jae-Hwa away from Nivritti, he wanted her to be jealous of her and ultimately hate her. But his n kept backfiring. Not even once he heard bad words out of Jae-Hwa¡¯s mouth for Nivritti.

    On the contrary, Jae-Hwa was now ufortable with him. She didn¡¯t feel okay when in hispany. He was d that no one asked why Jae-Hwa was sitting away from him. He kept waiting for someone to ask that question, but he was in clear for now.

    He was also d that lunchtime arrived, yet no one said anything about Nivritti¡¯s phone. He knew he was careful when he grabbed her phone but in the back of his mind, due to guilt, he had this notion that someone must have seen him picking up her phone and would confront him. But nothing of that sort happened.

    When Manager Park asked him to lunch, he jumped at the offer but had to show that he was devastated. For a minute he declined the offer but was too excited to go to ¡®Servings¡¯. It was a posh restaurant where only the ultra-rich used to eat.

    He was ready to leave, and everyone kept pestering him to go out and eat. He was feeling special as everyone wanted him to enjoy his lunch. For the first time, he was d that he was getting luxury and Nivritti was not. Now he was d that she injured her leg.

    If she would not have injured her leg, everyone would have again paid her more attention in the restaurant. He had this notion that she was getting every luxury, every attention without even trying. Just one good idea could not make people famous.

    Leaving his team behind, he went to the restaurant with the dancers and Manager Park. To his shock, again no one paid any attention to him. All the dancers were talking to each other about dance steps. Dae had no knowledge of dancing, so he just ate his food and smiled at everyone.

    ¡°That wench! Because of her, I came to eat here and again no one is paying any attention to me, as usual. What have I done wrong? Why no one talks to me? Am I not important like her? She is given importance just because she is a girl, if she would have been a man, no one had paid any attention to her. So, what she saved K&Q from a scandal, that does not mean everyone owes her everything,¡± snapped Dae.

    Everyone finished eating and they came back to the practice room. As they were entering the building, Dae saw Nivritti and Jae-Hwa walking out of the building.

    .....

    ¡°What is she doing? What is she outside? Doesn¡¯t she want her foot to heal? How much sympathy does she need from everyone? This sly fox!¡± thought Dae.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± shouted Dae. ¡°What are you doing outside? Why are you walking on that injured leg? You should rest.¡± He sounded as if he was too concerned for her but all he could think was how she was using her injury to gain sympathy from everyone. ASD were taking great care of her. Little did he know that she was injured because of a member of ASD.

    Nivritti replied that she had to go and buy a phone and sim and had no other way as the sim would require her identification. Dae offered his help and said that he and Jae-Hwa could have helped her. He again looked at Jae-Hwa. The moment he mentioned her name she lowered her head to look away from him.

    ¡°I will have to do something about her. My n is backfiring. Instead of creating distance between them, I am driving her away. I need to show my pleasant side to her,¡± thought Dae.

    He was offering his help when Manager Park interjected. He asked Nivritti if she needed help. Dae again rolled his eyes. First ASD became her friend, then he saw Jung-Hwa¡¯s bodyguards taking orders from her and now even Manager Park was worried about her. He clenched his fist in anger.

    After having a sweet and annoying conversation with Nivritti, manager Park moved in with the rest of the party. Dae thought of apanying the girls so that he could get into Jae-Hwa¡¯s good books. If she would not take his side, then after he would get Nivritti fired, she would too leave the Rencontre team. He already had a bad reputation when it came to girls in his team, and he didn¡¯t want it to worsen.

    ¡°Let mee with you,¡± offered Dae. He was taken aback when both girls immediately shouted ¡°no¡±.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t they want me with them?¡± pondered Dae.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine, Dae. We don¡¯t want to trouble you,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Am I a leper? Why are they acting as if I get close to them, they will catch a disease?¡± Dae gritted his teeth. He smiled as wide as possible and said, ¡°it¡¯s no trouble, let¡¯s go.¡± Strategically, he grabbed Nivritti¡¯s and Jae-Hwa¡¯s arms and stood between them. He was not giving them any option but to take him with them.

    But his n was stopped in its way when a gorgeous blue car stopped before them. The back door of the car opened and two feet wearing long ck boots first exited the car. The shiny boot attracted his attention. He kept his eyes on the car door and a beautiful girl exited the car.

    The pink beauty looked at him and moved towards him. He stared at the girl from head to toe. She was a tall, slim girl. She had petite hands and legs, and he could easily measure her waist with his hands. The straight hair was flowing in open. Only a hairband was tied around her head. Her heart-shaped face and full lips were ording to the Korean beauty standard. He thought she must be a celebrity.

    The girl approached them and said, ¡°excuse me!¡±

    Both Dae and Jae-Hwa were too mesmerized by her beauty. So, Nivritti smiled at her and replied, ¡°yes, please.¡±

    To Dae¡¯s shock, she asked for him and Nivritti pointed at him. Both Nivritti and Jae-Hwa moved away from him letting him talk with the girl. The girl in pink demanded that she had to talk to him alone. He thought that Nivritti would not leave him alone and would wait for him to go and buy a phone as he offered his help. But Nivritti shouted that she would see himter and Jae-Hwa and she hurried away.

    Dae gulped after looking at her. The girl in pink removed her sunsses and her beautiful double-eyelid eyes appeared before him. She was a perfect beauty. She had a sharp nose and perfect teeth. He knew it was only possible if she went under the knife. It was impossible for a person to have every single feature desired by the beauty industry.

    ¡°Are you Seong Dae?¡± asked the girl in pink.

    ¡°Yes, I am and who are you?¡± asked Dae.

    The girl in pink said nothing and took out her phone from her pocket. She opened an app and showed the screen to Dae. ¡°Are you anonymous_ASDnews?¡± she asked.

    Dae¡¯s face turned white as a sheet. It was the ID he made to chat with Missmatch. It was the ID he was supposed to share the video from. But it was anonymous, and he only had that ID for a few minutes. Who was she and how did she find him?

    ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about. I am sorry I am busy right now, I have to leave,¡± Dae blurted out and started running inside the building.

    The girl in pink followed him and shouted, ¡°Seong Dae-ssi! If you run away now, you will be disappointed that you left a great opportunity.¡±

    Dae abruptly stopped in his path. He sighed and looked around. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°My name is¡­ well you can call me Missmatch,¡± said the girl in pink.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Dae. The earth slipped from under his feet. How did she find him? How did she track an anonymous ount? ¡°How? How did you¡­?¡± Dae could not finish his sentence.

    ¡°How did I find you? Simple! You are a moron,¡± taunted Missmatch.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted Dae.

    ¡°You told me you worked in K&Q. You made your ount with your official e-mail. Even after you deleted your ount, I already had all the details as you DMed me. Tracing your e-mail was not a difficult job. You know I have the best team,¡± said Missmatch.

    ¡°What are you doing here? I said sorry for wasting your time. Please forgive me, I made a mistake,¡± Dae was sweating with fear. He knew how much power Missmatch held. Everyone in the entertainment industry was scared of her. Whatever she wrote in her blogs was considered to be factually correct no matter if there were no evidence.

    ¡°Rx! If I wanted to destroy your life, I would have contacted your CEO and outed you. I would not have approached you in this¡­¡± she looked around, ¡°¡­shabby building. Why does ASD train here? Yuckk¡­ so much money still your CEO is cheap.¡±

 Chapter 198 - 198 The Enemy

    198 The Enemy

    Dae was shaking with fear as Missmatch was standing before him. He thought he was careful with the anonymous ount, but he was wrong. He should have asked everything to the girls. He did what they said, he just made the ount and chatted with Missmatch.

    He didn¡¯t ask about how to hide his identity and they didn¡¯t tell him that either. Stupidly, he made an ount with his official e-mail and Missmatch traced him sessfully. Now, he was scared to death. He was scared about someone finding him out, finding about what he did with Nivritti¡¯s phone, finding about that he was ready to leak news about ASD.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± asked Dae and gulped with fear.

    ¡°The story YOU promised me, the proof of violent act by June, that YOU promised me,¡± replied Missmatch and walked in his face. She was a young woman and Dae was bulkier than her, but she was not afraid at all. On the contrary, Dae was sweating like a pig.

    ¡°Please, shhh¡­ people might hear you,¡± Dae shushed her and grabbed her arm. He dragged her away with him into a corner and looked at her with pleading eyes.

    She immediately jerked her hand away from him and looked at him. ¡°What are you afraid of? Losing your job? Give me the proof and I will make you rich. You won¡¯t have to work another day in your life,¡± said Missmatch.

    ¡°I am sorry, but I don¡¯t have the proof. The video I was talking about is deleted forever,¡± replied Dae while joining his hands in a plea. ¡°And how do you know I was even telling you the truth?¡±

    ¡°I checked everything. The date, the location, and the circumstances you gave me, my team and I cross-checked everything. There was an incident that happened in that restaurant. Two girls were being harassed and a man came to their rescue. As per themunicator app, he was some CEO wearing masks and he had his bodyguards with him. No one could recognise those men. But you say that it was June?¡± asked Missmatch.

    ¡°Yes, everything I said was true but there is no evidence. There was a video but there is no trace of it,¡± replied Dae.

    .....

    ¡°If it was June, this is going to be awesome news. I want every detail. Who were the girls?¡± asked Missmatch.

    ¡°Please! If anyone finds out I told you everything, I will be in big trouble,¡± pleaded Dae.

    ¡°You were ready to tell me everythingst night,¡± notified Missmatch.

    ¡°Yeah, but then I thought that I had proof, I had the video. If I would have given you the video, they would have focused on that and not on me. But now, if I tell you anything, all they will do is try to find out who leaked this news. Only a handful of people know about it,¡± begged Dae.

    ¡°Just answer the question, who were the girls?¡±

    ¡°Two girls from the script department,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Why would June risk his reputation for two girls?¡± asked Missmatch.

    ¡°One of them is his friend,¡± Dae gritted his teeth.

    ¡°June is friends with the script department?¡± asked Missmatch.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a new friendship,¡± Dae rolled his eyes, and his jealousy took over. He took a deep breath and said, ¡°listen! I am ready to give you every detail and I can make the restaurant manager say that everything I say happened there. But you will have to pay me for every detail and publish the news on your blog. I will help you,¡± said Dae.

    Missmatch was confused. One second ago, he was asking her to leave and refusing to tell any detail about that incident. What suddenly changed his mind? ¡°What is in it for you?¡± asked Missmatch.

    ¡°I¡­ I want that girl out of here at any cost,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Who? The friend?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°What did she do to you?¡±

    ¡°Do you want the news or not?¡± asked Dae.

    Missmatch looked at him for a minute and sighed, ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted Dae, confused.

    ¡°K&Q have the best PR team and legal team. Mywyer is nothingpared to them. I know I don¡¯t verify facts and post news on my blogs and other social media apps, but I cannot go against K&Q. they will sue me for nder, and I will lose everything,¡± said Missmatch. ¡°Also, you don¡¯t know the power of ASDians. They will lynch me if I post anything without verifying the facts.¡±

    ¡°Then why are you here? To rub it in my face that you found me, to exert your power on me,¡± yelled Dae.

    Missmatch smiled and touched his cor. ¡°I am here to tell you this. Create another e-mail ID where it does not mention any details about you, no names, no address, no phone number linked to it, then create another anonymous ount with it. Keep giving me fresh updates about Rencontre, even before your PR team could publish it. I will pay you for every detail. I will be the first in the industry to publish new news about Rencontre, fans will pay my blogs as much money as I ask to get the updates first and we both will get rich. If someone finds out, spread the rumour that she is the one leaking the details. You know what, better create the e-mail and the anonymous ount in her name. The trail will say that she is responsible for leaking the news. That way you will get her out, get rich and I will be the best in the industry. By the way, what is her name? I want every detail about her,¡± asked Missmatch.

    ¡°Her name is Nivritti,¡± Dae gritted his teeth.

    ¡°Oh, she is not Korean.¡±

    ¡°No, she came from India and is overtaking my department. This rencontre was supposed to be mine, but her idea was approved,¡± chided Dae.

    ¡°This idea was hers?¡± asked Missmatch, impressed.

    ¡°Anyone could havee up with such an idea, no need to be that impressed,¡± scolded Missmatch.

    ¡°Credit should be given where it is due. Her idea is good,¡± said Missmatch.

    ¡°Well, your idea is good too. I will create an ount in her name and tell you everything important thing about Rencontre, but I need to be paid upfront,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Fine by me. You inform me if any of the ASD members are involved in any scandal, no matter how tiny that is. Get me proof and I will shower you with money. If anything like that restaurant drama happens again, call me instantly,¡± instructed Missmatch.

    ¡°Will do that,¡± replied Dae. ¡°If you want, I can give you a few updates now. I can send you a few screenshots of scripts that we are reading now.¡±

    ¡°Anyone can read submitted scripts on your website,¡± Missmatch rolled her eyes.

    ¡°But no one knows the selected one. I can give you a few names that we have selected till now. Those who are participating would flock to your blog to check if their name is up there,¡± suggested Dae, too pleased with his idea.

    ¡°That is a good suggestion. I would love that. Create an ount and chat me up. Send me everything you know about her. We will discuss other detailster on. We can talk about payment¡­¡± said Missmatch.

    ¡°I want cash. I don¡¯t want any trails that can lead back to me. Cash payment is the safest,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°That is not possible. I can¡¯te every time I have to pay you. Are you out of your mind?¡± shouted Missmatch.

    ¡°You know payments can be traced, right?¡±

    ¡°Then get a virtual credit card. That way you can use your regr credit ount, but no card number will ever be disyed to anyone, and it is virtually untraceable,¡± suggested Missmatch.

    ¡°That is better. I will set up everything and send you a message,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°You don¡¯t send a message, you DM on social media apps. How old are you?¡± taunted Missmatch.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I will learn everything and be in contact with you. I will give you a few names of people whose scripts we have liked so far. But be sure to tell everyone that nothing is fixed yet, they can be winners or could be rejected at ater stage,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Can we fix the results? That will get us paid in millions,¡± Missmatch¡¯s eyes twinkled with happiness. She could see money in her future.

    ¡°That would be impossible,¡± Dae shattered her dream.

    ¡°What? Why? Are you not the boss?¡±

    ¡°No, the final script will be selected by King,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Excuse me!!!! Why were you hiding this detail?¡± shouted Missmatch.

    ¡°Shh, shh, shh¡­ why do you keep shouting?¡± scolded Dae.

    ¡°Sorry! But why didn¡¯t you tell me this before? Do you know how big this news is?¡± Missmatch pped with happiness.

    ¡°Well, he said that he will look at every script and then decide on a script for every member as he does not want any surprises during shooting,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°I am so happy that you contacted me. Name your price,¡± said Missmatch, happily.

    Dae beamed with happiness. ¡°I want 5,00,000 won, no 7,00,000 won,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Done. I don¡¯t have the cash right now. Set up everything and DM me. Your money will be deposited in your ount immediately,¡± smiled Missmatch. She extended her hand towards Dae, ¡°very nice to meet you.¡±

    Dae too smiled and shook her hand. ¡°Pleasure is mine.¡±

    Missmatch smiled at him and walked away. Dae smirked at his luck and murmured, ¡°now, I will get my enemy away from me.¡±

 Chapter 199 - 199 The Glancing Match

    199 The ncing Match

    Nivritti and Jae-Hwa reached the main entrance of the building after having a heart-to-heart chat with each other. After talking to Nivritti, Jae-Hwa was feeling much better. A little nervous about confronting Dae, but still feeling far better than before.

    The moment they entered the building they saw Dae entering a lift. Both girls looked at each other in shock. They came back after getting a sim and talking for so long and he was still on the ground floor.

    ¡°What is he still doing here?¡± asked Jae-Hwa. ¡°Was he waiting for us?¡±

    ¡°Why would he? Maybe he came back for some work or was talking to thatdy,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°For such a long time?¡± Jae-Hwa was shocked. ¡°Who was she? Why do I get this feeling that I know her? Oh, my mind is so upied with Seong-ssi that I am unable to think about anyone else.¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t. Solve your issues with him and you will automatically find out who she is,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°She has something to do with K-pop, I just can¡¯t put my fingers on it,¡± Jae-Hwa rubbed her temple and kept thinking.

    Nivritti pressed the calling button of the lift and looked at Jae-Hwa. ¡°Don¡¯t stress yourself. Rx your brain and automatically, your brain will give you an answer.¡±

    ¡°Right! You are right. I am thinking too much,¡± Jae-Hwa shook her head and the lift arrived. They went to the second floor where the boys had started practising and Dae was opening up hisptop.

    .....

    The girls reached the working station and sat next to each other. Jae-Hwa wanted to ask him who the woman was, but she stopped herself. She had more important things to discuss with him. She had to confront him but not before so many people. She was afraid that he would shout at her in front of others.

    Dae gulped when they saw the girls approaching. ¡°Did they watch meing up? Oh, did they see Missmatch leaving? What if they recognise her? I know Nivritti is not a K-pop buff, but Jae is. Howe she didn¡¯t recognise her? Everyone who follows K-pop knows about her. Wait! If they saw me, why are they not asking me why I waste? Maybe they didn¡¯t see me. Phew!¡±

    Nivritti smiled at him and fired up herptop. Jae-Hwa¡¯s mind was preupied with all the words she was going to say to Dae.

    ¡°You bought your phone?¡± asked Dae to divert their attention from himself.

    ¡°Oh, yes!¡± replied Nivritti and showed him the phone.

    ¡°Wow!¡± screamed Dae as he saw the expensive phone. ¡°You are rich!!¡±

    Nivritti immediately looked behind her to see if anyone heard his scream. But every dancer was busy practising and the music was loud.

    ¡°Calm down, Dae! I am not rich. This is on EMI,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Still!¡±

    ¡°You know this phone is cheaper in Korea. If I would have bought this in India, I would have gone bankrupt,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I would have to sell my kidneys,¡± she joked.

    Dae smiled at her. Hearing about kidneys suddenly he realised, ¡°Oh should have I told Missmatch about the medical report ASD were talking about in the chat? But again, I don¡¯t know any details about that. From now on, I have to be super friendly with these girls. I need to know everything that is happening with them. They made a group chat, they must discuss everything. These young bastards! Why didn¡¯t they add me to the group? Don¡¯t they trust me? Am I not their friend? I have to pave my way and get myself added to the group somehow. You will have to work harder, Dae. Show them your nice side. Be nicer than Mother Teressa.¡±

    He looked at Jae-Hwa. She was still trying to avoid looking at him. ¡°Jae! Are you okay?¡± he asked, reluctantly.

    ¡°No, I am not,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Seong-ssi! I have to talk to you,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Anything, tell me,¡± said Dae.

    Jae-Hwa nced at Nivritti for support. Nivritti immediately grabbed her hand and tighten her grip. Her touch gave the necessary boost to Jae-Hwa. Dae noticed that, the nce Jae-Hwa gave to Nivritti.

    ¡°What the hell? Did this girl provoke Jae-Hwa against me?¡± thought Dae.

    ¡°Seong-ssi!¡± Jae-Hwa gulped.

    ¡°Dae, not Seong-ssi,¡± smiled Dae.

    ¡°Seong-ssi,¡± emphasised Jae-Hwa with determination. Dae¡¯s smile faded at once. ¡°I know you said sorry and apologised to me multiple times. When you first touched me, it was for saving me from falling down and you apologised immediately. I didn¡¯t think about it twice but yesterday you touched me again...,¡± Jae-Hwa was giving a piece of her mind to Dae when the music stopped. Jae-Hwa stopped abruptly as she didn¡¯t want to speak before everyone.

    Jung-Hwa came running to Nivritti. ¡°Did you get a new phone?¡± he asked and looked at Nivritti. He knew he had to act before Dae. But abruptly he felt a cold wave around him. The Rencontre team was not talking to each other, nor they were reading any scripts. Jae-Hwa¡¯s face was red, and she was staring at Dae.

    Jae-Hwa realised that her anger was visible on her face. She lowered her gaze and pulled her hands away from Nivritti¡¯s hands. Jung-Hwa noticed the awkwardness between them.

    ¡°Is everything okay?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Why is everything not okay?¡± asked Jeong-Eun from behind.

    Nivritti closed her eyes and was about to reply when Dae smiled, ¡°yes everything is alright. We were just discussing something about the scripts.¡±

    ¡°Why do I feel a chill then?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    Nivritti immediately looked at him and shook her head subtly in no. He understood her gesture and shut his mouth. He opened his mouth again to change the topic, ¡°so, show me your phone.¡±

    Nivritti smirked at him and handed her new phone to him.

    ¡°Wow!¡± eximed Jung-Hwa. Nivritti could not hold herughter anymore andughed out loud.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jeong-Eun, innocently. Nivritti knew they were teasing her. Nivritti just shook her head in disbelief and kept smiling.

    ¡°They are good actors,¡± Jae-Hwa whispered in her ear.

    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± asked Kyung-Soo who arrived with the rest of the team.

    ¡°Ritti got a new phone,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°That¡¯s good, but we are here for scripts. Concentrate on that,¡± scolded Kyung-Soo. Nivritti looked at him. He was avoiding looking at her and her phone. Nivritti realised that he was not as good of an actor as Jung-Hwa and Jeong-Eun.

    Kyung-Soo sat next to Dae and asked him to show his selected scripts. Dae happily opened his folder and showed him the scripts. The rest of the boys too dragged Nivritti¡¯s and Jae-Hwa¡¯sptops and spent half an hour reading the scripts. The scripts that they liked were marked favourites.

    While everyone was busy reading scripts, Dae and Jae-Hwa were involved in a ncing match. Dae would nce at Jae-Hwa for one second and the other Jae-Hwa would nce back at him. Jae-Hwa had so much more to say to him, but ASD interrupted her mid-way.

    Jung-Hwa who was sitting next to Nivritti kept staring at Dae as theptop was far away from him and it was not possible for him to read any scripts. And being a detective, he had to know what happened between the members of the Rencontre team. Why did they abruptly shut up?

    He wanted to ask Nivritti, but she had signalled him not to say another word. The curious cat in him was making him uneasy. He had to know. He was shaking his leg and fidgeting with his fingers. Nivritti who was sitting next to him was finding his jerks, annoying. She ced her hand over his thigh and looked at him.

    ¡°Calm down!¡± she murmured.

    ¡°Then tell me,¡± he mouthed back.

    Nivritti sighed and looked at him, ¡°can¡¯t. Somethings are not for me to say.¡±

    ¡°That means something happened between Seong-ssi and Jae,¡± he whispered back.

    ¡°Shhh¡­¡± shushed Young-Chul as he was too immersed in reading a script on Jae-Hwa¡¯sptop.

    Suddenly Jung-Hwa¡¯s phone chimed. He looked at the phone. He had received a message from Jeong-Eun, ¡°what you both are talking about? I heard the word ¡®Jae¡¯.¡± He showed the message to Nivritti. She rolled her eyes at the message.

    Jeong-Eun was sitting next to Jae-Hwa, yet he heard her name. How smitten was he? Nivritti snatched Jung-Hwa¡¯s phone and typed, ¡°concentrate on the script, not in Jae, otherwise, I will tell NK.¡±

    After sending the message she looked at Jeong-Eun who was staring at his phone, reading the message. He instantly looked at her, lowered his head and ced his phone back in his pocket.

    ¡°What about Jae?¡± pondered Jeong-Eun. He then realised that Jae-Hwa kept biting her nails. She would nce at Dae and then lower her head. His suspicions were getting wings. He really heard the word ¡®Jae¡¯. There was something going on between Dae and Jae-Hwa. He wanted to know. But he thought that it would be rude to ask about their matter.

    Jae-Hwa could take no more. She grabbed Nivritti¡¯s hand and gripped it tightly. Nivritti immediately looked at her. With confidence, Jae-Hwa looked at Dae and said, ¡°Seong-ssi, can I talk to you outside for a minute?¡±

    ¡°Jae!¡± said Nivritti.

 Chapter 200 - 200 The Lie on the Fly

    200 The Lie on the Fly

    Everyone was picking up on the ufortability and chill in the air. They had never seen Jae-Hwa so distraught. She was shy and silent all the time but never angry. She just demanded that Dae should follow her to talk. Even Nivritti was shocked.

    ¡°Just a minute, Seong-ssi,¡± emphasised Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go outside,¡± replied Dae.

    Jae-Hwa let go of Nivritti¡¯s hand and stood up. Dae followed suit. Nivritti too started standing up when Jae-Hwa stopped her, ¡°stay! It¡¯s fine.¡±

    Nivritti kept staring at Jae-Hwa with worry written all over her face. Jae-Hwa nodded at her and ced her hands on her shoulder to assure her. Nivritti licked her lips and nodded back at her.

    This was the moment Kyung-Soo realised that something was wrong. Nivritti always licked her lips when she would be nervous. So, why was she nervous if Jae-Hwa wanted to talk to Dae? And what was the matter that Jae-Hwa couldn¡¯t discuss before ASD? Why she looked so angry, Jae-Hwa never looked angry except to shout at Nivritti at times.

    Dae and Jae-Hwa left the room and closed the door behind them.

    ¡°What was that?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti, casually.

    .....

    ¡°Ritti!!¡± emphasised Kyung-Soo. He lowered his head slightly and with raised eyebrows stared at her.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t know. All I know is they had a little fight about scripts yesterday when he dropped her at her home,¡± she lied and gulped as her throat was getting dry. She exhaled a big puff of air and unconsciously licked her lips.

    ¡°She is lying! Why is she lying?¡± Kyung-Soo immediately picked up on her expressions. She was actively trying to avoid looking at Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Forget about them and focus on scripts. We have to give an update to Mr. Hu in a few days. Please help us out,¡± she requested.

    When everyone again looked at theptops, she turned her head to stare at the door. She was shaking her leg nervously and kept licking her lips. Every few minutes she kept staring at the door to see if Jae-Hwa was back.

    She wanted to run outside to help Jae-Hwa. She had no idea what was happening outside. Was she shouting at Dae? Would Dae listen to her concern? Would he understand her position or would Nivritti¡¯s suggestion backfire? He was famous for firing people. Would he fire Jae-Hwa too?

    Nivritti kept clenching and unclenching her fists. When that didn¡¯t calm her down, she started fidgeting with her fingers. Jeong-Eun who was now sitting next to her noticed every fidget, every shake, every expression. He tried hard to concentrate on the scripts, but Nivritti¡¯s constant motion kept distracting him.

    Jae-Hwa dragged Dae outside and walked into a corner. Dae knew she wanted to finish her conversation about him touching her. Although he liked touching her, he would have to act as if he made a mistake. Now he had to be in everyone¡¯s good books so that he could gather news about ASD and inform everything to Missmatch. He was ready to ept his mistake.

    But no matter how much he tried he could not forget the sensation he felt when he touched Jae-Hwa. Her tiny waist in his arms, her beautiful face close to his eyes, her soft skin in his hand made him feel young again.

    What he didn¡¯t expect was the feeling he would get after touching Nivritti. He knew she was older than Jae-Hwa but her skin was softer. And the whiff ofvender he caught when he used to stand next to her was overwhelming. The sweet smell would make him hate her more. He wanted to touch her too, but his hate woulde in between.

    ¡°I know what you are going to say,¡± said Dae, condescendingly.

    Jae-Hwa didn¡¯t appreciate his tone. ¡°No, you don¡¯t. You can¡¯t guess it in million years. You really can¡¯t tell what a woman is about to tell you and never interrupt someone even before they started to speak.¡±

    ¡°Sorry!¡±

    ¡°So, as I was saying, I appreciate that you apologised to me, but I hate that you keep repeating your mistake again and again. When you touched me yesterday, I felt dirty. I know that was not your intention, and it matters too but my feeling and my sixth sense matter too. I didn¡¯t like you touching me. You are my senior, you are my mentor, it is your duty to guide me, teach me, make me good in my job but please do it without touching me again,¡± rebuked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae! I would never do anything to make you feel you feel ufortable,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°But you did. Your touch made me feel uneasy. We were talking nicely, why did you have to ce your hand over my thigh?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I was not thinking along that line. I was just being friendly. I apologise again. I assure you that will never happen again. If that happens again, you can report me to HR,¡± Dae joined his hand and bowed down to her.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t do that. You are a senior,¡± Jae-Hwa felt bad.

    ¡°No, I am sorry, really sorry. But you know I am married, and I love my wife so much. I will never do anything to hurt her or anydy for that matter. I promise you I will never touch you again, you never even have to shake hands with me again. I will keep in mind to respect your personal space. You can keep sitting next to Nivritti, I am fine with it. All I want is for you to tell me if you feel ufortable with me ever again,¡± requested Dae.

    Jae-Hwa being soft at heart took every wording from his mouth as an apology. What she didn¡¯t understand was that he was being a maniptor. The thing about not touching her ever again, not shaking hands with her was said to make her feel bad about herself. He was trying to make her feel guilty for stopping him from touching her.

    He exaggerated everything and made her feel bad about herself. Now she was thinking if she overreacted. He was being polite and apologised constantly. She was feeling guilty for treating him like a pervert. She realised that he was just being friendly and maybe she blew it out of proportion.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Seong-ssi. No need to go so far. I am sorry if I made you feel bad, but I really needed to tell you how I felt. I really needed to get everything off my chest,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I feel that, and I understand your feelings too. I apologise again,¡± Dae again bowed down to her.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go inside. Everyone will be waiting for us,¡± said Jae-Hwa and walked in without waiting for Dae.

    Jae-Hwa opened the door and entered in. All looked at her, but no one said a thing. She quietly came to her seat and sat down. Dae followed her a few seconds after and sat in his seat.

    ¡°Why did you guys fight?¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. Dae and Jae-Hwa looked at each other in shock.

    ¡°I told you JJ, something about the scripts. Let us handle it,¡± Nivritti immediately blurted out.

    ¡°Still there is no need to fight. What she did do wrong, Dae?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    But Dae had no answer. He had no idea how to reply to Jung-Hwa. Nivritti just blurted out a lie and he could not figure out how to carry out that lie. Nivritti looked at him and saw his nervous face. His constant gulping told her that he had no answer.

    ¡°Jae forgot to mark a giarised script. Dae scolded her and was a little harsh to her. So, she fought back and was telling him to teach her patiently,¡± Nivritti took care of the situation.

    Dae¡¯s jaw dropped at her lie. ¡°My god! This girl can make things on the fly. How does she think so fast? I was still trying to figure out what to say and she blurted out lie after lie just like that. Where does she get her idea from? And that without any w. Not even I can figure out a plot hole in her lie,¡± he thought. Finally, he was impressed with her brain.

    ¡°Dae you can¡¯t be harsh to your subordinates. She is still learning, please teach her patiently. You have seen us, we were not experts, but with our hard work and constant practice, we havee this far. We know that Ritti has experience so she rarely makes mistakes. Jae could be like that too, all you have to do is teach her,¡± suggested Korain.

    ¡°I will keep that in mind Coin,¡± smiled Dae. But inside he was fuming with anger. A young boy was telling him what to do. He was trying to be over smart with him. But he just gulped down his ego and smiled at him.

    He was going to be rich soon if he kept his ego and anger in check. He had to do a lot of work today. He had to get a virtual credit card today. He had to make a different e-mail id with Nivritti¡¯s name and then create an ount. He had to send the list of the selected scripts to Missmatch.

 Chapter 201 - 201 The Condescending Apology

    201 The Condescending Apology

    But Dae knew he would have to wait as it would take days to get his card. The moment he would leave the practice room, all banks would be closed for the day and that would dy his process. And he didn¡¯t want to send more information to Missmatch without being paid upfront.

    He knew that everyone had to give an update to the CEO in a few days and if such news would leak before that, the whole Rencontre team will be under surveince. He knew that there will be so many people in that meeting and giving out the information after that would be a more intelligent thing to do.

    That way all the team present in the meeting will too be under scrutiny and not just the Rencontre team. He didn¡¯t want everyone to find out about the ount so soon. He wanted to make money first and then dump the me on Nivritti. He would kill two birds with one stone.

    Also, one simple leak was not enough to get rid of Nivritti. He had to leak a lot of information to Missmatch so that he could prove that Nivritti bought the expensive phone with that money and that she bought it on EMI to avoid suspicions. Oh, he was in seventh heaven after looking at her expensive phone.

    ¡°Sorry to lecture you, Dae. I just spoke from my heart, sorry if you were offended,¡± apologised Korain.

    ¡°No, no, Coin, you are right. No need to be sorry. What you said is absolutely right. I have to teach them politely,¡± smiled Dae.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back, Choreo sir is waiting for us,¡± said the dance leader of the group, Him-Chan.

    ¡°Here, Ritti, here is yourptop,¡± Young-Chul who was reading on herptop, pushed it towards her. She looked at the screen, a notepad was open, and a message was typed on it, ¡°send a message as soon as your sim gets activated.¡± Nivritti looked at him and just nodded with a sweet smile on her face.

    All the boys left the Rencontre team alone and went back to practice. Nivritti looked at Dae and Jae-Hwa to see if everything was alright but they both avoided looking at each other. Nivritti didn¡¯t say a single word and closed the notepad before anyone else could see it.

    .....

    The music started ring loudly and finally, Dae broke the ice with a loud sigh. ¡°Ritti!¡± he said. Nivritti looked at him and waited for him to speak again. He kept exhaling loudly, opening his mouth to speak but would close it at the veryst moment.

    ¡°What is it, Dae?¡± nudged Nivritti.

    ¡°I know Jae will need time to forgive me. I have apologised to her, and I really want to give her space. I have even promised her that no matter what I won¡¯t even shake hands with her. I will not even invade her personal space. If she wants, I won¡¯t even initiate talk with her. I am going to respect her wishes. I know women can feel awkward with certain touches, and it is not their fault, it is the fault of their brains and their hormones, and I will respect that,¡± said Dae.

    Nivritti was taken aback. What was he talking about? Jae-Hwa told him about her feelings and the emotions she went through after he touched her, and he was being all condescending and mansining her own feelings to her. And what did he mean by fault of brains and hormones? What kind of idiot was he?

    ¡°Now, I also want to apologise to you,¡± continued Dae.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± eximed Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°If I ever did anything to feel you like that, I apologise, I never meant to offend you. If I ever said anything to you, I apologise from the bottom of my heart. I will again apologise to Choi-ssi. I know sometimes I don¡¯t think things and just act. What would be a friendly act for me could offend someone. Sorry, girls, very sorry,¡± Dae joined his hands and lowered his head in apology.

    Nivritti kept staring at him without any expression on her face. She knew what he was doing. Years of her therapy had taught every male tactic to her. He was gaslighting Jae-Hwa¡¯s feelings. He was making her believe that even though he did touch her, her feelings were mistaken, what she thinks happen, didn¡¯t really happen.

    ¡°Was he like this from the beginning or was I not paying any attention to him? But he was caring and a good mentor. Was that the real him or this man, sitting before me, lying through his teeth is the real one?¡± pondered Nivritti. ¡°Now I know why he told everything to CH. Working in this industry for years taught him to get in front of the scandal, tell everything to the media first and spin the news as you want. He wanted to be the one to narrate his own story. He didn¡¯t want to give any chance to Jae. First, he touched her and now he is making feel her bad by saying that he will never touch her again not even shake hands with her. What a maniptive bastard!!¡±

    ¡°Ritti!!! Do you forgive me?¡± questioned Dae again.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t have to say that. You wronged Jae, not me. That¡¯s a good thing that you said sorry but don¡¯t try to portray yourself as some saint, that will confuse her further. Be real, be human. Believe me, if you would have done anything like this to me, I would have broken your nose,¡± Nivritti shed the brightest of her smile at him.

    Dae was shocked at her answer. He didn¡¯t really expect this answer from her. He thought she would simply ept his apology, but she barked at him that too with a smile on her face. The restaurant manager¡¯s words rang in his ears. Nivritti twisted the bully¡¯s finger and got out of his grip by herself.

    He even remembered how she fought for her idea with Kyung-Soo and then fought with her whole department for Jae-Hwa. No matter how much he wanted to touch her smooth skin again, he was d that he chose Jae-Hwa as his prey and not Nivritti.

    ¡°Woah!¡± he eximed and leaned away from her.

    ¡°I am sorry but when someone tries to be over smart with me, I tend to be rude. I don¡¯t like anyone bullying anyone or mistreating someone,¡± Nivritti looked him into his eyes and replied.

    ¡°I understand. I will keep that in mind, I will never cross paths with you. And thank you for saving me from ASD. Thank you for lying for me,¡± smiled Dae, awkwardly and immediately lowered his eyes to focus on his work. But all he could do was curse Nivritti. ¡°This wench thinks she can intimidate me. I will show you. Just a few more days and you will be thrown out of thepany. Now I want to throw you in jail. I want legal action against you. I will make your life a living hell, mark my words.¡±

    ¡°By the way how did youe up with that lie?¡± he again raised his head and inquired.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. They kept asking what the matter was, and I had no answer. Suddenly you two fighting with each other came out of my mouth. And something regarding the scripts popped into my mind,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Thank you, Ritti for all your help,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, shut up!¡± Nivritti rolled her eyes at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No, really, thank you, Ritti,¡± said Dae. ¡°And Jae, I am sorry again.¡±

    ¡°You are wee, Dae,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°This ugly wench! Just get lost so that I can return back to my life. Just look at me, thank you, sorry, thank you, sorry, these are the only terms I keep repeating. Is the money worth it? Well, if not money, getting her fired is worth it. If she would get fired from K&Q, it would be difficult for her to get a job in this industry, ever again. Oh, I love this idea. How I wish, K&Q did a dishonourable discharge just like the military,¡± Dae gritted his teeth but kept a smile on his face.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Dae,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Let¡¯s concentrate on scripts. We have to give an update to Mr. Hu this week,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, right!¡± said Dae. ¡°Do you guys know what you have to present to him?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No! I have never given such an update,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Well, you will have to tell him, how many scripts you have received till now in your server, how many scripts you have read, how many are rejected, how many are selected for King, did he like any of them, what kind of scripts he likes, what genre of scripts we are receiving, something like these. I have a temte for me, I will share with you guys, Choi-ssi gave me and I forgot to share it with you guys, sorry. I think you also have to show your folders to him,¡± exined Dae.

    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I will send the temte on your mail IDs,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Thank you, Dae,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°You are wee,¡± replied Dae and all went back to their work.

    ¡°What the hell? What was that? He was again, polite, a teacher, a mentor. Does he have mood swings? Or he just puts on an act?¡± contemted Nivritti.

 Chapter 202 - 202 The Worry of Parents

    202 The Worry of Parents

    Nivritti kept thinking about the bizarre behaviour of Dae as it was getting difficult to understand which Dae was the real one. The one who smiled and cared for them or the condescending, misogynist ass. After a few minutes, she shook her head to discard all the thoughts and concentrated on the scripts.

    She had to work harder as the update session was closing by. She only had two days, Wednesday, and Thursday as they had to present the update before the CEO. She made a point to work at home the whole night. She thought of ordering in as it would be difficult to stand up and cook for a long time and ordering the food in would give her more time to work on the scripts.

    The time to end the day was approaching. As everyone saw that Young-Chul was getting tired, they thought of stopping the dance. The first ones to leave were the dancers. ASD had a feedback session with their choreographer, and he told them the steps everyone had to work on more.

    Slowly, everyone left leaving ASD and the Rencontre team in the room. The boys walked up to the team and sat on the benches, tired. The Rencontre team pleaded with them to leave and rest but Kyung-Soo replied that their update session wasing on and he had to read more scripts so that Hu-ssi would know that he was doing his part too.

    After an hour of reading the scripts and marking the favourite of the team members, it was way past the time of leaving the office.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯ste, we all should leave,¡±mented Him-Chan.

    ¡°Yeah, see you all tomorrow,¡± said Dae and started packing his bags.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go Ritti, Jae, I will drop you,¡± said Thae and stood up.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, TK. I will take a cab,¡± replied Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°Will you ever say yes on the first try?¡± scolded Young-Chul. ¡°Just go with him. Can¡¯t even walk properly and would take a cab,¡± he rolled his eyes.

    ¡°Okay! Woah! Rx! Chill!¡± said Nivritti. Jae-Hwa too was about to say no but when she heard Young-Chul snapping at Nivritti, she pressed her lips tighter and kept her mouth shut.

    ¡°Just leave, I am too tired to fight with you,¡± snapped Young-Chul.

    Nivritti didn¡¯t want to overwhelm his emotions, so she kept quiet and gestured to Thae to move along with her. Jae-Hwa followed them. While all the other boys were grabbing their and Thae¡¯s bags, finally, Dae left for the day.

    ¡°What happened to him?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Jae! The soft-spoken one, who was afraid and shy to even open her mouth in our presence, almost burst at him today,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ritti exined it. It was some issue with the scripts,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Yeah, she did,¡± Kyung-Soo bit his lips. He remembered the moment Nivritti licked her lips. Something bothered her, he just had no idea what.

    ¡°You think she lied!!¡± shouted Jung-Hwa. ¡°You think she is hiding something.¡±

    ¡°Not sure!¡± replied Kyung-Soo and threw his bag over his shoulder. All walked behind him except Jeong-Eun. He kept staring at his big brother and thinking about the gestures and actions of Nivritti when Jae-Hwa was talking outside with Dae. Now, Kyung-Soo was not sure if she told them the truth. Cogs in his brain started turning.

    Thae first dropped Nivritti off as her house was closer and then drove to Jae-Hwa¡¯s house for the first time and dropped her off. She requested him to drop her a few metres away from her house as she didn¡¯t want anyone to see her with him. He nodded and politely waited for her to get inside her gate and then he drove back to his house.

    Nivritti could not talk to Jae-Hwa in presence of Dae and then before Thae. She checked her phone, but her sim was still not activated. She ced her things in their proper ce, removed her bandages and went to the bathroom to freshen up.

    She changed into a loose t-shirt and capri pants. She again applied the medicine and covered her injury with a bandage. She then wrapped thepression bandage and satfortably on her couch.

    For a few minutes, she rested her head on the headrest and rxed. She had herptop and her phone near her. She knew she had to start the work soon, but she wanted to rest her eyes, her brain, and her leg for some time.

    She had her leg safely on the table on a cushion. Her head was rested on the couch, and she kept her eyes closed. After a few minutes, her phone chimed. She jerked herself up and grabbed her phone. Her sim was activated now. She looked at the notification. It was a message from thework telling her that her sim was activated now.

    She even forgot that she had Wi-Fi. In her tiredness, she kept waiting for her signal to be activated to download apps on her phone. She facepalmed and connected her phone to the Wi-Fi. She immediately installed all the apps that she had on her previous phone including the messaging app and video calling app. She downloaded her contact list from the cloud and updated it on her phone.

    She knew all her messages would be empty as she deleted them the moment, she realised that she lost her phone. She again set up a lock screen for her phone and every app on the phone. The moment her video-calling app was ready, a message popped up, ¡°I will kill you!!¡±

    She scoffed and startedughing at the message. The sender of the message was ¡°headache¡±. Nivritti instantly realised that Apeksha was trying to call her but as her phone was lost and not activated, she could not get through and now she was angry.

    ¡°Shit!¡± said Nivritti and closed her eyes. She immediately activated the VPN service and dialled Apeksha¡¯s ID. Within a ring, she picked the call up.

    ¡°Are you out of your mind? Why were you not picking up the call? Are you alright? Are you okay? What happened? Where was your phone? Are you even alive?¡± Apeksha kept shouting.

    ¡°Calm down!¡± Nivritti barely got her word out, but Apeksha was not listening.

    ¡°Mom! Dad! She called,¡± Apeksha shouted and ran out of her room.

    ¡°Ape! Ape!¡± Nivritti kept shouting but Apeksha stopped when she reached near her parents.

    ¡°Where were you? Why were you not picking up the call? Are you okay? Are you running again?¡± shouted She.

    ¡°Mom, calm down! Dad, control your girls!¡± yelled Nivritti.

    ¡°Let her speak, you guys,¡± requested Anil.

    ¡°What? What?¡± shouted She at the phone screen.

    ¡°Sorry if you called yesterday¡­¡± Nivritti started exining.

    ¡°Sorry!!?? Sorry??¡± but Apeksha interrupted.

    ¡°Will you shut up and let meplete my sentence?¡± reprimanded Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± Apeksha lowered her voice after a scolding from Nivritti.

    ¡°Yesterday, I lost my phone,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± her family members shouted at once.

    ¡°Yeah, I dropped it somewhere, I have no idea where. I could not find it,¡± informed Nivritti.

    ¡°Did you call it?¡± asked Apeksha.

    ¡°Oh, no! I never thought about it. Shit! I am an idiot!¡± taunted Nivritti sarcastically.

    ¡°No need to be over-smart. You could have just said yes,¡± pouted Apeksha and rolled her eyes at her sister.

    ¡°Oh, dear! You are spending so much money there. You are in a new ce, a new home and now you had to get a new phone. Why did you send her money? Why didn¡¯t you keep it for yourself? Why did you send us gifts?¡± She scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Mom! Mommy! Rx! I didn¡¯t buy a phone,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°You found your phone?¡± asked Apeksha.

    ¡°I just told you I could not find it, moron!¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t buy a phone, you didn¡¯t find your old phone, then how are you talking with us? Oh you are confusing me!!¡± shouted Apeksha.

    ¡°If you would keep your mouth shut for a minute and stop interrupting me, letting meplete my sentences, I will tell you everything in detail. Just shut up!¡± rebuked Nivritti.

    ¡°Sorry!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t buy a phone, my friends gave me a new one as a gift,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Wow! Some friends you have,¡± smiled Anil.

    ¡°Yes, Dad. They are the best,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti! Are you happy? Are you safe?¡± asked Anil, seriously.

    ¡°Yes, Dad, I am fine. Sorry, if I scared you all yesterday. Next time something like this happens, I will send an email to Ape. I will inform you all for sure. I don¡¯t want you to stress about me. I am fine and away from everyone. No one knows where I am and I am free, Dad,¡± Nivritti replied with tiny drops of tears in her eyes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry, dear,¡± sniffled She.

    ¡°I am sorry, Mom, that I cannot tell you where I am or give you my number,¡± apologised Nivritti.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine dear. If you are okay and happy, nothing else matters,¡± smiled She.

    ¡°Did you find a therapist?¡± asked Anil.

    ¡°Yes, Dad, I did, and tomorrow is my first session,¡± replied Nivritti.

 Chapter 203 - 203 The Pleading

    203 The Pleading

    Nivritti was happily talking to her family. She did not think they would call her on the day that she lost her phone. The moment she received the message from her sister, she immediately called her back.

    ¡°Oh, that is good. Nice! So, what are you doing?¡± asked Anil.

    ¡°Just came from office and was setting up my new phone when she messaged, and I called you guys. Are you guys okay, now? No tension, no stress, happy?¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, you gave us a scare yesterday. We kept calling and calling. Our heart was about to burst,¡± replied She.

    ¡°Sorry everyone, very sorry! And you, headache, why didn¡¯t you e-mail me? You know I would have checked that. If I forgot to inform you, you could have used your brain and thought about e-mails,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Not everyone is intelligent as you. Don¡¯t start now. What could have happened and what I could have done is in past. From now on, I will send you a mail if you are not reachable on your phone and you too keep in mind to inform us,¡± sulked Apeksha.

    ¡°Yes, boss!¡± Nivritti ced her palm on her forehead and saluted her sister, jokingly. She and Anil burst outughing.

    ¡°She always does that. She always makes fun of me,¡± shouted Apeksha and walked away from there leaving everyoneughing out loud.

    ¡°You angered her. Why do you do that? Now she will keep sulking and we will have to bribe her with choctes and ice-creams,¡± Anil shook his head in disbelief.

    .....

    ¡°You guys are spoiling her. Just give her a bitter gourd smoothie, she will be fine,¡± joked Nivritti.

    Anil ended upughing at her joke. For a minute he keptughing and then pulled a straight face, ¡°you really are okay, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Dad, I am fine, I am happy. Do you think I will hide anything from you guys?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Really?¡± emphasised She and stared at Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, fine I stubbed my toe, but I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°See, I knew you were hiding something,¡± said She.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, your mother instincts are bang on. But believe me, when I say this I am absolutely fine,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Do you need money?¡± asked Anil.

    ¡°What? No, Dad. I don¡¯t need anything. You guys should stop stressing about me, and concentrate on your spoiled brat,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, fine, we believe you,¡± sulked She.

    ¡°You guys take care. I will talk to youter. Say bye to Headache for me,¡± smiled Nivritti. Her parents too said goodbye and she disconnected the call, smiling from ear to ear.

    She then opened the messaging app and saw the group RASD. It took a minute to realise what that was. She scoffed after she opened the group. There was no message for her as she just opened the app. She looked at the participants of the group and saw that it was ASD and Jae and herself.

    She typed in, ¡°Hi! My sim was activated just now. Just informing.¡± And she hit send.

    Everyone sent her a ¡®Hi¡¯ back and she could not stop smiling. She ordered food and ced her phone back on the table. It was now the turn of herptop.

    She fired herptop and started working. She opened up her site and started reading the scripts. It would take her only a few minutes to read the scripts. Script after script she kept reading till her eyes were about to fall down.

    She had instructed the food delivery app to deliver her food by 9-9.30, so she had no worries about her food. She kept reading the scripts and transferring them to the selected folder if she liked them. She didn¡¯t find any exceptional script that she would put in the ¡®Kyung-Soo¡¯ folder. But she found a few that she could put in the ¡®Bad grammar¡¯ folder.

    Her doorbell rang and she saw the time, it was 9.10. She knew it was her food. Her foot was asleep as she kept it elevated for long so it took her time to open the door. She received her food and without wasting any time, opened the hot, delicious-smelling food and started eating.

    She didn¡¯t even get any tes or bowls, she devoured food straight from the packets. The hot steamy bibimbap was giving the necessary warmth. The greasy, crunchy fried chicken was just melting in her mouth.

    Her mouth and her hands were covered with grease and sauce. She was licking her fingers when her doorbell rang again. She froze and looked at the door. ¡°Did the delivery boy forget something? No, I received everything I ordered. Who came now?¡± she pondered.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± asked Nivritti. She was about to facepalm as she realised that she asked the question in English but realised that her hand was dirty. She was about to ask the same question in Korean¡­

    ¡­ but in came the reply, ¡°open the door Ritti, now.¡±

    Nivritti was taken aback. ¡°What is he doing here at this time?¡± she murmured to herself.

    She looked at her hands, they were greasy. She didn¡¯t want to touch the door handle with those hands. She stood up and walked to the kitchen to wash her hands and her mouth.

    ¡°Open the door!!¡± he shouted from outside, again.

    ¡°Just a minute. Wait!¡± shouted Nivritti back. She slowly made her way to the door and opened the door. ¡°What are you doing here at this hour, PJ?¡± she asked.

    But Jeong-Eun didn¡¯t reply to her. He ran inside the house and pulled her away from the door. He was hyperventting and sweating from every orifice.

    ¡°What? What?¡± shouted Nivritti and looked at the door. Immediately Kyung-Soo walked inside the house and closed the door behind him.

    Jeong-Eun grabbed Nivritti¡¯s shoulder and while rocking her whole body he pleaded, ¡°tell me, please tell me. Did you tell us the truth? Were you lying? I am dying out here. Speak up, girl!!¡± Without waiting for her answer, he let her go and knelt before her. ¡°I beg you, tell me.¡± He joined his hands in namaste and looked at her with puppy eyes.

    Nivritti froze for a second trying to understand what was happening. Kyung-Soo kept standing at the door looking at Jeong-Eun and kept constantly rolling his eyes. Nivritti looked at him. She gasped when she realised that he was wearing the brown jacket she suggested he buy.

    She could not believe these boys. Were they not human? They worked from morning till evening, after that they cleaned their house, they cooked for themselves, they did all their work on their own, still every time they looked gorgeous.

    Kyung-Soo was super busy and tired but there was no trace of tiredness on his face, instead, he was looking handsome as always. Jeong-Eun who was on the floor, pleading to her with sad, puppy eyes looking super cute as always.

    She blinked her eyes at both of them and then looked at Kyung-Soo. ¡°What is he talking about?¡± she asked.

    Kyung-Soo sighed, scratched his forehead and moved near Jeong-Eun. He kicked Jeong-Eun on his thigh and scolded, ¡°stand up and speak clearly.¡±

    ¡°I need to know. I am dying,¡± shouted Jeong-Eun. Kyung-Soo facepalmed and shook his head in disbelief.

    ¡°I can¡¯t, I can¡¯t,¡± said Kyung-Soo defeated and walked away from Jeong-Eun, with his arms raised in the air in defeat.

    ¡°Will any of you tell me, what is going on?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Ask him,¡± Kyung-Soo shouted back, annoyed.

    Nivritti looked at Jeong-Eun who kept staring at her. ¡°Oh, you child!!¡± shouted Nivritti and grabbed Jeong-Eun¡¯s ear. She pulled his ear and made him stand up.

    ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow!¡± Jeong-Eun cried with pain. As soon as Kyung-Soo heard the word ¡®child¡¯, she looked at Nivritti and saw Jeong-Eun shouting in pain. ¡°Stop your nonsense and tell me why you are here,¡± she asked.

    ¡°What happened between Dae and Jae?¡± asked Jeong-Eun in a soft, sad tone.

    Nivritti immediately let go of his ear and stepped away from him. She closed her eyes and sighed, ¡°that¡¯s what you wanted to know?¡± Subconsciously she instantly licked her lips. Kyung-Soo gasped as he noticed that.

    ¡°Yes, please!¡±

    ¡°I already told you,¡± replied Nivritti and lowered her head.

    ¡°Lying! She is lying. You saw that Hyung, didn¡¯t you?¡± shouted Jeong-Eun.

    With a jerk, Nivritti lifted her head and shouted, ¡°what? No, I am not lying.¡± She immediately looked away from them.

    ¡°You are lying. You are avoiding eye contact with us. Your eyes are darting in every direction. And you licked your lips,¡± Kyung-Soo snapped his fingers and pointed his forefinger at her lips.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jeong-Eun, confused. ¡°What are you talking about, her eyes, her lips?¡±

    ¡°Those are signs that someone is lying,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ohh!!¡± eximed Joeng-Eun.

    ¡°I am not lying,¡± Nivritti shouted again. ¡°And look I am staring at you, no darting of eyes or avoiding looking at you.¡± She stared at his face.

    Jeong-Eun looked at Kyung-Soo, then at Nivritti. They were in a staringpetition. He rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. He simply took out his phone, stood next to Nivritti and clicked a selfie on his phone.

 Chapter 204 - 204 The Assurance

    204 The Assurance

    The click sound froze Nivritti. It took her a moment to realise what that sound was. She was shocked at what just happened. ¡°What was that?¡± she shouted and looked at Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Tell me everything, else I will post this pic on my social media ount and say that you are my girlfriend,¡± threatened Jeong-Eun while shing the photo on his phone¡¯s screen.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± both Kyung-Soo and Nivritti shouted at once.

    ¡°Hyung, stay out of it,¡± warned Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Are you out of your mind? How could you click a photo without my permission? Delete it, delete it now,¡± shouted Nivritti, angrily and moved towards him.

    ¡°Tell me everything and I will delete it,¡± replied Jeong-Eun coolly and took a few steps back, creating distance between himself and Nivritti. ¡°And no lies,¡± he added.

    Nivritti pursed her lips and her breath shuddered. Kyung-Soo noticed the sudden change in her expression. She again licked her lips, but it was not nervousness that was on her face. It was pure fear.

    She gulped and kept breathing through her mouth, ¡°I can¡¯t PJ, I can¡¯t. It¡¯s Jae¡¯s matters. You should ask her. Just delete my photo.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think I wanted to? I don¡¯t know her address and I didn¡¯t want to ask her in our group. I was even scared to message her about this matter. Did Dae do something, again?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    .....

    In her fear, Nivritti didn¡¯t notice the word ¡®again¡¯ from Jeong-Eun¡¯s mouth. Her focus was on her picture. ¡°I really can¡¯t!!!¡± shouted Nivritti. But it was not anger, it was panic. She started to shiver.

    ¡°Fine, then it¡¯s going on my ount,¡± Jeong-Eun again shed her photo in her face.

    Nivritti started breathing heavily, she was on the verge of hyperventting. She moved towards Jeong-Eun and with quivering lips, she begged, ¡°please PJ, don¡¯t!¡± Her eyes started filling with tears.

    With a jerk, Kyung-Soo snatched the phone out of Jeong-Eun¡¯s hands and deleted the photo.

    ¡°Hyung!¡± shouted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Not a word! Go, wait in the car,¡± said Kyung-Soo calmly. He was talking to Jeong-Eun, but his eyes never left Nivritti¡¯s face. He knew what she was thinking, what she was feeling. He could see the constant gulps and constant licking of the lips. He didn¡¯t want to see tearsing out of her eyes.

    ¡°But Hyung,¡± protested Jeong-Eun.

    Kyung-Soo jerked his neck and looked at Jeong-Eun. His wide eyes, his red nose, his pursed lips notified Jeong-Eun that he was angry, and no one dared to disobey angry Kyung-Soo. Jeong-Eun lowered his head, nodded at him and walked out of the room.

    The moment Jeong-Eun left the house, Kyung-Soo turned towards Nivritti. Her head was hung low and drops of tears were falling on the floor. He closed his eyes and took in all the pain he felt after looking at her crying again. ¡°Stupid, PJ!¡± she uttered under his breath and gritted his teeth.

    He gulped and moved close to her. ¡°Ritti!¡± he said softly. Something was in his voice. Whenever she heard his voice, she would feel at ease, she would show her vulnerable side. Hearing his voice, the dam of her sadness broke, she covered her face with her hands and cried loudly. Kyung-Soo didn¡¯t waste a single moment. He ced his hand over her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug.

    He wrapped her arms around her and ced her head softly on his chest. ¡°Okay, okay, okay, it¡¯s okay. Everything¡¯s okay, Ritti.¡± He softly caressed her hair and patted her head. ¡°The photo is gone, no one knows you are here. I deleted the photo.¡±

    ¡°No one can know, NK, no one can know. No one must know where I am. No one can know. He cannot know. He must not know,¡± sobbed Nivritti.

    ¡°No one will ever know, you are safe here, you are away from him, you are miles away from everyone, please calm down. I will talk to PJ. I am sorry on his behalf, I am really sorry, please believe me when I say that you are safe,¡± consoled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What if he finds out?¡± wailed Nivritti.

    ¡°He will have to go through me,¡± assured Kyung-Soo.

    Nivritti moved her hands off her face and wrapped her hands around Kyung-Soo¡¯s waist. Her hands made the jacket to lift slightly, and she touched the soft fabric of the shirt. She turned her head, and her cheeks noticed the softness of the shirt. She realised that it was the same white cashmere shirt that always used tofort her.

    For a minute or two, she kept hugging him, taking in the softness of the cloth, the warmth from his body. He kept patting her head to calm her down saying words of assurance to her. Due to heartache, she was not even bothered by her toe. She again let her tears wet the expensive cashmere shirt.

    Suddenly she realised that she was hugging Kyung-Soo again, she was again close to him, in his arms. She was angry when he blurted out what he felt for her, and she shut him down. Then why was she hugging him back now? She needed his care and concern at this moment, so it was okay for her to hug him? But when he would talk about his emotions, she always shut him down. How selfish was she?

    When she recognised that she was taking advantage of him, she cursed herself and broke the embrace. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said and stepped away from him.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked, worried.

    ¡°Better now, thank you,¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°Apologise to PJ from me.¡±

    ¡°You are distraught and sad and still you are thinking about him?¡± he scolded.

    ¡°Just tell him that it was Jae¡¯s matter, and it is not okay for me to talk about it. If he wants, I can fix a meeting with her and he can ask her on his own,¡± suggested Nivritti.

    ¡°Did he harass her? You know he always does that?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked, and looked at him with surprise.

    ¡°That asshole!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You¡­ kn¡­ know?¡± stammered Nivritti.

    ¡°There are rumours. But no woman has evere forward. He is good at his job but too many women have been either fired or resigned after working under him,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me before?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°You never said that there was any problem with him,¡± he replied. ¡°Did he ever¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, not to me. He barely acknowledges me,¡± Nivritti shook her head in no.

    ¡°What did he do to her?¡± he asked.

    ¡°NK! I¡­,¡± she scoffed.

    ¡°Did he touch her? Did he say something to her? Just tell me if you guys want to get away from him,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I reprimanded him today and Jae presented her side telling him, her every emotion and feeling. He apologised and said that nothing like that will ever happen again. He even apologised to CH,¡± informed Nivritti.

    ¡°Are you sure the problem is solved?¡± he inquired.

    ¡°Yes, it is, or I hope so, if not, you know I can handle it,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, I know. If it¡¯s about someone else, you will do anything to help them. Just promise me, if he troubles you, you will fight back the same way,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I will, I promise,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I will tell PJ what you just said,¡± sighed Kyung-Soo. ¡°But I am sure he will want to hear Jae¡¯s side too.¡±

    ¡°I will ask Jae to talk to him,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Finish your food, sorry to interrupt your dinner and again sorry on PJ¡¯s behalf.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. He does not know,¡± smiled Nivritti but her smile didn¡¯t reach her eyes. ¡°He does not know I am basically running away from everyone.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Starting your life back again does not mean you are running away,¡± replied Kyung-Soo. ¡°So, you have a session tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good. Talk to your doctor about it and feel at ease. I hope you can ovee your fear of dogs again,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I hope so too. Most of all I want to get rid of the nightmares,¡± blurted out Nivritti. She immediately closed her eyes when she realised what she just spewed out of her mouth.

    ¡°Nightmares! What nightmares?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Shit!¡± murmured Nivritti. She looked at Kyung-Soo and replied, ¡°it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s nothing to worry about. When I arrived here, I had a nightmare that he paid me a visit. I talked to the doctor, and she said that it was triggered because of change. I will talk with her in detail, and I will sort it out.¡± But that didn¡¯t assure Kyung-Soo. His look told her that he was not at all convinced.

    ¡°Really NK! I am fine. I have had no nightmares after that. You know I changed my sim, right?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, because he called you,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, and the nightmare happened after that,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°At that time, we were not friends, and you didn¡¯t know anything about my life,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Why not after that?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t have any nightmares after that, so, there was nothing to tell, NK,¡± said Nivritti.

 Chapter 205 - 205 The Goodnight Messages

    205 The Goodnight Messages

    Kyung-Soo after calming Nivritti down was gently talking to her. He knew what always happened to her when she would think of her past. She had been hurt a lot and she was diligently trying to run away from her past. She has been trying hard to heal from the wound her life gave her.

    But one action from Jeong-Eun and everything came flooding back. He hated whenever she would cry but would be d that he would always be there tofort her.

    ¡°You will tell me if something like that ever happens, if you ever get another nightmare, deal?¡± ordered Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Fine! I will disturb you by calling you the moment I have a nightmare,¡± teased Nivritti. She smiled but suddenly her smile faded. She abruptly realised what she said. She used to call Ritvik when she would get into a nightmare and he came to take care of her. She didn¡¯t want history to repeat itself. She closed her eyes, hung her head low and scoffed at her stupidity. ¡°No, I won¡¯t call.¡±

    Kyung-Soo understood her feeling. He knew everything about her. She had told him about her life, but he was slightly hurt at herment. ¡°Why because you used to call him after nightmares? Why do you keepparing everyone to him? Why do you think everyone will treat you the same way he treated you? Do you see no difference between him and other men? Are my boys and me the same as him? Is there no difference?¡± questioned Kyung-Soo in anger.

    ¡°I am just being cautious NK. I don¡¯t want history to repeat itself. I don¡¯t want to get burned again,¡± she replied softly.

    ¡°That means you will never trust anyone again,¡± said Kyung-Soo, defeated.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what will happen in future or what I will do in future. I really can¡¯t answer that, NK,¡± answered Nivritti. ¡°Maybe I would trust, maybe I won¡¯t, I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Kyung-Soo closed his eyes and simply nodded at her. He knew she needed time to open her heart. ¡°Well! I should go else PJ woulde back up looking for me.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°And don¡¯t forget to send a good night message to MY, else I will have toe back in the middle of the night,¡± teased Kyung-Soo. ¡°It seems I am their driver, one does not how to drive, and one is not allowed to drive.¡±

    ¡°I will,¡± and Nivritti smiled. This time her eyes twinkled with happiness. Kyung-Soo rxed after looking at her sweet smile. He said goodbye and left her alone.

    Nivritti sat back on the couch and closed her eyes. She moved her hand towards her face, first, she rubbed her forehead and then wiped her whole face. There was nothing on her face to wipe yet she felt something heavy hanging on her face. It was her fear, her baggage.

    She opened her eyes and looked at the leftovers. Her food was cold by now and after such turns of events she didn¡¯t really want to eat anymore. She thought for a moment about what do to. She knew she could keep the gravy dish and had to throw it away. She packed the fried chicken and ced it in the fridge.

    After grabbing herptop and phone, she switched off the lights in the living room and went to her room. She ced two pillows under her foot and kept it elevated. For another hour she kept reading the scripts and marking the things Dae told her that she would have to present to the CEO.

    She realised that Dae didn¡¯t send her the temte that he talked about. Maybe he forgot. And it waste to ask him. She made a point that she would ask him about the temte tomorrow.

    Yawn after yawn, signalled her that she was getting tired. She shut down herptop and ced it on the nightstand. She picked up her phone and messaged ¡°good night¡± in the group. Everyone immediately replied to her.

    She bit her lips and hesitated for a minute but then send a private message to Kyung-Soo.

    Did you guys reach home safely?

    Yes, we did.

    Is PJ, okay? How did he react when you told him?

    He was furious. He wanted to confront Dae today itself. But I told him that he should talk to Jae first. By the way, why is he so concerned about that?

    You don¡¯t know?

    What?

    Ha-ha.

    Tell me.

    PJ likes Jae, it¡¯s so obvious. How have you missed it?

    Whaatttttt????!!!!!

    Oh my God! You really are an idiot! Don¡¯t you observe things?

    Hey! No need to be so over smart. I have so many things to do. I missed some signs, so what?

    And people call you genius. Ha-ha.

    Stopughing.

    Yes, boss.

    Is your leg okay?

    It¡¯s fine. Take care of PJ. I will make sure Jae talks to him tomorrow. Good night.

    Good night.

    She was smiling after chatting with Kyung-Soo. she sighed peacefully and closed the conversation between herself and Kyung-Soo and opened the conversation tab of Young-Chul.

    ¡°Sleep well, enjoy a full night of sleep and wake up recharged. Let your mind and body heal with all the love everyone keeps sending you every minute of every day. Good night MY.¡± And she sent the message.

    Within seconds she received a reply, ¡°do you want me to pick you up for the hospital, tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Thank you, but no, both our sessions are at different times. You are one hour early. I will take a cab, don¡¯t worry. Just concentrate on getting better,¡± she replied to Young-Chul.

    ¡°Okay, then see you tomorrow. Good night,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    She was done with good night messages. She shut the screen off and ced the phone on theptop. She switched off the lights and covered herself with the nkets. Her head was a little heavy due to crying and her eyes were burning after staring at the screen for long. So, the moment her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.

    The whole night she kept hearing the clicking sound of a camera. She kept dreaming that her photos were stered all over social media, newspapers, and billboards with headlines that she was a loser and a runner. She ran away from her previous life.

    Even her parents kept shunning her in her dream. They kept saying that she was not their daughter as she broke Ritvik¡¯s heart. Ritvik was the right person in the rtionship, and it was she who destroyed a perfectly good rtionship.

    In her dream, she was back in her old house that she shared with Ritvik. He was standing before her shouting at her, ¡°how dare you leave me?¡± suddenly the house changed into a cage, and she was in it. ¡°Now, you will spend your whole life here,¡± heughed andughed.

    Nivritti kept tossing and turning in her sleep. She would groan, she would faintly cry, she would wake up one moment but as her sleep was heavy, she would go back to sleep instantly. She was d that she was going to therapy the next day. All she had to do was endure a night of nightmares.

    When her rm beeped loudly in the morning, she groaned and moaned and tried to wake up. But her eyes were still heavy, and her leg was aching due tock of proper sleep.

    ¡°Can I take a day off?¡± she thought. ¡°No, no, I can¡¯t take a leave so early and I have to help PJ talk with Jae. I also have to ask for the temte from Dae. Ah!!!!¡±

    Somehow, she got off the bed and while squinting took off her bandages. She limped her way to the bathroom and got ready for the day. She had no energy to cook breakfast, so she just ate a bowl of cereal and drank coffee. Even after having a cup of ck coffee, she was not fully awake.

    Her leg was in pain. Reluctantly, she had to take pain medication and she ordered a cab. She reached the office and the guard as usual saluted her.

    ¡°You don¡¯t look well today,¡± said the guard.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s nothing. Just a leg injury, thank you for asking,¡± she smiled at him and went upstairs. She looked around, a lot of chairs were empty, even Chung-Ho was still not there. She cursed herself for being so early. ¡°Ah! I could have slept a little more. Huh! What sleep? Asshole Ritvik! I could not sleep for even a minute. When will he leave me alone?¡±

    She went to her seat and set up her system as well as herptop. She looked at the script department¡¯smon mail ID and started clearing her inbox. She ced her head in her palm and while resting her head kept staring at the screen.

    Her eyelids were droopy due tock of sleep. The addition of pain medication was doing her any favour either. Her eyes kept closing for seconds. She was fighting hard with sleep. Suddenly a hand over her shoulder woke her up. She jumped from her seat and yelped.

 Chapter 206 - 206 The Sleepy, Nivritti

    206 The Sleepy, Nivritti

    Chung-Ho entered the department and greeted everyone good morning. His eyes then fell on Nivritti who was sitting in her seat dozing off. She was trying hard to keep her eyes open, but the support of her hand was making it difficult.

    He smiled at her and walked up to her. He saw that her hand was on a spam mail, and she was trying to read it, but her eyes kept closing. Softly, he ced his hand on her shoulder and tenderly tapped on it. She let out a yelp and jumped from her seat.

    ¡°Woah! Woah! It¡¯s me. Are you okay?¡± said Chung-Ho and immediately stepped back. ¡°Woah! Why do you look so white?¡± he touched her forehead. ¡°You don¡¯t have a fever. Are you okay?¡±

    For a few seconds, she kept breathing in an out and calmed her heart that was racing fast. Nivritti then sighed, ¡°it¡¯s nothing. Just could not sleep wellst night so my leg is paining.¡±

    ¡°And you walked all the way here?¡± shouted Chung-Ho.

    ¡°No, no, I took a cab,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Chung-Ho flicked her forehead and scolded, ¡°I am talking about walking all the way up.¡±

    ¡°I can not fly, CH,¡± joked Nivritti.

    He again flicked her head and rebuked, ¡°you can take a leave.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Stop flicking! Ow!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Will you be able to work today?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Ah!¡± she blew a big puff of air. ¡°I am trying.¡±

    ¡°You were about to sleep, Ritti!¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Now I am not. You made my sleep go away,¡± pouted Nivritti.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. Go back home,¡± ordered Chung-Ho.

    ¡°But CH¡­¡± she protested.

    ¡°Good morning, Choi-ssi,¡± Jae-Hwa greeted him as soon as she walked in. ¡°Woah! What happened to you?¡± she asked Nivritti.

    ¡°She is not feeling well, so I am sending her home,¡± informed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. She dumped her bags on her table and immediately touched Nivritti¡¯s forehead. ¡°You don¡¯t have a fever. Is it your toe?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s aching,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Did you take your medicine?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, I did. That¡¯s why I am feeling sleepy,¡± answered Nivritti.

    ¡°If you are sleepy, you should go back home and rest. How will you do any job if you keep sleeping on your desk?¡± scolded Chung-Ho.

    ¡°But the update is session ising soon. Its just days away. I have to ask the temte from Dae,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Chung-Ho. ¡°He didn¡¯t share it with you guys?¡±

    ¡°Rx! He said he would send us a mail. Maybe he forgot,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I will talk to him. Now you pack your bags and go home,¡± ordered Chung-Ho.

    ¡°But CH¡­¡±

    ¡°I am marking this day as your leave. Stay here, go home, you are officially on leave. Now the decision is yours,¡± snapped Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Woah! No need to be so rude. Fine! I am going home,¡± she yawned.

    ¡°My god! She is yawning and she wanted to stay here. How stubborn are you!¡±mented Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Less than you apparently,¡± taunted Nivritti. She nced at Jae-Hwa¡¯s face which looked slightly sad and worried. She knew she was going to leave Jae-Hwa alone with Dae and it was worrying her. She didn¡¯t want to leave her alone with him. She wanted to help her but saying anything would make Chung-Ho suspect somethings.

    She wanted to request Chung-Ho to make sure that Rencontre team would work inside the department today. That way Dae will not trouble Jae-Hwa. She also was feeling bad for Jeong-Eun. Now, she won¡¯t be able to help them talk.

    ¡°Choi-ssi! Can we not go to the practice room for today. She won¡¯t be there, and I don¡¯t feel like going there without her,¡± Jae-Hwa blurted out. Nivritti looked at her and smiled.

    ¡°Why? Is there an issue?¡± asked Chung-HO, concerned.

    ¡°No, I just don¡¯t want to go without her,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Fine! I will inform ASD. Now, you, go home,¡± shouted Chung-Ho at Nivritti.

    ¡°Going, going,¡± Nivritti packed her bags and was ready to walk out when Dae walked in.

    ¡°Good morning, everyone,¡± he greeted.

    ¡°Good morning, Dae,¡± Nivritti greeted back but Jae-Hwa just nodded at him.

    ¡°Seong-ssi. Ritti is taking leave today so you guys don¡¯t have to go to the practice room, I will talk to ASD. Also, why haven¡¯t you shared the temte with them?¡± Chung-Ho reprimanded Dae.

    ¡°Oh, Ipletely forgot, I was supposed to send them a mail,¡± apologised Dae. He looked at Nivritti and bit his lips to control his anger, ¡°what am I going to do with her? I try to be civil, but she always irks me. Why did she have to backbite? Why she always tries to gain point from Choi-ssi? Just a few more days, you witch, and you will be gone. I will destroy your name and reputation.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no worries, I told CH that you may have forgotten to send us the mail,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°I will send it right now. But why are you taking leave, everything alright?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Just my leg is creating problem. Don¡¯t worry,¡± she smiled at him.

    ¡°Why would I be worried about you? I am so happy that I won¡¯t have to look at your stupid face,¡± thought Dae.

    ¡°Do you want me to call Oppa?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No, anyway, I will be going to the hospital in the evening. I will get this checked up there,¡± assured Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh right! Your session,¡± smiled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Session?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Therapy CH, therapy,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Therapy? Why?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°For cynophobia,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Ohh!¡±

    ¡°See you guys tomorrow,¡± said Nivritti and walked away. She again ordered a cab and went home. The moment she reached house, she changed into herfortable clothes, changed the bandages and went back to sleep. The medicine took her in a deep sleep without any dreams or nightmares.

    Jae-Hwa sadly sat on her seat and started working. Dae opened hisptop and sent the mail to Nivritti and Jae-Hwa. Jae-Hwa didn¡¯t even acknowledge that she received the mail nor thanked him for it.

    Chung-Ho reached his seat and sent a message to Kyung-Soo. ¡°Rencontre team will work from the office today. Please don¡¯t sent anyone to pick them up.¡±

    Kyung-Soo read the message and immediately replied, ¡°why?¡±

    ¡°No particr reason. They just have to prepare for the update session. You can go over the scripts tomorrow. Let them prepare for the update from the office. I too need to look into scripts,¡± Chung-Ho replied.

    ¡°Okay!¡± messaged Kyung-Soo and ced the phone down.

    All the boys looked at the sudden change in facial expression. Everyone was having their breakfast and suddenly all stopped eating.

    ¡°What happened?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°What?¡± Kyung-Soo looked up and asked. He was busy thinking about the fact that he won¡¯t get to see Nivritti today, so he didn¡¯t hear what Young-Chul asked him.

    ¡°Who messaged you? What happened?¡± Young-Chul asked again.

    ¡°Oh, Choi-ssi! We don¡¯t have to pick Rencontre team today,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jeong-Eun. He was looking forward to the day as he would get some alone time with Jae-Hwa as Nivritti promised.

    ¡°Yeah, they have to prepare for the update session with Hu-ssi. So, they needed today¡¯s time. We will see them tomorrow,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°But Hyung, they can prepare in the practice room too,¡± protested Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Choi-ssi too have to prepare for the same and as his team is always with us, he too needs some time with them. We have to understand that after all, he is the HOD,¡± exined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Right! He too needs to learn everything about the scripts,¡± nodded Korain.

    ¡°Well! Will we have to attend the update session?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°I have not received any news regarding that. I think Choi-ssi or Hu-ssi will inform us before hand if we have to do it,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°And we have MY hyung to attend all that,¡± teased Thae.

    ¡°Why me? Why always me?¡± Young-Chul threw his hands in the air in frustration.

    ¡°Well, the day would be boring without the Rencontre team. I like reading scripts. Our fans are talented,¡± Jung-Hwa pointed out his disappointment.

    ¡°Yeah, they are. Our fans, our friends are the best,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°The day would be boring without NK hyung and Ritti fighting with each other,¡± teased Thae. Everyone ended upughing except Kyung-Soo. He squinted his eyes and stared at Thae. ¡°What? You are looking at me as if you never fight with her.¡±

    ¡°Shut up and eat your breakfast,¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I will meet up with her at the hospital. Maybe I could watch NK hyung and Ritti fighting there,¡± taunted Young-Chul. Everyone burst outughing at his taunt.

    ¡°Youngie!¡± shouted Kyung-Soo and dropped his spoon in his bowl.

    ¡°What? I was just saying,¡± said Young-Chul, innocently.

    .....

    ¡°I am not driving you there. Find another driver,¡± rebuked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Now you are really calling yourself a driver?¡± teased Korain.

    ¡°Hyung! You too!¡±ined Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, okay, no one tease him. Finish your breakfast,¡± Korain ordered. He then looked at both Young-Chul and Kyung-Soo and said, ¡°and you two, you don¡¯t have to worry. If you want, I can drive MY to the hospital. You need rest too. You drove PJst night because he wanted a c. Poor you! You had to drive to a store just to get some c and then he came back empty handed, idiot!¡±

 Chapter 207 - 207 The Therapy Session

    207 The Therapy Session

    Kyung-Soo nced at Jeong-Eun and Jeong-Eun in return nced at Kyung-Soo. They both knew that they didn¡¯t go for c. They went to Nivritti¡¯s house to demand answers from her. Nivritti said that she would set up a meeting for Jeong-Eun and Jae-Hwa but now he was not even going to see the whole Rencontre team.

    ¡°No hyung, it¡¯s fine. I can drive him,¡± said Kyung-Soo urgently.

    ¡°I said I will drive him and that is the end of the discussion,¡± rebuked Korain.

    ¡°I wille too,¡± announced Jeong-Eun. He had to see Nivritti. He had to talk to her.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°Youngie Hyung needs support. His doctor said so,¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I will be there to support him. What are you talking about?¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°That¡¯s great. You can drive them, I will start the cooking by the time you guyse back,¡± Kyung-Soo blurted out. He thought for a while, while Korain and Jeong-Eun were bickering and formed a n. He knew if he would go inside the kitchen everyone will panic and he would get his way.

    ¡°NO!!!¡± everyone shouted at once.

    .....

    ¡°No, I will take care of the food. You can drive them,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°We can order from outside no one has to cook,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°Doctor said Youngie has to eat home-cooked food and cut on fast food. He needs to eat healthily,¡± informed Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yeah, right. Okay, then it¡¯s settled. NK will drive PJ and MY to the hospital after practice. The rest of us wille back home to do our chores,¡± ordered Korain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think Hyung, we should now call our cleaning and cooking crew? We are going to be busy in a few days,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°For the first time, he said something meaningful. Oh, I am so proud of you, Hyung!¡± teased Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, shut up!¡± scolded Thae.

    ¡°Okay, I will call Manager Park and ask him to inform our usual crew and get an NDA signed. He is right we will need as much time we can get on our hands and cleaning and cooking after dance practice is going to be tough,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°And then advertisement shootings, photoshoots, weekly videos, we are going to be swamped with work,¡± nodded Him-Chan.

    ¡°Let¡¯s all get ready for some hard work while resting well. Also, take care of your mental health. If you think you need help, you should contact Dr. Tan Hei-Ran. She said that she would help every one of us if we need it,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°Or talk to Ritti. She knows a lot,¡± smiled Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°But she is not a trained professional,¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°Still she can be of help,¡± said Young-Chul while sipping his green tea.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, we know you are her fan,¡± smiled Thae.

    Young-Chul just shook his head in disappointment and looked at everyone. He chose not to say another word and kept eating his breakfast.

    After they were done with breakfast, all dumped the utensils in the sink and drove in three separate cars, surrounded by bodyguards, and reached the practice room. The whole day Kyung-Soo kept staring at the empty benches.

    ¡°She could not have messaged me that she was noting here today,¡± mumbled Kyung-Soo, angrily.

    After a hectic day of dance, Kyung-Soo, Jeong-Eun and Young-Chul took a shower in the practice room¡¯s bathroom and were ready for the hospital. The rest of the boys went home, did their chores, and took a bath.

    Young-Chul went inside the therapist¡¯s room and for the starting 15-20 minutes, he didn¡¯t even speak. He had already done two sessions with her, but he was still not ready to open himself to her. They both sat in silence.

    ¡°Take your time, Man Young-Chul, there is no hurry,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    Young-Chul cleared his throat, ¡°is Rittiing next?¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Nivritti Rathod, she is a friend,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°I am sorry Man Young-Chul, I cannot reply to that. And we are here to talk about you not anyone else,¡± said Hei-Ran, stoically. Hei-Ran rarely showed any emotions to her patients.

    ¡°You know she helped mee to this decision that I needed help,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Could you borate on that?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    Young-Chul again cleared his throat and sat straight on the chair. ¡°Um¡­ one day she was talking about her fears and her history of therapy and how they benefitted her.¡± He stopped for a minute and gulped.

    ¡°Go on,¡± nudged Hei-Ran.

    ¡°When she was talking about her issues, I realised that I too had some of the issues. But for me it was toote, my mental issues started wreaking havoc in my body and I started to show physical symptoms,¡± narrated Young-Chul.

    ¡°That¡¯s how you came to the hospital,¡± recalled Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yes, and then she came to see me, she held my hands, gave me positive reinforcement, took care of me and gave me the strength tomit myself to therapy. If she would not havee into my life, I would have just gotten medicine for my physical symptoms and would have left the hospital,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°So, she is your support,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Do you love her?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    Young-Chul chuckled at herment. ¡°Why everyone thinks that if I talk about her or show any interest in her, I am in love with her?¡±

    ¡°Sorry! Didn¡¯t mean to offend you,¡± said Hei-ran.

    ¡°No need to be sorry, Doctor. I know that I have to tell you the truth no matter what. I know I must not hide anything from you. That is one of the issues I have. I have to hide so many things from everyone and that is taking a toll,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°So, you have a lot of secrets?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Who doesn¡¯t? Take for example I cannot tell my fans that I was sick, or I am seeking therapy,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°May I ask, why not?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Rencontre ising up, our fans think we are getting ready for it, if they get to know that I was sick, they will think we might cancel the Rencontre, there will be chaos and panic. Our fans would storm our house and our ce of work, and no one will be able to stop them. Then about therapy, you know how Korean thinks about therapy. I am struggling. She wants us to be an example but then again what if my own industry shuns me? What will I do then?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°She being Nivritti?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Then tell me this, if you think therapy is bad, why are you here?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think therapy is bad,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°If we have to hide something from others, we do that because we think we are doing something wrong. If you are hiding the fact that you are in therapy, it would mean that you are notpletely in the agreement with seeking therapy,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    ¡°That¡¯s not true. You don¡¯t understand¡­¡± said Young-Chul.

    But Hei-ran cut him off, ¡°leave therapy. Tell me why you can¡¯t tell your fans that you were sick.¡±

    ¡°Because I am an idol. Idols are like God, they can dance for hours, they can sing for hours, they perform for hours, they produce their own songs and after doing all this they go back home and do their own chores. One herculean task after another and we do them without taking breaks or even breaking a sweat. IDOLS NEVER GET ILL,¡± exined Young-Chul.

    ¡°Is that your belief or your fans?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°That¡¯s what the industry has been portraying us as and now fans have started believing that,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°What do you believe? Are you a god?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°No, I am a mere human who had been ced on a pedestal and now I have to hide my real self from everyone. I have to show my fake, happy persona on the camera every single time,¡± Young-Chul¡¯s voice was starting to break.

    ¡°Do you regret being an idol?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I love making music, I love dancing, I love performing but sometimes it feels like I am pretending. There are a lot of people doing the same thing and they are better than me. So why am I even here?¡± tears dropped from Young-Chul¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°So, ording to you, if there are so many doctors in this world, why should anyone try to study and be a doctor?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t mean that. If no one will study and be doctors who will rece retired doctors,¡± answered Young-Chul.

    ¡°There you go, you answered your own question. Man Young-Chul, even if you are not good as some of the people in your industry, your industry needs people who can do things that you do,¡± Hei-Ran sweetly made him understand her point.

    ¡°So, what do you think is wrong with me?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°I cannot answer that for you right now. This is the first time you spoke with me. I need time to know you, diagnose you and then help you,¡± replied Hei-Ran.

 Chapter 208 - 208 The Pain

    208 The Pain

    Young-Chul reluctantly started talking about his life with his doctor. But he only scratched the surface.

    ¡°Do you think I have an inferiorityplex?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Why do you think that?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Because when Ritti sends me positive messages, I feel good. They boost my confidence,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°Positive reinforcement and positive affirmations are a great tactic to boost confidence. They make people feel good about themselves. It does not in any way mean that you have an inferiorityplex. Tell me this, if your seniors say that your work is not good, do you stop working on that?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    Young-Chul tilted his head and said, ¡°no, rather the opposite. If I believe in my work, I fight for it. I ask them what is missing, and I make my work the best and present it to them again.¡±

    Hei-Ran who was trying hard not to show any emotions faintly smiled at him. ¡°There you go. You have the answer.¡± Young-Chul kept looking at her. ¡°Okay tell me what do you think of your group?¡±

    ¡°What is there to tell they are my brothers, my friends, my family,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°So, you spend a lot of time with them?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    .....

    ¡°We live together so 24¡Á7,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°And how much time do you spend with them?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°What? I just told you we live together so I am with them all day long,¡± answered Young-Chul.

    ¡°No, Man Young-Chul, how much time do you SPEND with them?¡± Hei-Ran asked again.

    ¡°Oh! I don¡¯t know,¡± he kept fiddling with his fingers. ¡°I mostly keep to my room or work in the kitchen with Korain hyung.¡±

    ¡°So, one can say that you are closest to him?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I guess so,¡± Young-Chul was unable to look Hei-Ran in the eyes.

    ¡°What do you talk to him?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. About our work, about our music.¡±

    ¡°Nothing else?¡±

    ¡°Sometimes¡­ about my family¡­ my siblings¡­ his family¡­ his siblings¡­¡±

    ¡°Who talks more, Man Young-Chul?¡±

    ¡°That would be Korain Hyung,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    Hei-Ran smiled at him and said, ¡°okay, you are not so talkative with your group members. What about Ritti?¡±

    ¡°What about her?¡±

    ¡°Do you talk to her?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°No, we just message each other. Well, mostly she does. Once she threw a bit fit that I never used to reply to her and after that, I started replying to her,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The day she didn¡¯t send me a message I couldn¡¯t sleep, couldn¡¯t eat, couldn¡¯t think. It was like I was stuck to my phone waiting for her message,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s maniptive?¡±

    ¡°Well, she was angry at first but then she told me that if I don¡¯t want to reply to her or if I feel like she was forcing me, I must not reply to her, and she would be okay with that.¡±

    ¡°And how you felt after hearing that?¡±

    ¡°I felt like she understood me that I was not okay after she pressured me or got angry at me. It felt like she understood what it would feel if someone pressured anyone to message or call. It was clear that she didn¡¯t want me to do things I was notfortable doing,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°Okay, so are youfortable now to reply to her?¡±

    ¡°Last night I replied to her for the first time,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Why the sudden change?¡±

    ¡°One night she didn¡¯t send me a message. We tried calling her, but the call couldn¡¯t go through. I had this feeling that my heart was about to burst out of my chest, like something was missing. I rushed to her house only to find that she lost her phone. When I saw her fine, I finally could breathe,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°So, she is bing someone important in your life?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°You can say that. She helped us without asking anything for it.¡±

    ¡°Do people mostly ask for things for helping you?¡±

    ¡°Mostly. Everyone wants to be friends with us for some kind of profit, financial or social, but she fought with people for us. She saved us from a scandal,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°So, you feel obliged to be friends with her?¡±

    ¡°No, we were already friends with her before she helped us.¡±

    ¡°Who initiated the friendship?¡±

    ¡°We did,¡± replied Young-Chul, proudly. ¡°We wronged her but then we corrected our mistake.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Man Young-Chul, our time is up for today. But before we leave our session, I would like to give you some homework,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Homework?¡±

    ¡°You said you are closest to Korain, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°And you are notfortable saying things about yourself?¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°Then I want you to write him a letter telling something you think must know but you have never told anyone,¡± ordered Hei-Ran.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and next session, bring him and the letter. I think we have a session tomorrow,¡± she said while looking through her calendar.

    ¡°But doctor¡­¡± protested Young-Chul.

    ¡°Man Young-Chul! You need to work on yourself. You think people won¡¯t be interested in you, that¡¯s why you hide about yourself from them. And I want to know what you feel, how you feel while telling things about yourself to others,¡± exined Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know, doctor,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°Just try. I will see you tomorrow,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    Nivritti under the influence of the medicine slept all morning. Jae-Hwa wanted to call her, but she saw that Nivritti needed rest. When Nivritti woke up, it was almost 4 in the evening. Her eyes were still heavy due to medication. She groaned and stretched her neck in every direction.

    She knew she still had hours before she had to reach the hospital. She ced her feet on the ground. To her surprise, the pain was much lesspared to the morning. Yawning she got up from the bed and went to the kitchen. Her stomach was rumbling due to hunger. She had leftover fried chicken and kimchi to eat.

    She ced the rice to cook while the chicken heated in the microwave. Within 20 minutes her food was ready. She gobbled the food up as she was famished. Even after eating all the food and resting up for a whole day, she was feeling uneasy. Since morning she was feeling extremely ufortable and slightly hot.

    She thought it was due to her injury and not sleeping properly. Moreover,st night was slightly emotional and scary. But now her toe was feeling almost okay, her pain was less, then why was she feeling this way? There was no pain anywhere, but something was happening to her, she just could not put a finger on it.

    She somehow cleaned her tes and sat on the couch. She thought of reading a few scripts, but her brain was not ready to work. She ced a cushion under her head and rested for a few more hours. When the time came, she got ready and called a cab. Finally, she reached the hospital.

    Even though the AC in the car was on, she was sweating all over. She thought it was due to the pain medication but that had never happened before. She didn¡¯t want to call Jae-Geun and inform him that she was there because then she would get angry at him for contributing for her phone.

    But she needed a doctor. True that she was going to see a doctor, but her doctor was presently in a session with Young-Chul. So, she decided to call Jae-Geun. She paid for the cab and got out of the car. While moving towards the therapist¡¯s office she called Jae-Geun and asked him to meet up with her outside Hei-Ran¡¯s office.

    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± he asked after he heard her request.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I am not feeling okay. Could you check my leg again?¡± requested Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, I will meet you up there. Maybe you need an X-ray,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Nivritti disconnected the call and moved into a lift. She was alone in the lift waiting to reach her destination when it felt like someone punched her in her stomach. ¡°Woah!¡± she stopped breathing for a second.

    Her legs were about to give in. ¡°What is happening?¡± she cried and closed her eyes in pain. The lift opened and she walked out clenching her stomach.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± shouted Jeong-Eun the moment he saw her. Kyung-Soo and Jeong-Eun were waiting outside Hei-Ran¡¯s office for Young-Chul. ¡°Woah! She does not look good,¡± hemented.

    ¡°Ritti? Are you okay?¡± asked Kyung-Soo and ran towards her.

    ¡°Ritti!!¡± shouted Jae-Geun from behind and he too ran towards her.

    Before Jae-Geun could approach her, Kyung-Soo reached near her and held her shoulders. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± she cried.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± Jae-Geun reached near her.

    ¡°Please help her. She is in pain,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What is it? Your foot?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No, my stomach,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Jae-Geun smiled at her and said, ¡°you know what that is. I can¡¯t really help you with that.¡± And he pointed at her stomach.

    ¡°What are you talking about? She is in pain, you are a doctor,¡± scolded Kyung-Soo.

    But Nivritti closed her eyes and murmured, ¡°oh shit!¡±

    .....

    ¡°What? What?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

 Chapter 209 - 209 The Period

    209 The Period

    Kyung-Soo couldn¡¯t understand what Jae-Geun and Nivritti were talking about. All he cared about was that she was in pain. They were talking in codes and Kyung-Soo was really confused.

    ¡°You know there is a little stain on your dress, right?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, no, no, not my blue dress,¡± cried Nivritti, turned her head to look at her dress and immediately stood with her back against the wall. ¡°How did I not feel it?¡±

    ¡°You felt the cramps,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What are you guys talking about?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Come with me, I will help,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? No, I am not walking around like that,¡± she pointed at her stained dress.

    ¡°WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?¡± yelled Kyung-Soo. Jeong-Eun came near all after constantly hearing Kyung-Soo¡¯s yelling.

    ¡°Shhh¡­ this is a hospital,¡± scolded Jae-Geun.

    .....

    ¡°NK! Female problem!¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Huh¡­ what?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Ugh¡­ my periods!¡± whispered Nivritti through gritted teeth.

    ¡°Oh!! Right!!!!¡± Kyung-Soo looked flustered. Jeong-Eun too looked away but not Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oh, what am I going to do? I have a session in a few¡­ ah¡­¡± she groaned and gasped for air. She clenched her stomach and leaned forward.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± said Kyung-Soo and leaned to look at her face.

    Jae-Geun grabbed her arm and said, ¡°Follow me. I will give you something for pain.¡±

    ¡°I am not moving even an inch,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Here, take my coat,¡± said Jae-Geun and started taking off his doctor¡¯s coat.

    ¡°No, take mine and wrap it across your waist,¡± said Kyung-Soo and before Jae-Geun could take off his coat, Kyung-Soo¡¯s coat was already off.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to wrap my coat, you can wear it and it will hide the stain,¡± informed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind you wrapping my jacket,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Take mine,¡± said Jae-Geun and shoved his coat in Nivritti¡¯s face.

    ¡°No, here, take mine,¡± Kyung-Soo moved Jae-Geun¡¯s hands out of Nivritti¡¯s face and offered her his jacket.

    ¡°Let her take mine,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°It¡¯s better if she takes mine,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Mine!¡± Jae-Geun gritted his teeth.

    ¡°Mine!¡± smiled Kyung-Soo, sarcastically.

    Jeong-Eun kept moving his head left and right ording to who was speaking. Both Jae-Geun and Kyung-Soo were in a stupid match of whose coat Nivritti would take without realising that their childish game was making everyone annoyed.

    ¡°Aishhh¡­ not again,¡± Nivritti rolled her eyes. ¡°These two¡­¡± she groaned. ¡°Shut it, both of you,¡± she scolded both of them and then looked at Jeong-Eun, ¡°I am sorry, PJ, but could you give me your long coat. I swear I will clean it and return it to you,¡± she pleaded.

    ¡°My¡­ my coat?¡± Jeong-Eun was shocked at the sudden request of Nivritti. He was busy watching the weirdpetition between two men, but Nivritti rejected them both and asked him for a favour. He took off his coat and handed it over to her.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she sweetly smiled and grabbed the coat. After she wore the coat, she looked at Jae-Geun and asked, ¡°where is the bathroom?¡±

    ¡°You can use the bathroom in the doctor¡¯s lounge. Come with me, it would be empty now. Do you have a pad or tampon with you?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    Jeong-Eun and Kyung-Soo started looking everywhere except at Nivritti or Jae-Geun with embarrassment. Both ced their hands inside their pocket as they had no idea what to do with their hands.

    ¡°Yes, I always keep a pad in my bag,¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°You two! Inform me immediately the moment MYes out. I don¡¯t want to bete again.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± both said together still trying to avoid looking at Nivritti.

    Nivritti moved away with Jae-Geun and while waiting for the lift shemented, ¡°men! When will they befortable with talking about periods.¡±

    ¡°I can say that about you too,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not only men, but women also too don¡¯t want to talk about it. Take your example, you hid your stain the moment I told you. We should be okay with it. If your hand would bleed or your leg and the blood would get on your dress, would you try to hide it?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No,¡± said Nivritti, shamefully. ¡°I think you are right, we women too have to start talking about periods because it is just a natural process.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but it will take time. For a long time, periods were considered taboo, we were not having conversations about that. Now slowly, it¡¯s getting the attention it required,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    The lift opened and they both entered in. Jae-Geun took her towards the doctor¡¯s lounge. On the way, he made a pit stop and collected a few things from storage. When they reached the lounge, he showed her the way to the bathroom and handed the bag to her.

    ¡°What is this?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ a clean scrub, a few pads and a pair of disposable panties,¡± said Jae-Geun, casually.

    ¡°Pan¡­¡± Nivritti started coughing. ¡°Wha¡­ what?¡±

    ¡°Are you going to keep wearing your already soiled underpants? You know you can throw them away, right? Just change your clothes and dump your dress in this bag. Hurry up, Heirana would be waiting for you,¡± instructed Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti nodded and went inside the bathroom. She took off Jeong-Eun¡¯s coat and then her dress and cleaned the blood and ced the dress on the side. She changed her underwear and again cleaned her soiled panties. While she was wearing the shirt again a wave of cramps made her stop in her action. She held the washbasin and stood there for some time, doing nothing.

    When the wave of pain subsided, she caught her breath and stood straight. She wore the full scrub and dumped all the wet clothes in the bag. Half her body, below the waist, was aching. Now she knew why her toe created a problem for her today.

    She was surprised by the sudden arrival of the period. She always kept a track of her cycle. And it was 3 days early. She didn¡¯t feel the perioding in advance and it was a shock to her. It embarrassed her before everyone. Oh! How many people would have noticed her stain while she wasing upstairs?

    ¡°Shit! Shit! Shit! Why such things happened to me that too in front of MY and PJ and SJ? Ahhh¡­ my life has be one big embarrassing act,¡± she kept talking to herself. ¡°That¡¯s why I was not feeling well since morning and my stupid ass could not figure out that it was due to my period.¡± She hit her head with her palm.

    After she was done with changing her clothes, she sshed water on her face and breathed slowly for some time. She came out of the bathroom in scrubs and Jeong-Eun¡¯s coat and saw Jae-Geun sitting on a couch staring at his phone.

    She moved close to him, and Jae-Geun stood up. He opened his palm and gave her a small box of pills. ¡°Take this when you have bad cramps,¡± he said and handed her a ss of water.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± smiled Nivritti who took one pill and swallowed it with water.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, your session is about to start,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti looked at her phone and saw the time. It was 8.01. ¡°Oh no!te again,¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I messaged her and told her about your situation,¡± smiled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°You know what, now you have messaged her let¡¯s bete,¡± Nivritti looked at him with a scary stare.

    Jae-Geun gulped and looked at her. ¡°What? Why? What did I do?¡±

    ¡°I almost forgot but now when I looked at my phone, I remembered,¡± replied Nivritti and dropped her bag.

    Jae-Geun smiled awkwardly at her and scratched his cheek. ¡°He-he, what did you remember?¡±

    ¡°That I was angry at you for this phone,¡± she shouted and waved her new phone in his face.

    ¡°What? You don¡¯t like it. It was Nam Kyung-Soo¡¯s choice. I just paid a little amount,¡± blurted out Jae-Geun.

    ¡°It was¡­ NK¡¯s choice?¡± gasped Nivritti.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No, everyone told me that¡­ well, leave that. Talk about yourself. Why did you pay?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey! I am your friend. Your friends were contributing, and so I did that too,¡± protested Jae-Geun. ¡°Is that a bad thing?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is a bad thing. Why do you have to pay such a big amount?¡± asked Nivritti and waved her fist in his face.

    ¡°You gave me a gift too,¡± snapped Jae-Geun, back.

    ¡°That was nothing. I paid peanuts for that. You paid, I don¡¯t know, millions for my phone,¡± shouted Nivritti back at him.

    ¡°Gift is gift, don¡¯tpare the price of the gifts,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Stop lecturing me,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti! Just ept the gift and make your friends happy,¡±forted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ okay! Well, thank you for everything. For phone, for this,¡± she pointed at the scrubs she was wearing.

    ¡°You are wee, now let¡¯s move, Heirana would be waiting for you,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Right!¡± said Nivritti and picked up her bag. Jae-Geun led the way and they moved towards Hei-Ran¡¯s cabin.

 Chapter 210 - 210 The Five Stages of Grief

    210 The Five Stages of Grief

    (Sorry readers for not posting new chapters for so many days. Sorry for making you wait and I sincerely apologise. So, let¡¯s continue the story. Thank you for being patient. Much love from your writer.)

    Nivritti kept her eyes lowered and hid her face with her palm as everyone kept staring at her wearing a scrub but with an expensive overcoat. When Jae-Geun and Nivritti reached outside Hei-Ran¡¯s office, they saw that members were waiting for them.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Young-Chul ran towards her and asked urgently.

    ¡°Yes, I am fine,¡± smiled Nivritti. ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t talk, I amte,¡± she said and started moving inside the cabin.

    But Young-Chul grabbed her arm and pulled her back. There was a collective gasp from Jeong-Eun and Kyung-Soo. Even Nivritti was shocked. She knew he hated to touch everyone but here he was touching her arm.

    ¡°I am not waiting an hour for you. Are you okay?¡± asked Young-Chul, again.

    ¡°I told you I am fine,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Pain?¡±

    She scoffed, ¡°a little. I will message you the detailster, MY.¡± She again rushed towards the door.

    .....

    ¡°Wait! Is this why the Rencontre team asked us not to pick them?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°You were feeling the pain since morning!!¡± shouted Young-Chul.

    Nivritti bit her lips and shook her head. She didn¡¯t want to tell them that she was not okay. ¡°Yeah! I went back home to rest and CH called you guys that the team won¡¯t work with you today.¡± She avoided telling them that Jae-Hwa didn¡¯t want to spend any time alone with Dae.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Do I have to tell you everything that happens to me?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°YES!!¡± shouted all three at once.

    ¡°O¡­kay! Talk to youter. And PJ, I will solve your issue. Sorry about today,¡± she said and went inside leaving the four men outside.

    ¡°Sorry doctor! I am extremely sorry for beingte,¡± shouted Nivritti as soon as she entered the office and closed the door behind her.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Jaegeuna told me. How is pain now?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Oh! Crampse and go, I am an idiot. Ipletely forgot about my date,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Late or early?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Early by three days.¡±

    ¡°Did Jaegeuna give you any medicine?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yeah, he gave me a painkiller.¡±

    ¡°And scrubs,¡±ughed Hei-Ran.

    Nivrittiughed with her, ¡°yes, apparently,¡± and sat down on the chair.

    ¡°So, Nivritti I have read your file and discussed everything with your doctor. You have a long list of diagnoses. Cynophobia, clinical depression, psychogenic mutism, abandonment issues,mitment issues, they almost diagnosed you to have PTSD. Mostly, I don¡¯t tell my patients the diagnosis. I want them to reach to this level, but I know you know all this as you have been on and off going to therapy for years. Can you tell me what is the immediate threat that you think we have to work first on?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°As you know my history, you know about what happened with my love life,¡± said Nivritti and gulped to take pause.

    ¡°Yes, Ritvik, who abandoned you without giving any rifications,¡± replied Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yeah! And you know I almost have PTSD because of him. He keeps calling me, following me everywhere, even though he is married,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°And you have been running away from him,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yeah, so sometimes I have nightmares that he found me and then I am unable to sleep. I have this fear that he will one day just appear before me, and I won¡¯t be able to stop him or face him for that matter. If he ever appears, I need to be prepared, I don¡¯t want to break down before him, I want to¡­ take control of that situation¡­ not fall apart like the first time,¡± sniffled Nivritti. Tears started falling down her eyes.

    Hei-Ran stood up from her seat and grabbed the box of tissues and gave it to Nivritti. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that you are feeling emotions and crying. If you would have said all this with a straight face I would have been concerned.¡±

    Nivritti blew her nose and wiped her tears and looked at Hei-Ran. ¡°So, you want to go to a ce where he won¡¯t affect you anymore, won¡¯t affect the decisions of your life?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yes, I want to go to a ce where I can live without thinking about him. I want to go to such a time where even if I cross paths with him, I won¡¯t pay him any attention, he would be a stranger to me and won¡¯t take up my time, my thoughts and my feelings. I don¡¯t want to waste anything on him anymore. I just want to sleep peacefully, doctor,¡± said Nivritti while wiping her tears.

    ¡°Why do you think he affects you still?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t want to think about him, I don¡¯t want to talk about him, I don¡¯t want to spend a single second on him but somehow he is still in my life, and I hate it. I absolutely hate him,¡± Nivritti gritted her teeth.

    ¡°Anger! That¡¯s good!¡± smiled Hei-Ran and ced her hand on Nivritti¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Your first stage was depression and now you moved to anger, that means you are making progress.¡±

    Nivritti sniffled, ¡°anger? But I thought depression came after anger. How is depression being the first stage a good thing?¡±

    ¡°Okay, everyone makes this mistake. True that grief has five stages, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and eptance but Kubler-Ross, who gave this concept made it clear that these stages were, in fact, non-linear. You can experience these stages at different times, and they don¡¯t ur in any particr order. It depends on you, how you process grief,¡± exined Hei-Ran.

    Nivritti kept staring at her and listening to her wise words. Hei-Ran continued, ¡°as per your file, you bargained with him at the very first stage, you then went into denial and then depression, and now you are in anger. All I have to do is take you from there to the eptance stage. Mind you that is the most difficult step.¡±

    Nivritti nodded, ¡°okay.¡±

    ¡°Suppose hees in front of you today, what will be your first reaction?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Hit him with whateveres to my hand,¡± replied Nivritti through gritted teeth.

    ¡°Okay! So you think you can hurt him as he hurt you?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I can do much worse,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Won¡¯t you freeze?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You said you have nightmares, that means you are scared of him,¡± exined Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t want him toe back to my life and manipte me with his words,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°So, you think you will go back to him if he divorces his wife andes and tells you that he still loves you?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°No, never,¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°I know what mistake I made the first time. I am not going to repeat it again, ever again.¡±

    ¡°And what mistake is that?¡±

    ¡°Trusting someone more than myself, being too clingy, thinking that I would have my happily ever after, being delusional that someone can love me, thinking that I would be the number one priority for someone,¡± replied Nivritti and twisted her lips to avoid crying.

    ¡°So, after that incident, you have not trusted anyone else?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°No, no one,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Not even your family,¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Oh, I had to count them?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Of course! You are in a rtionship with them,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yes, I trust them,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°As per your file, you never tell anyone where you are or about your life. So have you told your parents that you are in Korea?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    Nivritti was taken aback. Her mouth fell open with shock. She realised that she didn¡¯t even trust her family. She had not told anyone that she was in Korea. There was no one except her doctors who knew about her life.

    Wait! There was one other person, who knew about her, everything about her, Kyung-Soo. He knew everything about her, every single detail, how she fell for Ritvik, how many times she kissed him, how many times, she made love, that she got pregnant, that she had an abortion, that she was in therapy, that she was damaged.

    She was shocked that her family knew nothing about her, but Kyung-Soo knew everything.

    ¡°Nivritti!¡± nudged Hei-Ran.

    Nivritti finally exhaled and looked at her, ¡°I believe I don¡¯t trust my family. They don¡¯t know where I am or anything about my job.¡±

    ¡°And why is that?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Because every time I have told them, somehow Ritvik had found out and had started calling me and harassing me,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°But that does not mean that is their fault. He must be monitoring their activities and that¡¯s how he finds you out every time,¡± exined Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yeah, and since they know nothing about me, Ritvik has not been able to contact me till now,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°So, they don¡¯t even have your number?¡± asked Hei-Ran, shocked.

    ¡°No, they don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You know that is a very lonely way to live and that can be a reason for your nightmares,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    ¡°What?¡± scoffed Nivritti. ¡°I am not lonely. I have my work and friends.¡±

    ¡°Being lonely makes you think about things from your past and that lingering feeling affects your sleep and hence nightmares. And sorry for saying that but you only have one friend, maybe two, Jae-siblings!¡± Hei-Ran shook her head in disbelief.

 Chapter 211 - 211 The Continuation of Therapy

    211 The Continuation of Therapy

    Hei-Ran was trying to figure out the cause of Nivritti¡¯s nightmare. And Nivritti kept raising red gs about her life. She was lonely, keeping secrets from her own family. No one in her near vicinity knew where she was or what her phone number was. She didn¡¯t even have any friends.

    ¡°Hey! I have more friends!¡± protested Nivritti.

    ¡°See denial,¡±mented Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I am not lying. I have more friends,¡± pouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Name them!¡±

    ¡°Members of ASD. They are my friends,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh really!?¡± Hei-Ran crossed her arms over her chest.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Do you guys talk often?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    .....

    ¡°Yes, every day. In fact, this injury happened when they were in my house,¡± said Nivritti, raised her leg and showed her injury to Hei-Ran.

    ¡°And they will say the same if I ask them?¡± asked Hei-Ran. She knew that Nivritti was telling the truth. Just now, Young-Chul hadpleted his session talking all about Nivritti. But she could not ask her about him. She could not tell her what she talked with Young-Chul that would mean breaking confidentiality.

    ¡°I hope so,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, what do you do on your days off?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ mostly stay at home but I have not been in Korea for long. I have been to shopping, movies,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°And what did you do when you were in India?¡±

    ¡°Mostly stay at home.¡±

    ¡°You were afraid he might find you or you woulde across him,¡± suggested Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe.¡±

    ¡°Fine, then tell me this. When you went outside for shopping or to movies, who did you go out with?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Um¡­ Jae-siblings!¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Not ASD?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Well, they can¡¯t roam around like usmon people. If they do, it would be chaos on the streets,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, so did you ask them to go with you or did they initiate it?¡±

    ¡°Let me tell you, shopping was my idea,¡± said Nivritti proudly.

    ¡°Did you make this n on phone or¡­?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°No¡­ they were in my house,¡± replied Nivritti skeptically. She knew what Hei-Ran was going to say. ¡°Before you say anything, no, I didn¡¯t invite them to my house. They just came to my house unannounced, the whole family.¡±

    ¡°Oh! So, this was after you protected Jaehwa?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°And how did you feel when they barged in?¡±

    ¡°Awkward as I didn¡¯t know them at that time. I had only had interactions with Jae.¡±

    ¡°If you didn¡¯t know them that well, then why did you protect Jaehwa?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Because she needed help,¡± replied Nivritti, obviously.

    ¡°So, if anyone would have been in her position you would have helped them?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I like to think so,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°But then you again fought for her with your whole department,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Who told you that?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°I do my homework,¡± smiled Hei-Ran.

    ¡°SJ, I mean Jae-Geun told you.¡±

    ¡°I am not naming any sources,¡± joked Hei-Ran.

    Nivritti too smiled, ¡°well, yes, I took her side when everyone started pointing fingers at her. You see I sent her back to the office with Jung-Hwa¡¯s bodyguards and all started specting that she was having an affair with him. A big stupid gossip started, and I tried to nip it in the bud.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, why?¡±

    ¡°Why did you help her? Do you see yourself in her? She being teased for being a nepokid, fairly new in that department, maybe you bonded with her because you see yourself in her. A new kid around the block, no one really talks to, you trying to fit in?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    Nivritti smiled at Hei-Ran¡¯s analysis. ¡°Doc! You are way off on your analysis.¡±

    ¡°Please enlighten!!¡± smiled Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t bond with her first. She was the one who talked to me first and stood up for me first against our department. It was years since someone stood up for me. My family have been by my side, and they have been taking a stand for me, but never a stranger and Jae did that for me, just like my little sister. After my depression episode, Apeksha, my younger sister, has been constantly taking a stand for me. She has been in many fights that I had to resolve but she never stopped fighting for me and that day I saw Apeksha in Jae. So, I do not see myself in Jae¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­You see your sister,¡± Hei-Ranpleted Nivritti¡¯s sentence for her.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°So, you are grateful to her for taking a stand for you?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I will always be grateful to Jae and ASD,¡± said Nivritti. She realised that let a piece of information slip out of her tongue and Hei-Ran caught it.

    ¡°ASD?¡±

    Nivritti closed her eyes on her mistake and after a loud sigh replied, ¡°yes, ASD.¡±

    ¡°What did they do?¡±

    ¡°Well, on my very first day, I had contact with a dog and I was scared out of my mind. I don¡¯t know why, I was almostfortable with a dog being near me in the same building, but I heard him, I saw him, and I jumped out of my skin. Thae scolded me for hurting his dog, but other members calmed him down. I was crying because of the fear and the humiliation when¡­¡± Nivritti suddenly stopped talking and tilted her head. Her mouth fell open when she realised that it was not Jae who first stood by her side, it was Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What, Nivritti?¡±

    ¡°I know I should not lie to you or hide anything, but I don¡¯t know how to say this,¡± sighed Nivritti.

    ¡°Then take your time, we are not in a hurry. You have done a lot of therapy, you know that whatever you say, I am never repeating it to anyone,¡± assured Hei-Ran and tapped Nivritti¡¯s shoulder again.

    ¡°I told you that Jae was the first stranger who stood by my side. But I just realised that it was Kyung-Soo,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°The leader of ASD?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°What did he do?¡±

    ¡°He came to console me when I was crying, hiding in a stairwell. He assured me that the dog was fine, and I should stop crying,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°And, what?¡±

    ¡°You are not telling me something,¡± said Hei-Ran.

    Nivritti bit the inside of her lower lips and looked at Hei-Ran. She then closed her eyes and with clenched fists blurted out, ¡°we kissed in that stairwell.¡±

    ¡°Okay! And what was your reaction after that?¡±

    ¡°After he kissed me, I ran away from him,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°He¡­ kissed?¡±mented Hei-Ran.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Just a sentence ago you said that we kissed and now you are saying, he kissed. What did he do wrong?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Well, he kissed me without permission,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°But you remember it as ¡®we kissed¡¯,¡± emphasised Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Okay, fine, he initiated the kiss, but I don¡¯t know why, I too kissed him back. It was just in the moment thing, I didn¡¯t mean to,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°And why is that?¡±

    ¡°Because he is younger than me,¡± replied Nivritti angrily.

    ¡°And you don¡¯t want history to repeat itself,¡± Hei-ran finished her thoughts.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Nivritti ground her teeth.

    ¡°So, you are against a rtionship or a rtionship with someone younger than you?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe rtionships in general,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°And you have seen King in your dreams, haven¡¯t you?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    .....

    ¡°Wha¡­¡± Nivritti scoffed with shock. ¡°Okay, you are good. Yes, my nightmare started with Kyung-Soo and then he shifted into Ritvik.¡±

    ¡°Okay, new country, new job, a stranger takes your side and then kisses you, but you know he is younger than you. I think you are fixated on Ritvik¡¯s age. You think he did all that because he was immature. And then you projected his hatred on Kyung-Soo even though you kissed him back. And that triggered your nightmare. Now tell me, do you hate Kyung-Soo too?¡± asked Hei-Ran.

    ¡°What, no. He has somehow be a good friend,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°But you are afraid to get close to him,¡±mented Hei-Ran.

    ¡°I am just being careful, Doc,¡± said Nivritti with a loud exhale.

    ¡°No,¡± Hei-Ran t out protested Nivritti. ¡°You are not being careful, you are forcing yourself to not trust anyone.¡±

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t trust him, why would I tell him everything about my life?¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°You¡­ you told him about your life? Everything? Ritvik, heartbreak, pregnancy, depression?¡± asked Hei-ran, shocked.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Hei-Ran folded her arms over her chest and stared into Nivritti¡¯s eyes, ¡°and under what circumstances did you tell him that? Under your own volition?¡±

    Nivritti knew she could reply to her doctor and Hei-Ran was too smart to be fooled. ¡°Well, he figured out that I had a past, and that past had something to do with a boyfriend who was younger than me, that¡¯s why I was hung on the age. So, one night he sat inside my house in protest and demanded my life story. So, yeah, I told him everything because he threatened me.¡±

    ¡°No, you told him everything because you wanted to,¡± smiled Hei-Ran.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

 Chapter 212 - 212 The Spy

    212 The Spy

    The clock in Hei-Ran¡¯s room chirped loudly. She looked up and saw the clock. ¡°We will continue this in our next session. I am sorry that I can only take you up once a week. So, Wednesday¡¯s fine with you?¡±

    ¡°Doc! What did you mean by I wanted to tell him?¡± shouted Nivritti as if she didn¡¯t hear what Hei-Ran said.

    ¡°Nivritti! Patience! We will discuss everything next Wednesday. Meanwhile, it will be your homework. Figure out what I just said. As for the medicine for sleep, I am not prescribing any as you are already on some pain meds. I would rmend some breathing exercises before you go to sleep, and I will see you next week,¡± said Hei-Ran, smiling.

    ¡°Okay,¡± sighed Nivritti. She stood up and grabbed her bag. ¡°Wait! Did you just call Kyung-Soo, ¡®King¡¯?¡±

    Hei-Ran just smiled at her but said nothing. ¡°Are you, his fan?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, I am an ASDian,¡± replied Hei-Ran.

    ¡°Wow!¡± eximed Nivritti. ¡°Okay, I will see you next Wednesday.¡±

    Nivritti walked outside, and Kyung-Soo and the party were gone. She took her phone and messaged Jae-Geun that she was leaving and thanked him again for all his help. She called a cab and went home.

    All the way to her house, she kept thinking about what Hei-Ran said. Why did she say that she wanted Kyung-Soo to know everything? Was that the truth? Did she trust him or told him everything because he forced her to? How would she trust a person who she just met a few weeks ago? It was years since she stopped trusting people, then why did she tell everything to Kyung-Soo?

    .....

    Cogs of her brain kept turning but she had no answer. She reached her house and as she was not in shape to cook, she ordered in, ate her food, took her medicine, messaged goodnight to everyone and slept. She was way behind in her script reading and today was aplete waste.

    Dae, when he came to the office was set up with everything. He had his social media ount set up with Nivritti¡¯s name in the mail-id. He even used her name in his ount. Now he didn¡¯t need an anonymous ount, he had Nivritti as the fall guy. He had his untraceable bank card ready too. He was so happy that day.

    The moment he came in Chung-Ho informed him that Nivritti was taking leave and he would not have to go to the practice room, they can stay in the office. He was happy that he would not have to look at Nivritti¡¯s face or get ignored by ASD.

    But the next moment Chung-Ho scolded him for sharing the temte with his team members. He again gritted his teeth at Nivritti. ¡°I said that would mail her but no, she had to go andin about it to Choi-ssi. She always has to show herself as superior to me.¡±

    He apologised to Chung-Ho, ¡°Oh, Ipletely forgot, I was supposed to send them a mail.¡± He again controlled his anger by biting his lips and stared at Nivritti, ¡°what am I going to do with her? I try to be civil, but she always irks me. Why did she have to backbite? Why does she always try to gain points from Choi-ssi? Just a few more days, you witch, and you will be gone. I will destroy your name and your reputation.¡±

    For a minute he showed concern for Nivritti but was d that he won¡¯t see her for the whole day. After she left, Jae-Hwa and Dae kept reading the scripts and Jae-Hwa kept following the temte Dae sent to her.

    At lunch, Dae messaged Missmatch with the ount he made and gave her his card number. Within seconds, he received the amount she promised him. Dae beamed with happiness. Everything was on track. He didn¡¯t have to see Nivritti¡¯s face and he was getting paid on the same day. He felt as if he was in seventh heaven.

    When it was time to leave the office, he received a DM. he opened the app and it was Missmatch saying, ¡°meet me at 6.¡± But where she didn¡¯t say. Dae was surprised after receiving her message. What did she want so soon? He already gave her a scoop and what if someone sees them together? Meet with her at 6 but where, how?

    He messaged her back, ¡°my office gets over at 6. I don¡¯t think I will be able to meet you anywhere at that time. Send me the name of the ce and I will be there at half past 6 depending upon traffic.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. Just leave your office at 6. Rest you will understand,¡± she messaged back. A chill ran down Dae¡¯s spine. It was not fear but excitement. He felt like a spy going on missions. He felt like his handler was sending messages to him. He shuddered and a smile ran across his face.

    He left the office a few minutes early. He needed time to think so he took the stairs. Without feeling any pain, he kept climbing down from the 11th floor. ¡°Where is she going to meet me? Does she meet with people often? Does she not have her team to find news? What does she want to talk about? Oh, the anticipation is killing me.¡±

    After almost ten minutes he reached near his car. Absentmindedly, he opened the door of his car and threw his bag in the backseat. For a minute he kept sitting in the car staring at oblivion. ¡°She said 6. I am here, what now? Should I wait for another message or move towards my home?¡±

    While he was in his thoughts, the passenger door opened and a stranger in ck trousers, a ck hoodie and a ck mask entered his car. He jumped with fear and yelled loudly.

    ¡°Shut up! It¡¯s me,¡± said Missmatch and lowered her mask.

    Dae clenched his chest and kept breathing heavily. ¡°You almost gave me a heart attack!!!¡± shouted Dae.

    ¡°Ugh! So weak! Are you sure you are up to this, sharing secrets with me?¡± taunted Missmatch.

    ¡°Yes, yes, I am,¡± replied Dae and sat straight.

    ¡°Then drive,¡± said Missmatch and covered her face again.

    ¡°Where?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Where you go every day,¡± replied Missmatch.

    ¡°You areing to my house?¡± asked Dae, shocked.

    ¡°No, idiot, I will get down after some time, after talking to you. This way no one will see us meeting at ces you don¡¯t want to be seen. I am a paparazzi, but paparazzi follow me too, for your kind information,¡± said Missmatch.

    ¡°Fine!¡± said Dae and started the engine. He drove the car out of the parking lot, and they were on the main road. ¡°Why did you want to meet?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°Obviously for more information,¡± replied Missmatch.

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you wait?¡± said Dae.

    ¡°You said you will send me a list of scripts that you shortlisted and I have been waiting for that. I have to publish my article, you know,¡± said Missmatch.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that I will send you the list so soon,¡± replied Dae. ¡°You will have to wait for that. I need time topile the data.¡±

    Missmatch turned to look at Dae. There was a twinkle in her eyes. Her narrowed eyes signalled Dae that she was smiling at him, but the mask hid that. She tilted her head and ced her palm over his thigh. Dae¡¯s eyes widened and he jerked his head to look at her.

    Missmatch lowered her mask and showed her beautiful teeth to him. ¡°Seong-ssi! Dae! Darling! Can I call you darling?¡± she asked with a raspy voice and batted her eyshes at him. Dae could not reply to her, he just gulped at her action.

    Missmatch removed her seatbelt and leaned towards Dae. Dae shockingly turned his steering wheel away from Missmatch and the car made a screeching sound. ¡°Careful, darling!¡± Missmatch whispered in his ears.

    Dae was breathing heavily, and he finally stooped the car on the roadside as he was afraid that he might get into an ident. ¡°What are you doing?¡± he shouted.

    Missmatch ced her long, slender forefinger on his lips and shushed him, ¡°shhh¡­ it¡¯s okay.¡± She came close to his ear and ced his earlobe between her lips. A chill down his spine, he forgot how to breathe. She sucked on his earlobe and pulled it seductively with her teeth.

    ¡°I just want a preliminary list, Darling,¡± said Missmatch and moved her lips towards his neck. She exposed his neck under his shirt cor and ced the wettest kiss Dae ever received in his life on his neck and kept sucking his neck leaving a dark red hickey on it.

    Dae had never cheated on his wife even though he liked touching women but touching them was not considered cheating. It was okay to slightly brush with women¡¯s breasts or their asses. But now this young, beautiful thing was kissing him. He didn¡¯t even ask for it, she initiated it. If he didn¡¯t initiate it, it meant he was not cheating, he was not in the wrong. It was Missmatch who was wrong.

 Chapter 213 - 213 The Blog

    213 The Blog

    Dae had his eyes closed while Missmatch, a young girl, a pretty young girl was showing interest in him. He could feel her warm breath on his neck, her wet kisses on his neck. ¡°I cannot do this, I cannot do this. I am married, I am married,¡± he kept repeating to himself.

    But his lust was greater than his intention of not cheating. Moreover, the girl kept seducing him, it was nowhere his fault. If a woman entices a man, what he can do, he will have to give in, thought Dae. He turned his face and grabbed Missmatch¡¯s ponytail. He lifted her face and leaned in for a kiss.

    She immediately ced her palm over his mouth and smiled, ¡°I know I am irresistible, but you have to do things for me, no quid pro quo, darling.¡± She removed her palm from his mouth and licked his lips.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± stammered Dae.

    ¡°What you promised me, the list of scripts, darling,¡± Missmatch smiled and slid her hand on the inside of his thigh. His breath shuddered with desire, and he closed his eyes.

    He knew if he wanted more, he had to give in to her demands. He wanted to say that he willply, but the opposite came out of his mouth, ¡°sorry, the update session ising up, I cannot let anyone have the list. Every eye will be on us. If the CEO finds out everyone in the Rencontre team can lose their job.¡±

    After hearing his words, Missmatch lost it. She pped hard across Dae¡¯s face and shouted, ¡°do you think this is a game?¡±

    ¡°Wh¡­aat?¡± Dae was shocked after the p.

    ¡°I give you money, you give me information. I was thinking of giving something extra but¡­ you¡­ are¡­ an idiot,¡± she turned away from him and started opening the car door.

    .....

    Dae grabbed her arm and pulled her in for a hug. He cried, ¡°please understand me. I will give you everything after the update session, I promise. As I said I too can lose this job if so, much information gets out in the media so soon. Let¡¯s take baby steps, please, please, I beg you.¡±

    She pushed him away and shouted, ¡°what do you want more? Money or me? It¡¯s your job more important or this budding rtionship with me?¡±

    ¡°You know what I want the most. It¡¯s Nivritti to leave K&Q. I will do anything for that,¡± Dae gritted his teeth.

    ¡°Well, now I hate that wench. Can you tell me why you hate her so much? Why do you want her gone?¡± asked Missmatch.

    ¡°She stole everything. This Rencontre was supposed to be mine, but she stole it. The bonus was supposed to be mine, she stole that too. If this Rencontre would have been mine, I would have been on the fast track to promotion. Within days she became¡­ this¡­ this¡­ oh¡­ she overpowered me and I hate that. Everyone is supposed to like me, love me, but no she took that too,¡± Dae started punching the steering wheel.

    ¡°Okay, okay, calm down, help me help you, Darling. Only if you keep giving me information, you can mess with that girl, then only you can get her fired. The more news I blog, the more evidence you will have and that will make more impact. You understand that, right, darling?¡± manipted Missmatch.

    ¡°I understand, I understand, but we need to take it slow. She is everyone¡¯s favourite. No one will believe that she is selling information if we don¡¯t have a long list of it,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Fine! I will back you up. But after the update session, I need everything and we can take this up discreetly in a hotel room,¡± she seductively touched his arm and winked at him.

    ¡°W¡­ w¡­ h¡­ haaat?¡± choked Dae.

    ¡°I have to go, bye. I will message you soon,¡± she kissed him on his cheek and got out of the car.

    ¡°Wait! Let me drop you at a safer location. This is literally a busy road,¡± shouted Dae.

    ¡°See that car behind you, it¡¯s mine, so rx,¡± she blew him a kiss, covered her face with the mask and closed the door.

    She walked up to her car and Dae drove away while staring at the car behind him. He kept exhaling for a long time to calm himself down. It just went through a barrage of emotions in a matter of a few minutes. Lust, desire, passion, anger, sadness, jealousy, shock, and other emotions made him confused. He had no idea what he was feeling right now. All he knew was that he needed to get rid of these emotions.

    He drove to his home, ran upstairs and kicked the door open of his house. Before his wife could speak another word, he threw his bag away, kicked his shoes and threw himself at his wife. He grabbed her by her waist and nted the most seductive kiss he ever knew on his wife¡¯s mouth. Before he knew it, he was in his bedroom, in his bed, making passionate love with his wife.

    Missmatch got out of Dae¡¯s car and sat in the sedan that was parked behind Dae¡¯s car. She waited for Dae to drive away and then signalled her driver to drive forward. Just a few metres away, a ck car was sitting by the side of the road.

    The moment both cars came close, an old man from the ck car came out and approached Missmatch. Both smiled at each other, and the old man opened the backdoor of Missmatch¡¯s car and sat next to her.

    ¡°Samchon! Did you get everything?¡± asked Missmatch.

    ¡°I got everything, Mina,¡± said the old man.

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me by that NAME, you stupid old man. Would you like if I call you, Joon Su-Bin?¡± shouted Missmatch.

    ¡°That is my name, just like yours is Kim Ji-Min,¡± replied the old man innocently.

    ¡°Enough! I am Missmatch, Missmatch is my name,¡± Ji-Min gritted her teeth.

    ¡°Okay, Missmatch, here is the camera and here is the SD card with all the photos. But why do you want the photographs with him? He is no one famous,¡± said Su-Bin.

    ¡°No, he is not someone famous, but I want leverage on everyone I work with. If he ever tries to double-cross me, I will say he used me for sex. He is old, I am young, he is no one, I am famous, I can spin the news as I want. On top of that he is married, no married man wants to tell his wife about his affair. K&Q is very powerful, I need contingencies to make myself safe,¡± said Missmatch.

    ¡°So, you think he will betray you?¡± asked Su-Bin.

    ¡°He is in this for money and revenge on a girl. I think he hates all the women who are smarter than him. He will turn on me someday and I don¡¯t want that,¡± replied Missmatch.

    ¡°But these photos show that you are initiating the seduction,¡± informed Su-Bin.

    ¡°If and when I publish it, of course, my face will be hidden,¡± Missmatch shrugged her shoulders.

    ¡°What if someone else gets their hands on these and other photos?¡± asked Su-Bin.

    ¡°Then keep them safe, you idiot!!¡± shouted Missmatch. ¡°How are you, my guardian? You don¡¯t know anything except getting on my nerves!!! You, drive, take me home,¡± she shouted at her driver.

    The driver started Missmatch¡¯s car and Su-Bin signalled his driver to follow them. Missmatch reached her house and immediately sat on herputer. She linked her fingers and cracked her knuckles before she started typing on her keyboard. She had a blog to write.

    ¡°Sub: Exclusive Rencontre News

    Dear Matchers,

    This is your favourite Missmatch reporting. You know I am an avid k-pop fan like every one of you. And we have been dying to get some kind of news about Rencontre. I know it¡¯s still to specte about anything, but your Missmatch has some exclusive news for you.

    Before writing further, I would like to remind you to like, share and subscribe to my blog site. If you like my content, don¡¯t be shy to click the donate button and support me to your heart¡¯s content.

    Moving on¡­

    I know many of you have been writing and submitting the script thinking that you will get a chance to meet with your biases and I really hope that one day you do.

    First, for those who don¡¯t know about the Rencontre, it¡¯s their anniversary celebration and this year it¡¯s special as they will be celebrating their eighth year. ASD crossed their seven-year curse. So, this year the celebration is going to be bigger and hence, the inclusion of their fans. Their fans get to write a script and direct them in it. Really awesome, right?

    And herees the exclusive¡­ (rubbing hands with excitement) THE SCRIPTS WILL BE CHOSEN BY KING. Yes, you read that right. Your favourite leader of your favourite band ASD, Nam Kyung-Soo aka King will be the one who will choose the final scripts.

    And you know how high standards he has. Psst¡­ I think he was the one who proposed the announcement about giarism. Who else can think like him? Our great leader will judge us all. What do you think about this? What do you want to say to KING? Comment below. I am waiting for your opinions my Matchers. Kisses¡­ kisses¡­

    Signing off¡­ will be back with more news about Rencontre. Stay tuned.¡±

 Chapter 214 - 214 The PR

    214 The PR

    When almost the whole of Korea was sleeping, Missmatch¡¯s blog was live at 12 am. She waited the whole night to post the blog and after the blog was live, she stood up from her seat and with a wicked smile on her face she fell on the bed, with her back first.

    The view count started at 0 and by morning the number was hundred-thousands. Missmatch was sleeping with a smile on her face. By morning the whole world was buzzing with the news. As everyone thought that the scripts would be finalised by the Script department or the Production department, but everyone was going crazy after knowing that Kyung-Soo was going to finalise the script.

    Fans were going crazy to know that their scripts were being read by their idol. The excitement and shock were running amok. Everyone was talking about it. Everyone was writing about it. Everyone was discussing about it.

    PR of K&Q was sweating from every orifice, biting their nails over what to do, and how to contain this. All woke up early after their phone kept ringing in the middle of the night. The PR people were on the conference call all night, and all morning, thinking about what to do. Yet they could not think about anything.

    Should they deny it? Should they put out an announcement saying it was true? Should they ask Kyung-Soo to give out a statement? All they knew was they had to wait for Bong to give the final idea.

    Nivritti had a peaceful night all thanks to the medicine she had. She woke up only after the rm rang twice. Yawning she woke up and got out of her bed. The first thing she did was check her sheets for any stains. Everything was okay so, she moved towards the bathroom, scratching her scalp.

    She chose a dark-coloured dress for the day. Due to all the medicine, her toe as well as her stomach was doing much better. She cooked her breakfast and chose to drink green tea to avoid bloating. Dressed in a ck dress and grey overcoat she ordered a cab and was ready to leave for the office.

    She climbed downstairs when she received the notification that the cab had cancelled her ride.

    ¡°What?¡± she was shocked. It never happened to her before. She again ordered a cab and within seconds, it was cancelled too. ¡°What is happening?¡± she thought. Defeated, she decided to walk as waiting for another car would make herte and it was not a guarantee that the taxi would not cancel again.

    .....

    Slowly she kept walking towards her office, taking quick breaks in between. Of course, she had no ce to sit, so she would stand in a corner, resting her injured foot that was neatly wrapped in apression bandage. The cold was numbing her toe making her free of every pain.

    She was about to cross the road when she suddenly halted in her path and her eyes widened with shock. A huge crowd was cheering and shouting outside the K&Q building.

    ¡°We love you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for taking so much interest in us.¡±

    ¡°You are the best leader one can hope for.¡±

    ¡°East or West, King is the best.¡±

    And more slogans were being chanted by the crowd. There were posters in their hands, all were happily waiting for one glimpse of their favourite leader.

    Nivritti took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. She had to navigate a sea of eager, chirpy girls and guys who were excited to show their love for their leader. She walked towards the building door, but it was hard to get in.

    Everyone thought she was one of the fans trying to barge in. But she showed her badge and pleaded to everyone to let her pass as she worked in that building. Finally, the guard saw her and came running towards her. He grabbed her by the arm and helped her cross the sea of fans and brought her in.

    ¡°Thank you, thank you so much,¡± Nivritti thanked him.

    ¡°It¡¯s my duty, Ms. Nivritti. Sorry for all that,¡± said the guard.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s not your fault,¡± she cried and suddenly her eyes fell on the big clock in the lobby. ¡°Oh, I amte. Will talk to youter. Thank you again.¡±

    ¡°Any time, miss,¡± smiled the guard.

    Nivritti walked fast towards the lift. ¡°Wait! I should have asked why the crowd is here.¡± She reached her department where almost half the people were already in the office huddled together, gossiping with each other.

    Nivritti again slowed down and tilted her head after looking at them. ¡°Am I the only one who does not know what is happening? Oh, what ASD have done now?¡±

    A sudden tap on her shoulder made her turn behind her. Jae-Hwa was smiling at her. ¡°Are you okay now?¡±

    ¡°And good morning to you too,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes, yes, good morning, now answer,¡± said Jae-Hwa and they both walked towards their seats.

    ¡°Yes, I am fine. I told youst night, I was fine, I am fine, but I think I will get pain soon,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Well, I couldn¡¯t get a cab, all the cabs kept cancelling on me and now I know why. The whole road is blocked by the fans, so I had to walk all the way. What I don¡¯t know is why they are here?¡± questioned Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± Jae-Hwa¡¯s mouth fell open with shock. ¡°Do you live under a rock?¡±

    ¡°What? What?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Girl! You really need a google alert about ASD on your phone. Set it up!!!¡± eximed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What did they do now?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°It¡¯s not something they did. It¡¯s something that was published about them,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± gulped Nivritti. She was getting herself ready for a piece of tragic news. Did the news find out about Jung-Hwa¡¯s violence? Did they find out about Young-Chul¡¯s medical emergency? Wait! The fans were happy. They were praising King. It meant something good happened, some good news was out in the open, but what?

    ¡°Well, Missmatch published a blogst night¡­¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Woah! Who?¡± interrupted Nivritti.

    For a minute Jae-Hwa kept staring at Nivritti with shock and disgust. Her mouth was open, and her lips were tilted to one side. She squinted her eyes and kept staring at Nivritti. After a minute, it got ufortable for Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, what is happening?¡± asked Nivritti. ¡°What is happening with your face?¡±

    ¡°Why is no one working?¡± shouted Chung-Ho the moment he walked in. Everyone ran to their seats but not Jae-Hwa. She kept staring at Nivritti. Chung-Ho noticed that and came over to Nivritti. He stood behind her and kept looking at Jae-Hwa. He grabbed Nivritti¡¯s shoulder from behind and moved her from left to right.

    ¡°What are you doing, CH?¡± asked Nivritti, annoyed.

    ¡°Shh, shh, shh¡­ don¡¯t think about that. Tell me why she is staring at you with such a scary expression?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yeah, that I don¡¯t know. I asked her but she just froze,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Jae! Jae!¡± Chung-Ho snapped his fingers before Jae-Hwa¡¯s face.

    ¡°I am not frozen, I am shocked, shocked to my core,¡± replied Jae-Hwa still staring at Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, this is getting spooky,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t know who Missmatch is,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. Everyone from the department heard her and looked at Nivritti with judgy eyes. Nivritti noticed that. She looked at everyone and gulped.

    ¡°Is that a bad thing?¡± asked Nivritti.

    A few of the people came running towards Nivritti and stared at her.

    ¡°Okay, you all are scaring me. Who is Missmatch? And why do I need to know her?¡± asked Nivritti.

    Everyone threw their hands in the air collectively.

    ¡°Missmatch is a famous entertainment blogger. She is GOAT when ites to news about Korean celebrities,¡± replied Do-Yun.

    ¡°So, what does a blogger have to do with the crowd downstairs?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, you do not know?¡± asked Do-Yun.

    ¡°Oh, my god! Know what? Will someone tell me?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°She posted on her blogst night that King is the one who will finalise the scripts,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    Nivritti looked at Chung-Ho with an open mouth. Words stoppeding out of her mouth. She nced at Jae-Hwa and then looked at Chung-Ho, ¡°but¡­ how? How did she know this?¡±

    ¡°That King is reading the scripts and said that he will finalise the scripts?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes!!! But that was something he said behind those doors,¡± she pointed at the conference room. ¡°Only a handful of people know that we are going daily to their practice room.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we know. PR is handling all that,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I am really an idiot. Have I been living under a rock?¡± asked Nivritti and scratched her head.

    ¡°Are you really their fans? PJ and JJ were right. You don¡¯t deserve to be their friend,¡± Jae-Hwa whispered in Nivritti¡¯s ears.

    ¡°He-he,¡± Nivrittiughed sarcastically at her.

    ¡°Okay, okay, everyone go back to your work. Rencontre team get ready for your update session, it¡¯s tomorrow,¡± said Chung-Ho and went back to his seat.

 Chapter 215 - 215 The Long Line

    215 The Long Line

    Everyone listened to Chung-Ho and went back to their work whereas all the fans kept chanting to see Kyung-Soo after the news of him reading the scripts spread like wildfire.

    ¡°Check the news!¡± whispered Jae-Hwa to Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, okay, I will,¡± replied Nivritti. She first started herptop and her system and then searched for the news on her system. She read an article that took her to the original blog. She read what Missmatch wrote about Kyung-Soo. She chuckled out loud when she read the line about giarism.

    She searched for any statement from K&Q, but it was still not there. What was the PR doing? Why were they not issuing any statements? She wanted to search more about Missmatch but she realised that she wasted a whole day yesterday and tomorrow was the update session.

    So, after a few minutes, she closed all the tabs and concentrated on her scripts. No one from ASD came to get them. Not even Chung-Ho announced anything about them. He kept leaving the department every few minutes. No one knew where he went to with whom he talked.

    But everyone knew being the head of the Department of Script department, he was going to discuss matters with the CEO. Everyone was thinking about when PR would clear the issue, but they were keeping quiet.

    The only person sweating from all his orifice was Dae. The moment he arrived he saw Chung-Ho talking to Nivritti and Jae-Hwa. They were talking about the mob downstairs. His heart stopped when everyone mentioned Missmatch. He was surprised to know that Nivritti had no idea who she was.

    Everyone ran and huddled around Nivritti and told her about Missmatch and the news she put out in the world. He kept gulping and breathing heavily, continuously praying to God that no one should tie him with her. He knew his PR team would send investigators everywhere to find out how Missmacth knew about it, and he didn¡¯t want his name toe up.

    After Chung-Ho scolded everyone to go back to work, he quietly walked into the office and without saying any word to anyone sat in his seat. He saw Jae-Hwa and Nivritti whispering something but was scared to ask what they were talking about. When he saw both girls concentrating on their work, he did that too.

    .....

    Finally, at noon, Chung-Ho came back from another meeting and announced, ¡°those who are going outside for lunch, it would be better if you ate your lunch in the cafeteria. Also, if you chose to go out, you must not talk to any reporters camping outside. PR has chosen not to issue any rification on the matter, and we are going to help them by not talking about it. Is that clear?¡±

    There was a collective yes and everyone went back to their work. Tomorrow was the update session but instead of preparing for that Chung-Ho was busy in stupid meetings. As per his announcement, no one went outside for lunch or evening snacks.

    The Rencontre team kept reading as many scripts as possible they could for the whole day.

    It was almost time to go home. Chung-Ho came close to the Rencontre team and asked, ¡°are you guys ready for the update session?¡±

    All three looked at him but no one replied. ¡°Okay, I understand everyone is nervous about tomorrow and I could not help you today because of that stupid matter. But don¡¯t worry, I will prepare you tomorrow morning.¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow morning?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We will spend the whole morning getting everything ready for Hu-ssi. He will have the meeting with you in the afternoon. So, we have plenty of time,¡± replied Chung-Ho. All three sighed with relief which made Chung-Ho smile.

    He then looked at everyone and announced, ¡°everyone! Please avoid the main entrance for today and take the side exit. Those who have cars take exit D, the path has been cleared for everyone. Our security has concentrated the fans at the main entrance so other exits should be fine. Still, if youe across any paparazzi or media personnel, avoid engaging with them.¡±

    The same announcement was made in every department. The moment it was time to leave the office, there was an influx of cars at Exit gate D. Jae-Hwa suggested to Nivritti that she would drop her off, and she epted the favour. She walked all the way to the office in the morning and she could easily rest her legs now.

    Both the girls were inside Jae-Hwa¡¯s car, stuck in a long line of cars waiting to exit the building.

    ¡°Did Dae trouble you yesterday?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, he didn¡¯t. I avoided talking to me and concentrated on scripts,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Good! Good!¡± gulped Nivritti. For a minute, there was silence in the car. Nivritti bit her lower lip and then again asked, ¡°are you ready for tomorrow¡¯s meeting?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am. I hope that the number of scripts I have read is enough,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Nice, nice, me too,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°What do you want to say that you are having difficulty saying?¡± questioned Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti bared her teeth to Jae-Hwa and smiling awkwardly said, ¡°I have a favour to ask.¡±

    ¡°Just blurt it out, Ritti,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Um¡­ after you go home, could you give a call to PJ?¡± requested Nivritti.

    Instantly Jae-Hwa¡¯s hands slipped from her steering wheel to the honk button and her car honked loudly. Everyone near Jae-Hwa¡¯s car stared at her with confusion and disgust. All were quietly following the line, there was no need to honk. Jae-Hwa was embarrassed by her own action.

    ¡°Woah! That was not the reaction I was expecting,¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Wh¡­ why, why? Why should I give him a call?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Well, um¡­ he barged in my house one night ago demanding what you talked with Dae,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Excuse me!! What?¡± yelled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, stop screaming. It¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°But why your house? Why not mine?¡±

    ¡°He does not know your address,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What did you tell him?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. I promised him that I will find a way for you two to talk but yesterday I had to take a leave and he could not talk to you. Today all this happened, and we didn¡¯t meet with them. I don¡¯t want him to againe running to my house. Please talk to him,¡± begged Nivritti.

    ¡°What if ask me about Dae? What am I going tell him?¡± demanded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°That should be your decision, Jae. If you want to tell him everything, tell him, if not, tell him nothing. Just give him a call for his peace of mind and for mine. Oh God! His coat!!!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I borrowed his coat yesterday. Ipletely forgot to wash it. Wait! Can I wash his jacket at home, or would I have to get it dry cleaned?¡± Nivritti kept talking to herself.

    ¡°How much medicine did you eat?¡± Jae-Hwa flicked her forehead, hard.

    ¡°Ow! Did your brother tell you nothing?¡± Nivritti rubbed her temple to ease the pain.

    ¡°No, he told me nothing. What?¡± demanded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Well, my period came abruptly when I was in the hospital,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Hospital? Why were you in the hospital?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ugh,e on! My therapy session, keep up, girl!¡±

    ¡°Right, right!¡± nodded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yeah, and MY¡¯s session was before me, and PJ and NK were waiting for him. Like an idiot, I stained my dress and PJ gave me his coat. Your brother gave me a scrub, I don¡¯t think I will be allowed to return that, would I?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Scrub? I really don¡¯t know. You will have to ask Oppa,¡± said Jae-Hwa after thinking for a while.

    Finally, the car moved ahead a few metres.

    ¡°So, you will give him a call?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°PJ?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± nodded Nivritti.

    ¡°Fine! I will talk to him.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t freeze on phone, right?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Ha-ha, so funny,¡± smirked Jae-Hwa, sarcastically.

    Almost after an hour, Jae-Hwa finally drove Nivritti to her house. Both said bye and Nivritti came out of the car.

    Nivritti walked up to her house, hung her bags, took off her shoes and the first thing she did was get out of the dress and change her sanitary pad. She finally sat on the couch with a thud and ced the slightly wet towel on her face. She sat in that position for minutes.

    She looked at the clock, it was about to be 8 at night. It struck her that Young-Chul had another session with the doctor. But if he too was stuck in the building like her, he waste for his session. Then again, she knew that they didn¡¯t practice in the K&Q building.

    She was keeping her pain at bay with the help of medicines and was in no mood to cook. She wanted something tasty, something Indian. She searched for what she wanted in the food delivery apps and her mouth started watering the moment she read ¡®Biryani¡¯.

    She ordered the food and while waiting for it, she opened herptop and kept working on the statics that she was going to present tomorrow. She used the temte Dae had sent her. She kept jotting down the numbers in the temte. She even added a few more rows ording to the scripts she found.

 Chapter 216 - 216 The Summary

    216 The Summary

    Nivritti had given presentations in front of the CEO before still, but she was a nervous wreck. First, she had no idea if she would present the presentation in front of the CEO only. If not him then who all would be present in the meeting? Will it be an affair between the CEO and the script department or other departments would be involved as well?

    She knew she would receive every answer tomorrow morning. She was too focused on her work and her concentration broke when she heard the doorbell. Her food was here. She grabbed the food and thanked her delivery person.

    While eating, she kept working on presenting the summary to the CEO. She would eat one spoonful of vourful rice and then jot down some numbers about the scripts.

    1. The number of scripts received ¨C 65,823,796 and counting.

    2. The number of scripts received in Asia and Europe server ¨C 14,045,236 and counting.

    3. The number of scripts read till now ¨C 78,987 and counting.

    4. The number of scripts not selected ¨C 50,562 and counting.

    5. The number of scripts in the ¡®Bad grammar¡¯ folder ¨C 679 and counting.

    6. The number of scripts in the ¡®Nam Kyung-Soo¡¯ folder ¨C 1589 and counting.

    .....

    7. The number of scripts selected by Nam Kyung-Soo ¨C 0.

    8. The number of scripts star marked in the ¡®Nam Kyung-Soo¡¯ folder ¨C 18 and counting.

    9. The number of scripts not selected due to giarism ¨C 26,157 and counting.

    10. The number of participants banned for giarism ¨C 8425 and counting.

    11. Mostmon Genres received ¨C Werewolves, Vampires, Fantasy, History.

    12. Mostmon Genres rejected ¨C Intimate, Sexual, Romantic.

    13. Longest word count received ¨C 650 words.

    14. Shortest word count received ¨C 493 words.

    15. Most scripts received for ¨C Jee Jung-Hwa.

    16. Most scripts selected for ¨C Shin Korain.

    17. Most number of characters/actors mentioned in a script ¨C over 50.

    18. Least number of characters/actors mentioned in a script ¨C 2.

    19. Change of location mentioned per scripts ¨C almost none.

    She made a list and when she was satisfied, she let out a big puff of air. She was also done with her Biryani. She dumped the packet of food in her dustbin, took out a bottle of water and drank out of it. She noticed that she had to empty her dustbin as well as go grocery shopping. She kept dying everything due to her leg, but it was getting better. She made a mental note to go to the supermarket on Saturday.

    She came back from the kitchen and again cross-checked her numbers. When she was satisfied, she shut down her system, packed theptop and the external hard drive back in theptop bag and went to her bedroom.

    She unlocked her new, fancy, heavy phone and messaged Jae-Hwa asking if she talked with Jeong-Eun. Jae-Hwa replied that she did and told him that she would tell him everything face to face as it is not okay to discuss such things on phone. Also, she didn¡¯t want her family to overhear her.

    But Jae-Hwa was more interested in discussing the summary they had to prepare for tomorrow. Nivritti told her that she was finished with her work which made Jae-Hwa panic even more. She still had a few numbers to crunch, and she even set an rm for early morning.

    Jae-Hwa told Nivritti that she was going to sleep but had an rm for 4 in the morning and she wouldplete her summary by then. Nivritti tried to calm her down, but Jae-Hwa kept panicking even more. So, Nivritti had to say good night and leave Jae-Hwa alone to calm down.

    She realised that she didn¡¯t ask any of the boys how they were feeling after the news. And she didn¡¯t know what to say. So, she just messaged Kyung-Soo, ¡°How are you?¡±

    Instantly she received the reply, ¡°I am well, how are you? Any pain?¡±

    ¡°NK! I am asking about the news. Are you okay?¡± asked Nivritti.

    Oh, that. That is nothing. Don¡¯t worry about it.

    Hope no fans crashed your practise session.

    We were in the K&Q building. For our safety and for PR meeting too.

    Nivritti was surprised to read his message that he was in the building. ¡°Ohh!¡±

    What? You were expecting to meet me?

    What? No!

    Liar!

    Tell me, the coat that PJ lend me, is it washable at home or does it need to be dry cleaned?

    Just give it back to him, if he wants he can get it cleaned by himself, better, just keep it, don¡¯t return it.

    NK!

    I am serious. He has a lot of coats. Keep it.

    You are an idiot!

    Thank you!

    Did PR find out how that blogger knew that you were selecting the scripts?

    No.

    Hmm. How is everyone else? How did they react on news?

    For a minute everyone was shocked. But as it turned out that this news was in our favour, so everyone is fine now.

    Good, good. You should rest.

    Yeah, see you tomorrow.

    No, Rencontre will not see you tomorrow.

    What? Why? We lost two days already.

    Tomorrow is the update session. Remember?

    Oh, right! Hu-ssi told us.

    Told you? Do you mean you guys are also attending the meeting?

    YES!!! (sunsses emoji)

    Do you have any idea who else will attend the meeting?

    Oh, trying to extract information from me.

    Yep.

    Not sure, but all I have heard is most probably, the production team.

    Great, now I am more nervous.

    You gave a presentation on literally your second day. You don¡¯t have anything to be nervous about.

    Yeah, I know, but still, I am a little worried.

    Don¡¯t worry. You will be great. You should sleep so that you feel fresh tomorrow.

    Okay, good night, NK.

    Good night, Ritti.

    Her facial muscles were acting on their own. Her lips were curved upwards. Her eyes were slightly squinted. Her heart was feeling lighter. She suddenly realised that she was smiling. Immediately she pulled a straight face and hit herself on the back of her head.

    ¡°What is there to smile? Why are you smiling?¡± she scolded herself.

    She then opened the group chat and messaged everyone, ¡°Sorry that you all had to go through a shocking experience today. And sorry that I couldn¡¯t message you earlier. Now that the issue has been solved, don¡¯t think any more about it and rest well. Go to sleep. Have a good night.¡±

    One by one every member replied something along the line that they were fine and doing well and she should not worry and wished her good night.

    But onest task was remaining before she could go to sleep. She still had to send a good night message to Young-Chul.

    ¡°Hope the therapy session was okay today. Hope that the doctor is helping you in every way possible. Hope you received the love your fans showered you with today. To tell you the truth, I was angry at your fans. I had to walk to the office because they blocked the street. They were not even letting me get in all because they wanted just a glimpse of you. All because they love you. I hope you will remember all that. Have a sweet and love-filled night. Sweet dreams, MY,¡± she messaged Young-Chul and for a few minutes kept waiting for his reply.

    But he never replied. She knew he was not that eager to reply back. When after 10 minutes, she didn¡¯t receive a reply, she locked her phone, switched off the lights in her room and tucked herself in the nket.

    Sleep came instantly as she was tired. She woke up only after her rm started chirping. The first thing she did was check the notification on her phone. But Young-Chul never replied to her. She was a little disappointed, but she knew how he felt regarding replying to messages or calls.

    She stopped thinking about him as she was soon going to see him in the meeting. She got out of her bed and again picked out a dark-coloured dress for the day. But she had to dress sharp today as she would be before the CEO. So, she took out a white shirt and dark maroon skirt to pair up with it. Shepleted the ensemble with the pink overcoat that she bought with her bonus money.

    After she brushed her teeth and took a bath, she came out in a towel and the first thing she did was check on her toe. The wound was almost dry. She didn¡¯t need anypression bandages now. She just applied a Band-Aid to keep the wound clean and got ready for the office.

    After having cereal for breakfast, she cleaned her bowl and her teacup and checked every switch. She grabbed herptop bag, her purse and was ready to leave. But she stopped before her shoe rack. Should she wear a sandal or heels? Her leg was almost fine but notpletely healed. What if heels make it worse? She finally decided on sandals.

    When she reached downstairs, her cab was waiting for her. Within minutes, she reached her office. Luckily, there were only a few fans outside the K&Q building. The excitement died within a day. She easily entered the office and as usual, the guard smiled at her, and she returned the smile. She again thanked him for yesterday and moved towards her department.

    She pressed the button for the lift. The doors opened and Jae-Hwa appeared before her, her face was white as sheets but her eyes were red.

 Chapter 217 - ADD

    ADD

    217 The Reprimand of Dae

    Jae-Hwa kept yawning and drinking coffee from her traveller mug. Her bags kept slipping from her shoulder. Even her jacket was hanging from one of her hands.

    ¡°Woah! Did a hurricane hit you?¡±ughed Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, shut up!¡± groaned Jae-Hwa and again lifted her bag but again it refused to stay in its ce.

    ¡°Just give your bag to me,¡± said Nivritti.

    Finally, Jae-Hwa opened her eyespletely and looked at Nivritti. ¡°Oh, I hate you. How do you look like this, and I look like this?¡±

    Nivritti took Jae-Hwa¡¯s coffee cup and bags out of her hands freeing her hand so that she could wear her jacket properly. ¡°Because I finished my work at night and had a good night¡¯s sleep. Did you sleep at all?¡±

    ¡°After your message, I grew restless. I thought I should finish everything and then sleep. But then it was toote so I thought I would get up early and finish it. So, I tried sleeping but tension and anxiety didn¡¯t let me sleep. Ultimately the rm went off and I didn¡¯t sleep at all, uh... huuh¡­ huuh,¡± pouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Is this how you cry?¡± asked Nivritti, disgusted.

    ¡°I am going to kill you!!!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. Two people who were inside the lift started staring at Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°She does not mean that,¡± said Nivritti and stood beside Jae-Hwa. ¡°Why are you so worked up? Did you not finish the summary?¡±

    ¡°Whatever questions there were on the temte, I did only that,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°That is great. So, why are you so cranky? You finished the job,¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Coz, I didn¡¯t get any sleep,¡± sulked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get you another coffee,¡± said Nivritti and first took Jae-Hwa to the cafeteria and bought her a cup of ck coffee and got herself an orange tea.

    After they reached their respective seats, they started theirptop and kept drinking their drinks in silence. They waited for Dae and Chung-Ho. After minutes Chung-Ho arrived but Dae was still not there.

    ¡°Good morning, everyone!¡± greeted Chung-Ho and everyone present in the department greeted him back. ¡°Rencontre team! Where is Seong-ssi?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No idea,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Maybe runningte,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, we will start the meeting as soon as he arrives,¡± informed Chung-Ho and sat in his seat.

    Dae could not sleep, could not eat, could not do any work as his mind was still stuck on Missmatch¡¯s blog. No statement from the PR team was giving him anxiety. Because of that, he was unable toplete his summary and hence was runningte.

    Every time he would sit down to work on the summary, his mind would go back to the PR team and their extra effective investigation team. He was worried that everyone would find out about his meeting with Missmatch.

    Running for his life, he arrived at the office. His hair was flowing in every direction possible. Like a fool, he paired his professional suit with casual tennis shoes. His shirt was all wrinkly and very much visible through his coat.

    ¡°Sorry¡­ sorry¡­ I amte,¡± he came crashing through the door and shouting.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, rx,¡± said Chung-Ho and then turned to look at him. ¡°Woah! What happened to you?¡±

    ¡°Could¡­ not¡­ wake up¡­ on time. Sorry, Choi-ssi, sorry,¡± Dae stopped at the door to catch his breath and kept gulping after taking in a few breaths every second.

    ¡°Seong-ssi, please sit and drink water. Rx for a few minutes. We will start the meeting after half an hour. Will that be okay?¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Thank you, Choi-ssi!¡± said Dae and walked towards his seat.

    Dae threw his bag on his table and sat on his seat with a soft thud. He let his head rest on the headrest of the chair and kept breathing inhaling and exhaling loudly with his eyes closed to slow his heartbeat. After he could breathe easily, he drank a bottle of water and calmed himself down.

    After half an hour, Chung-Ho ordered the Rencontre team to take theirptops and get ready to present the summary to him. Everyone obliged and carried theirptop to the conference room. Chung-Ho warned everyone else to keep working and not gossip. He told them that the CEO was going toe to the script department, and that everyone should be on their best behaviour.

    All four walked into the conference room and Jae-Hwa and Nivritti sat next to each other. They didn¡¯t want to sit next to Dae and chose to sit on the opposite side. Chung-Ho sat in the middle of Dae and the girls and pulled his chair closer to the table.

    ¡°Okay, show me what you all have done,¡± asked Chung-Ho. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the senior.¡±

    Dae looked at him and gulped with shame and fear. He avoided looking at Chung-Ho. ¡°What?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Um¡­ Choi-ssi, sorry I could not finish the task. I will do it now, very sorry,¡± Dae lowered his head and apologised.

    ¡°You have a whole week, Seong-ssi,¡± shouted Chung-Ho. Everyone flinched after seeing his angry avatar.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Dae apologised again.

    ¡°What about you two?¡± asked Chung-Ho angrily.

    Nivritti looked at Dae who was sitting in front of her like a puppy who got wet in the rain. She felt bad for him and now if she would tell Chung-Ho that shepleted her task, he would berate Dae even more. But she didn¡¯t want Chung-Ho wrath.

    ¡°Um¡­ I tried but I don¡¯t know if I seeded,¡± Nivritti humbly tried to tell him that shepleted the summary. She didn¡¯t want Dae to look bad.

    ¡°Yeah, me too. I don¡¯t know what else he would want from this update session but whatever was in that temte, I tried answering that,¡± yawned Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh my god! Why did you guys wait for thest day toplete the summary?¡± scolded Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Of course, to get more numbers in our summary temte,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, Jae, show me,¡± asked Chung-Ho. Jae-Hwa pushed herptop toward him and showed him an Excel file. She had 10 rows and 2 columns filled with every question that the temte gave her. Chung-Ho nced at her figures and kept mumbling to himself and kept running his fingers over the screen. ¡°Okay, hmm¡­ this is good. This will do, good, good.¡±

    Jae-Hwa beamed with happiness and happily sat straight. Chung-Ho gave herptop back to her and then looked at Nivritti. She opened a Word file and pushed herptop toward Chung-Ho. She knew she added a few questions on her own and was not sure that Chung-Ho would like them. She kept fidgeting with her fingers as every single bone in her body was nervous.

    Chung-Ho looked at the word file Nivritti opened for him, and his eyes widened with surprise. On the temte that he gave everyone, there were only 10 questions, But Nivritti¡¯s summary had almost 20.

    ¡°You¡­ you did this?¡± asked Chung-Ho with widened eyes and an open mouth.

    ¡°I am sorry, I am sorry, I thought this would help so I added a few questions. Sorry! I will delete it, give me,¡± shouted Nivritti, haphazardly trying to correct her mistake.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± shouted Chung-Ho. ¡°This is great. This is amazing.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­ what?¡± Nivritti kept blinking at him unable toprehend what he just said.

    ¡°This is great. Why didn¡¯t I think of these categories?¡± yelled Chung-Ho, happily.

    ¡°You like it?¡± asked Nivritti, confused.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Chung-Ho rolled his eyes.

    ¡°Okay!¡± finally Nivritti smiled.

    ¡°So, this time it would be difficult for you two to add these categories in such a short time. So, you are off the hook for this time. We will add these categories in future update sessions. And Seong-ssi, what is wrong with you? Your juniorspleted the summary, and you could not do that. Was the task so hard? One of your juniors even did a better job than any of us. She even outsmarted me. You are supposed to be my right hand, but I don¡¯t think you are up to that task. I think Hae-Ran would be better than you.

    ¡°I have spent so many years grooming you. Are you trying to disappoint me? If yes, congrattions, you seeded. A simple task, a very simple task, just 10 categories and you could not evenplete that. Where is your mind nowadays? I thought it would be you who gave us a kickass idea for Rencontre but yours was the worst. What is matter with you? Are you bored with your work? Do you not want to be the HOD?

    ¡°Two juniors are doing a better job than you. You are supposed to teach them but every day I think they are teaching you. What am I going to tell Hu-ssi, that the man I chose to head the Rencontre team is useless? Do you want me to give your work to these two, that way maybe our work would bepleted on time?

    ¡°You didn¡¯tplete your work, you didn¡¯t finish your list, you arrivete and on top of that you arrive like a homeless person. You know Hu-ssi will be here. Do you want him to see you like this? Messy hair, the tie is undone, the shirt is wrinkly, the shoes are wrong. Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed too? I don¡¯t know what is happening with you or why you are acting this way but get your act together. I am sitting here with you. Complete the list within half an hour,¡± Chung-Ho kept ripping into Dae.

 Chapter 218 - 218 The Incompetent, Dae

    218 The Ipetent, Dae

    Nivritti and Jae-Hwa kept their head lowered and everyone could hear the loud voice of Chung-Ho. Everyone knew that Chung-Ho warned them about gossiping but he himself was giving them topics to gossip about. He was ripping Dae a new one and was rebuking him for his mistake. Not only that he kept praising his juniors in front of him.

    Dae just kept his head lowered and listened to every word uttered by Chung-Ho. More than feeling shame he was feeling anger. His whole body was about to explode. His blood was boiling to the extent that he kept sweating profusely.

    He kept ncing at smug Nivritti who was sitting before him. All she had to do was follow the temte but nooo¡­ she had to go and do extra. What was she trying to prove? That she was better than him. How dare she? She was just a stupid female script coordinator. What did she know about this industry?

    Dae had been working for thepany for years and she was trying to take hispany away from him. Never in his life, Chung-Ho scolded him to this extent. Everything bad was happening to him after she came to thepany. He kept clenching his jaw to hide his anger.

    Here Chung-Ho kept berating him and there she was sitting in front of him with her head lowered, trying to hide her smile. She was enjoying the scolding Dae received. He kept ncing at his screen and then at her.

    ¡°I will make you pay for this. I will give the link of selected scripts to Missmatch today itself. Now, I don¡¯t care about money. All I want is, you, out of here. I can see your smug smile. You think you are so intelligent so diligent in your work, so hard-working, but mark my word everyone will hate you soon. Your precious ASD will hate you, Choi-ssi will hate you, Jae will hate you and you will be thrown out of K&Q.

    ¡°You think everyone is your friend. Let¡¯s see how much they will support you after they get to know that you have been leaking the information. Get ready for hate to rain on you. Stupid wench! Just go back to the country where you came from and stop thinking that you are smarter than us.

    ¡°Look at Jae, she just filled the temte like an obedient kid but this witch, no, she had to show the world that she is better than everyone. I get that she has experience working in this industry, but it was in a different country. My country is different, I will never ept an ugly, over-smart, rude,zy, arrogant, disrespectful, selfish witch,¡± Dae kept monologuing at the back of his head.

    ¡°What are you doing? You have still not filled a single question,¡± shouted Chung-Ho.

    .....

    His voice brought Dae back to thend of the living. He kept manually counting the scripts but every time he would nce at Nivritti, he would forget the number and he would have to count them again. ¡°I¡­ I am¡­ I am still¡­ counting, Choi-ssi,¡± Dae stammered.

    ¡°Count faster!¡± rebuked Dae.

    Nivritti looked at Jae-Hwa and she looked back at her. Both were shocked that Dae was counting manually. Jae-Hwa elbowed Nivritti signalling her to help Dae, but Nivritti didn¡¯t want to tell him that he was going the wrong way after he was so brutally scolded by Chung-Ho. She knew that Dae was feeling ashamed, and she didn¡¯t want to pile on that.

    But Jae-Hwa kept tapping her thigh and gesturing towards Dae. Finally, Nivritti clenched her fists, pursed her lips and cleared her throat, ¡°um¡­ Dae, you don¡¯t¡­ have to¡­ count the scripts individually.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± mumbled Dae.

    ¡°Um¡­¡± Nivritti was still hesitant.

    ¡°Well, tell him,¡± scolded Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Dae, just select one script, press shift + the down arrow and keep selecting them till you reach the script up to which you havepleted reading. On the bottom ribbon, you will be shown the number of the scripts selected and that will be your number for total read,¡± informed Nivritti.

    ¡°And then under ¡®Nam Kyung-Soo¡¯ folder just press ctrl + a and again look at the bottom ribbon, it will tell you the number of scripts in that folder,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    Dae bit the inside of his lip so hard that it started bleeding. He kept sucking on the salty blood but showed no emotions. His lips just turned up in an upward curve and he shed the most awkward smile in his life. ¡°Thank you, girls,¡± he croaked.

    He followed their instructions and even then, it took him more than an hour to finish his list. He kept forgetting the shortcuts that girls told him and he had to ask about them again and again.

    Never in his life had he ever felt this humiliated. His job was to write scripts, read scripts, correct scripts, edit scripts and everything associated with scripts. Since when his job changed to counting the number of scripts he read. Now he was even hating the servers he received. He thought that he was given the stupidest servers. Girls kept getting better scripts, but he could get none.

    Chung-Ho kept checking Dae¡¯s temte and he kept making mistakes. His anger, his jealousy, his shame made him make mistakes at every turn. It was like Chung-Ho was hand-holding a baby. He had to tell him again and again that the bigger number belonged to a different question and the lower number belonged to a different question.

    Chung-Ho lost his patience when he saw that Dae had not gged a lot of giarised scripts. ¡°What the hell you have been doing? It was weeks ago that we found out about the giarised scripts. Are you blind or just a in MORON?¡± yelled Chung-Ho.

    Chung-Ho looked at the girls and said, ¡°You two, open his server, and run his scripts through the giarism extension. g as many scripts as you can.¡± He then turned to Dae, ¡°And you, open every folder you have, double-check the numbers, and fill in the temte correctly.¡±

    All three started working ording to Chung-Ho¡¯s orders. No one spoke a single word. It was Chung-Ho¡¯s kingdom now. He was the king, all three were just footmen, sitting in front of him just to obey his orders.

    A few hours passed by, and Nivritti and Jae-Hwa gged a lot of copied scripts. They both calcted the numbers and gave the figure to Dae. Chung-Ho again checked Dae¡¯s temte and when he was satisfied, he looked at his wristwatch.

    ¡°Girls! Go eat something and thene back. Jae! Wash your face. Your eyes are still red,¡± ordered Chung-Ho. He then jerked his head towards Dae, ¡°You, even though I have checked your file, double-check it again and then take care of your look ande back. The meeting will happen after lunch.¡±

    Nivritti wanted to ask Chung-Ho about the people who would be attending the meeting but was afraid to ask as he was fuming with anger, and she didn¡¯t want to irk him anymore. Both she and Jae-Hwa stood up leaving theirptops open, plugged in for charging and they left the conference room.

    They ran to the cafeteria and ordered two sandwiches as they both wanted to eat something light. They both kept looking at each other but both could not start the conversation.

    ¡°Okay, that was crazy!!¡± Jae-Hwa blurted out.

    ¡°Wow! Tell me about it, phew!¡± nodded Nivritti.

    ¡°I have never seen Choi-ssi to be that angry,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Have you seen Dae to be so ipetent? Do you think he has some problem he is dealing with? He is in this position due to his hard work then why was he so out of sorts?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No idea. Maybe he has some family issues he is hiding from everyone,¡± suggested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Don¡¯t know. Let¡¯s ask him about that after the meeting,¡± said Nivritti.

    They both finished lunch and then ran to the bathroom. Jae-Hwa sshed water on her face to soothe her eyes and then redid her makeup. Nivritti too retouched her makeup and they both came back to their department.

    The moment they entered the ss door, they froze. The CEO, ASD and a few other people were standing with Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Here they are,¡± shouted Chung-Ho, smiling as soon as he saw Nivritti and Jae-Hwa. Both girls bowed down to everyone and said Hello. Everyone reciprocated their greeting. Soon, Dae opened the door and came in. He was actively jumping from one leg to another, trying to hide his shoes.

    ¡°Seong-ssi! Late lunch?¡± teased Bong.

    ¡°Sorry, sir,¡± smiled Dae.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start the meeting. Shall we?¡± said Bong. Everyone nodded and started following him to the conference room.

    Everyone entered the room but avoided sitting as they sawptops on the tables. They didn¡¯t want to sit in the seats that the Script department had upied.

    ¡°Rencontre team! Sit next to each other,¡± ordered Chung-Ho.

    Nivritti and Jae-Hwa looked at theirptops. Their screens were nk as theptop sat idly for some time. They shut the ps and unplugged theptop. Nivritti sat next to Dae and Jae-Hwa sat next to her.

    It was time to start the summary. As Nivritti¡¯s list was the best, Chung-Ho told her to start first. A loud gasp escaped her mouth, her eyes widened with shock as the ck screen cleared and her folders opened before her. There was nothing. Only the scripts on the servers were there. There was no ¡®Nam Kyung-Soo¡¯ folder, no ¡®bad grammar¡¯ folder, nothing. A big nk white screen was staring at her face.

 Chapter 219 - 219 The Vanishing File

    219 The Vanishing File

    Dae kept his head lowered and took every single wording out of Chung-Ho¡¯s mouth. He knew everyone outside could listen to what Chung-Ho was saying but he had no escape. He was too busy with taking revenge on Nivritti and forgot toplete his work.

    Not only Chung-Ho rebuked him, but he also praised the two girls, his subordinates for their good job. Thest straw was when Chung-Ho asked them to check his server and look for the giarised scripts. Chung-Ho kept treating him like an imbecile, but Dae could not speak a single word or protest.

    He kept his eyes on his screen with stealing nces in between to look at Nivritti. Both the girls ran a lot of scripts through the giarism app and found a lot of scripts. They both gave him the number and finally, Dae¡¯s list was done.

    But Chung-Ho was still angry at him. He ordered the girls to go have lunch and told Dae to again check his list. The moment everyone left him alone in the room, Dae stood up and kicked the chair on which Chung-Ho was sitting with all the force he could muster. The chair flew and hit the wall behind it.

    He wanted to scream and curse at Chung-Ho, but he knew everyone would be able to hear him. He bottled his anger and let out a silent scream. He kept his fists clenched and his whole body kept shaking violently while he looked at the ceiling with his mouth open and screamed silently.

    ¡°Everything is that Bitch¡¯s fault. Choi-ssi never scolded me. He never raised his voice with me. He never called me names. All this is happening because of that whore. They are out enjoying and gossiping about me. And here I am stuck with this stupid task. How many times do I have toplete it? How many times do I have to check it? I am not some stupid moron, I know how to do my job.

    ¡°I am her senior, I must tell her how to do her job but here everything is the opposite. She is telling me how to do my job, she is telling Seong Dae how to do his job. Oh! She did such a great job with the temte, she added a few questions on her own, bloody kissass.

    ¡°Just look at her, she left herptop open to mock me. To show me that she is better at my job. Oh, how I wish I could throw theptop and break it into smithereens. Ahhhh¡­¡± he let out another silent scream.

    He closed his eyes and kept clenching and unclenching his fists to calm himself down. He had to prepare himself to talk before the CEO. The same CEO who never remembers him. He had to make an impression before him. He exhaled loudly and opened his eyes.

    .....

    A literal bulb lit over his head. He knew how to show everyone that Nivritti was not a hard worker, she was just lucky. And her luck was about to run out. A devilish smirk appeared on his face. He moved towards Nivritti¡¯sptop. The word file was open on the screen.

    He closed the file and then without thinking twice shift+deleted the file. He didn¡¯t stop there. He deleted the folder that was named ¡®summary¡¯. He then moved to her other folders and deleted ¡®Nam Kyung-Soo¡¯, ¡®Bad Grammar¡¯, and her two subfolders ording to her continents. Her system was now empty. All she had were the scripts she received on the server as deleting them was not an option.

    Dae tilted his head left and right and stared at her screen. His smirk changed into a wide smile. He entwined his fingers and cracked his knuckles. He then moved herptop back into its position. He then rubbed his palms together and when he was satisfied with his mischief, he left the room.

    Finally, he was happy. Finally, he forgot about his humiliation as it was going to be Nivritti¡¯s humiliation. He went to the cafeteria but could not see Nivritti or Jae-Hwa. He ate something light and ran to the department.

    When he reached, he saw everyone standing near the door. He looked at Jae-Hwa and Nivritti, they were dressed for the asion. They were dazzling from top to bottom. He then looked at himself. He was dressed shabby, his tie was still undone, and his shoes were the highlight of hisplete attire, in a negative sense.

    He looked at his reflection in the ss door and straightened his tie. He buttoned his jacket to hide his shirt and tamed his hair with his fingers. He had no option but to walk in with the shoes that he was wearing.

    When he entered the department, Bong looked at him and teased him for beingte. He felt as if he conquered the world. Finally, the CEO remembered him and now he was joking with him. But the next second he became sceptical. ¡°He remembers my name and is joking with me. Does he know what I did and is trying to be over-friendly so that if he fires me, I won¡¯t feel bad? Why is he not angry about yesterday¡¯s news? Thepany had to tighten security. Everyone had to face a lot of trouble due to the sea of crowd that appeared in front of the building, so why is he not angry? He is actually smiling, what the hell?¡±

    But Bong didn¡¯t waste any time. He asked everyone to start the meeting. He moved first and everyone followed him. While all were walking Young-Chul moved near Nivritti and simply asked, ¡°how is your leg?¡±

    ¡°I am fine, MY,¡± she replied.

    ¡°Good!¡± he said without looking at her and moved away from her. He acted as if he didn¡¯t know her and moved close to Bong. Nivritti tilted her head and thought for a minute about his bizarre behaviour.

    ¡°What was that?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°My question exactly!¡± replied Nivritti.

    But both the girls had no time to think about that. They followed everyone and entered the room. Chung-Ho ordered them to sit next to each other. Chung-Ho took the first seat on the right side of the table and Dae sat next to him. The girls grabbed theirptops and sat next to Dae. As Jae-Hwa didn¡¯t want to sit next to Dae, Nivritti took that seat.

    As usual, ASD sat next to Bong on the left side of the table and the CEO, as usual, took the seat meant for the head of the family. Other people upied the seats left vacant. Nivritti looked around wanting to know who all were sitting in the meeting.

    Chung-Ho spoke first as usual. He introduced everyone. He said that other people were from the production department, location department, finance department and Art department. All were present in the meeting as they needed a ballpark of what they were about to work on in theing months.

    After the introduction, he looked at Bong for the signal and Bong nodded at him. He then nced ta Nivritti and ordered, ¡°why don¡¯t you start the summary, Ritti? Mind you Sir, the temte we fixed on, she made some changes in it.¡±

    ¡°Every change is wee. We all know how her brain works. So, I know she must have done a great job,¡± replied Bong.

    Nivritti tried to hide her happiness, but she was beaming with happiness after hearing her praise. On the other hand, Dae wanted to stab himself with anything he could get his hands on.

    Nivritti opened the p of herptop and her screen lit up. She could see the ¡®Myputer¡¯ window on her screen was open and her both drives ¡®C¡¯ and ¡®D¡¯ were visible. She found that bizarre. She could swear that her Word file was open on the screen.

    She smiled at Chung-Ho and shook off the bad feeling she was feeling in her bones. She opened the ¡®D¡¯ drive and her eyes widened with shock. Her subfolders for both continents were not there. She refreshed the page twice but still, her folders were not there.

    ¡°I am sorry, just a minute,¡± she apologised to everyone. Her breath started shuddering. She searched her wholeputer for the Word file but could not find it. Again and again, she kept gulping and licking her lips.

    Kyung-Soo understood that something had happened. She was shocked, she was nervous. ¡°Is everything alright?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nivritti looked at him and again licked her lips.

    ¡°Ritti!¡± Chung-Ho said and grabbed herptop. He too could sense something was wrong. He looked at her system and it was empty. Except for the Windows drive, there was nothing on theptop. ¡°What the hell, where is everything?¡± he shouted.

    ¡°What? What happened?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Herputer is nk. I just saw the file she prepared for the meeting. Nothing is here,¡± yelled Chung-Ho.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Bong. ¡°How is that possible?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ don¡¯t know. We just came back from lunch. No one went in and out of the conference room. No one was allowed to. How can everything vanish at once?¡± shouted Chung-Ho.

 Chapter 220 - 220 The Presentation of The Summary

    220 The Presentation of The Summary

    Everything was ready. Everyone was ready. Nivritti just had to stand up and plug in her system to the projector and she would show her summary to everyone. But everything went crazy when she saw that every single folder from herptop was gone, they just vanished.

    Chung-Ho even could not believe what he was seeing. He saw the Word file just a few minutes ago. They only left for lunch. No one went in or out. Only people from the Script department were allowed in the conference room then how did everything was gone?

    Everyone kept staring at Chung-Ho and Nivritti. She was too shocked to even reply to Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Sometimes folders disappear, that has happened to me,¡± said Dae trying to be cheeky.

    ¡°Yes, but I didn¡¯t lose folders, I lost one whole driver,¡± filled with anxiety, Nivritti ran her fingers through her hair.

    ¡°Do you want IT? Maybe they can recover your data,¡± suggested Jung-Hwa.

    Nivritti inhaled and exhaled for a minute without saying anything. She kept thinking about something for a minute. Suddenly she shouted, ¡°Oh, God! I am an idiot!¡± She immediately stood up and ran out of the room.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± inquired Bong.

    ¡°I have no idea,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    .....

    Kyung-Soo wanted to run after her, help her solve her issue. ¡°Where she went? Oh no! Did she run away from her problem? That she does. She is an expert in running. Should I stall the meeting and let her calm down? Oh, what if she is again crying in the stairwell? All big names are here for the update session, what will they say? Should I go after her?¡±

    He kept shaking his leg due to anxiety. He wanted to go after her but couldn¡¯t as he had no excuse to follow her. He didn¡¯t want other people to talk about her. But to his surprise, she came right back into the room and to his shock, she was smiling.

    ¡°What the hell?¡± he thought. ¡°Why is she smiling?¡±

    She ced a hard drive on the table next to Chung-Ho and said, ¡°may I?¡± signalling towards herptop.

    ¡°Huh!?¡± Chung-Ho was extremely confused.

    Nivritti smiled at him and informed, ¡°it slipped my mind that I keep a backup of my every folder.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± shouted everyone but the loudest one was Dae. He wanted to bang his head on the wall with frustration. He was so happy till now, but Nivritti foiled his n, again. Was she really a genius or just in lucky, he could not figure it out.

    ¡°Yeah, once one of the folders vanished for a few seconds and after that day I made a point to backup every data every day,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    Dae wanted to punch her teeth in. He was fuming with anger. Invisible smoke wasing out of his ear. He clenched his fist and kept hitting his thighs under the table.

    Kyung-Soo on the hand was relieved after seeing that she was happy. Everyone knew she was intelligent but were more impressed after seeing that she was prepared for contingencies too.

    She plugged in the hard drive and opened the Word file. Chung-Ho sighed with relief as soon as he saw the file. She then plugged in herptop and showed the summary to everyone and exined every line.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Bong. ¡°Why is the number zero, King? Why haven¡¯t you selected any scripts?¡±

    ¡°Because his selection will be final, Hu-ssi,¡± informed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Oh, right, right!¡± nodded Bong.

    Nivritti continued her update and after she finished, she looked at everyone for any questions they had.

    ¡°You said that the most genre you received is fantasy. So, would we need to find a location or construct it?¡± asked a person from the Location department.

    Nivritti looked at Chung-Ho who nodded at her to reply. Nivritti gulped and said, ¡°Ah¡­ after reading only a handful of scripts, it would be difficult to tell you that. Until we read more and finalise at least 1000s of scripts, I don¡¯t think anyone can answer that.¡±

    ¡°Just try. You know we all will only get one month for getting the location and actors,¡± said the person from the Art department.

    ¡°Answer them. What do you think?¡± nudged Chung-Ho. He had trust in her that she will think of something, and all will be satisfied with her answer.

    ¡°Okay! If you ask me, you know in my opinion¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop stalling,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    That made Nivritti smile, but she controlled her facial muscles and replied, ¡°I think you all should look for an amusement park.¡± Jung-Hwa smiled at her answer.

    ¡°Why do you think that?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°Sir, after the handful of scripts I have read, I don¡¯t know about them, maybe their opinions can differ, but ording to my two servers, I have seen forests, I have seen water bodies, I have seen something that resembles mythical flying objects and one can find rides resembling them in an amusement park. The location department can find something in that ballpark and the Art department can finish it off with a little touch-up. Most urgent work would be for the costume department, in my opinion,¡± replied Nivritti.

    No one spoke for a minute. All waited for Bong to reply but he was busy in his thoughts. He kept staring at the table and kept rubbing his finger on his chin.

    ¡°Finance team! What do you say?¡± he asked.

    ¡°We will have to look into that,¡± replied the person from the Finance Department.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give that. Tell me everything,¡± Bong insisted.

    ¡°Well, first we will have to check out amusement parks that fit with all the scripts. Then we will have to ask for permission. Of course, they will have to shut the park down for us for hours and we will have to work under the time constraint. Then we will need insurance, film permits which woulde under Production Department¡¯s purview,¡± replied the Finance team.

    ¡°Okay. Good, good,¡± said Bong and looked at Nivritti, smiling. ¡°You were good, you can sit down. Who¡¯s next?¡±

    ¡°That would be Seong-ssi,¡± announced Chung-Ho.

    Nivritti unplugged herptop and made way for Dae. She sat back in her seat and her eyes fell on Jung-Hwa. He was smiling at her and when she nced at him, he mischievously winked at her. Nivritti stifled her smile and shook her head in no, stealthily, telling him to stop his mischief.

    Kyung-Soo who never let his eyes wander away from her face saw that. He turned his head to look at the person she was smiling at. He rolled his eyes when he saw the person was Jung-Hwa. ¡°Ugh¡­ I will kill him one day. She never even looked at me and she is smiling at him.¡±

    He took a deep breath and diverted his mind to look at Dae and his summary. He tilted his head and looked at his list with shock. Nivritti had a lot more categories than he had on his file. Even the number of scripts he read was way down.

    After Dae was done with his summary, he looked at everyone. All were looking at him awkwardly. He waited for everyone to ask questions as they did with Nivritti, but everyone was actively trying to not look at him. His numbers were low and there was not much left to ask.

    But there was one person who had questions and he was not happy.

    ¡°How long have you worked here, Seong-ssi?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°More than six years, sir,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°And you are the person who is the head of the Rencontre team, right?¡± inquired Bong.

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    ¡°Then what the hell is this?¡± shouted Bong. ¡°Is this how you work? Why your numbers are low? You have read fewer scripts. You have selected fewer scripts. You have gged the giarism to the minimum. You are the head you have to be always ready, always diligent. First, you have information leaking from your department and now this. Howe your junior who has been here only for a month is better than you, you who has been here for more than six years? Have you learned nothing from your job? Have Choi-ssi taught you nothing?¡±

    After Chung-Ho, Bong kept berating him. Dae was so happy just a few minutes ago when Bong recognised him. Dae thought he was finally going ces. But his dream shattered when Bong too found him at fault. He was even holding him responsible for leaking the information.

    ¡°Sorry Sir, the thing is I have a family, they don¡¯t. They can go home and keep reading the scripts while I cannot do that. My wife fights with me if I bring my office work to our house,¡± apologised Dae.

    ¡°Oh, my God! Are you making excuses?¡± yelled Bong.

    ¡°So¡­ rry, sorry, sir,¡± Dae blurted out instantly.

    ¡°Get out!!!¡± screamed Bong. ¡°Go to your desk. Keep reading till the end of the day. Before you leave, I need an update on your list. Make sure you add more numbers and make the total somewhat decent,¡± ordered Bong. ¡°If you keep reading at this pace, how will we find a winner by the end of thepetition? We have to find a location, get the costume ready, shoot the video, edit it, add animation, if any, fly the winners here. Do you think we have all the time in the world? You think our work confines to only reading and finding the winner?¡±

 Chapter 221 - 221 The Second Injury

    221 The Second Injury

    It was a bad day for Dae. First, Chung-Ho scolded him and now Bong was doing the same. Everyone looked at him weirdly after Chung-Ho scolded him. He had no idea how others might react after Bong ripped him a new one.

    ¡°Is this how you train your people, Choi-ssi?¡± Bong berated Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Sorry, sir. I will make sure he does better,¡± apologised Chung-Ho, humbly.

    ¡°Are her numbers better?¡± Bong asked while pointing at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, far better than him,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Make it quick, dear,¡± Bong said to Jae-Hwa. She nodded at him and urgently stood up. She attached her system to the projector and her file popped up on the screen. It was an Excel file. As Chung-Ho said, her numbers are better, and the format was the best. It looked much neater in an Excel sheet.

    After she was done Bong looked at her and said, ¡°that was good dear. Please sit down.¡± He then looked at Nivritti, ¡°Ms. Rathod! Please send your file to both your team members and if you think of adding any more points for the next summary session, you are wee to do that.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Nivritti bowed humbly at him.

    ¡°Any more questions,dies and gentlemen?¡± he addressed the whole room.

    .....

    ¡°Can you change the name of the ¡®Nam Kyung-Soo¡¯ folder to the ¡®ASD¡¯ folder? He alone is not reading the scripts, we are reading too,¡± protested Jung-Hwa.

    Nivritti immediately covered her lips with her palm to hide her smile from everyone. Just a moment ago, everyone was berating Dae and she didn¡¯t want to smile after that. It would look like she was heartless, and she didn¡¯t feel anything while her senior was being scolded by everyone.

    But to her surprise, Bong startedughing and ASD joined in. She moved her hand over her forehead and pped it hard smiling at Jung-Hwa who again winked at her.

    ¡°You are an idiot!¡± scolded Korain,ughing.

    ¡°Fine! They will change the name of the folder,¡± smiled Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I have a question,¡± the person from the Location department raised her hand.

    ¡°Yes, Ang, ask away,¡± said Bong.

    ¡°As she said,¡± Ang pointed at Nivritti, ¡°that an amusement park would be better. So, could she apany us, of course after you guys have read and selected a few of the scripts? You know after 2 or 3 months, I think that will be ample time to read and find suitable scripts.¡±

    ¡°Huh!¡± just a sound escaped from Nivritti¡¯s mouth. Her mouth fell open and she kept staring at Ang.

    ¡°Yes, and we would need your help in getting the description of the actors we would need to hire, so you will have to work with the casting director,¡± said the production coordinator.

    ¡°Huh!¡± said Nivritti, again.

    ¡°Not now, but after you have an idea about the locations, and you are right an amusement park would have a variety of locations we can use. So, could you apany us as you are the one who would read the scripts and would have an inkling about the locations and who to hire as actors,¡± Ang exined further.

    ¡°Me,¡± Nivritti pointed at herself. ¡°Me??¡±

    ¡°Yes, you,¡± shouted Young-Chul. ¡°She is asking you.¡±

    Nivritti looked at him. He was acting weird. For a minute he would act as if he didn¡¯t know her and the next minute, he would act like she was her best friend. It was difficult to figure him out.

    ¡°But¡­ why me?¡±

    ¡°Because first, that was your idea, second, she has no experience,¡± Ang pointed at Jae-Hwa, ¡°and he is your senior,¡± she said about Dae. ¡°He can do your job in your absence, but I don¡¯t think a junior can rece her senior,¡± said Ang. ¡°What say?¡±

    ¡°If she is going, I am going too,¡± announced Jung-Hwa without waiting for an answer from Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted everyone.

    ¡°Of course, I would like to see the ce I would shoot my video. What if she selects a ride that I am notfortable with,¡± Jung-Hwa exined with his nose held up in the air.

    Nivritti shook her head with disbelief. Jung-Hwa was trying to be sophisticated like Kyung-Soo but was failing spectacrly.

    ¡°Okay, I know he is just trying to be over-smart. He just wants to enjoy rides, but he is not wrong. If we are going for the idea of an amusement park, we have to make sure that everyone involved in the shooting would befortable with the rides. Like for a fact, I know Johan hates high rides, he hates heights. So, I think a few of us should apany the location department if that¡¯s okay,¡± Korain took Jung-Hwa¡¯s side.

    ¡°But¡­ you guys, in open, that would be a disaster. You will get mobbed,¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°We will take precautions. Can we join?¡± asked Him-Chan and all looked at Bong.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s keep the conversation to this. After 3 months of reading the scripts, if the Rencontre team and Location team, as one, thinks that an amusement park is the best option, four of you, no, three of you, can apany them to find the best location. But if the n changes after reading more scripts, we will drop the idea of a theme park, agreed?¡± Bong gave his suggestion.

    ¡°Agreed!¡± shouted ASD.

    ¡°Nivritti?¡± nudged Chung-Ho.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t know anything about the parks in Korea,¡± she tried to wiggle out of the task.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. We will take you to the best amusement parks. You just have to tell us which rides would suit the best for shooting,¡± replied Ang.

    ¡°Oh, this would be fun, say, yes!¡± Jae-Hwa whispered and kept pping Nivritti¡¯s thigh in excitement.

    ¡°Ow! Okay, fine. I will go with the location team if the need arises,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Good, then everything is settled. The meeting is over. Seong-ssi, get to your seat and I will see you at 5.30 sharp,¡± announced Bong and stood up.

    Everyone else stood up and bowed down to him. One by one everyone started walking out. Ang smiled at Nivritti and waved her hand in goodbye. Nivritti reciprocated her gesture. Him-Chan and Jung-Hwa ran to Nivritti and smiled at her.

    ¡°That was brilliant!¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, stop it! That was nothing,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Who were you dreaming aboutst night, Jae?¡± teased Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± Jae-Hwa screamed and froze after his question.

    ¡°What is wrong with you?¡± scolded Jeong-Eun. He didn¡¯t like Jung-Hwa teasing Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What! Her eyes are red, I was just teasing,¡± Jung-Hwa pouted.

    ¡°She was up all night getting ready for the meeting. Stop teasing,¡± rebuked Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo was dying to talk to her, but his stupid brothers left him behind and surrounded her before he could even approach her. All through the meeting, Jung-Hwa kept winking at her and he wanted to punch him in the same eye.

    Dae kept taking every abuse, every scolding silently. But the location team asking her to help out was thest straw. Even his n to humiliate her by deleting everything didn¡¯t work. He had never felt so much anger in his life. He wanted to beat Nivritti to a pulp. He wished for a knife to appear in his hand and then he would stab her over and over again till he was free of his anger.

    He shut the p of hisptop and kept his head low. His eyes fell on her feet. Her toes were protruding out of the sandal, and he could see the band-aid on her little toe. He clenched his jaw, grabbed hisptop, moved a step towards the door but at thest second, turned towards Nivritti and without giving her time to move away, he stepped on her almost healed toe and put all his weight on it, crushing her toe, hard.

    A loud cry escaped Nivritti¡¯s mouth and she pushed Dae away. She stopped breathing. A sudden burst of pain ran up her leg. Her ears started ringing and everything started turning white. She was on the verge of fainting when Him-Chan grabbed her and supported her head.

    Jae-Hwa pulled a chair and Him-Chan pushed her into the chair. For minutes, Nivritti¡¯s breath kept shuddering and tears kept falling from her eyes. Jae-Hwa knelt down to look at her leg and saw that the band-aid had turned red.

    Kyung-Soo was next to her in a sh. He grabbed Dae¡¯s cor and shouted, ¡°can¡¯t you see and walk? You knew about her leg, still, you did this? How could you be so careless?¡±

    ¡°Kyungsoona!¡± Korain grabbed his hand and made him let Dae go.

    ¡°Sorry! Sorry! I just wanted to ask her to send me the file. I didn¡¯t mean to hurt her. I didn¡¯t¡­ I didn¡¯t¡­ I am sorry,¡± yelled Dae.

    ¡°Yes, King, Seong-ssi cannot do that. It was just a mistake. Seong-ssi! Please leave. I will call the in-house physician,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I think I will take her to the hospital. This is her second injury. I want to make sure everything is alright,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, just tie the bandage and then take her to the hospital. Thank God! Today is Friday. She will at least get two days¡¯ rest,¡± said Chung-Ho and ran to call the doctor.

 Chapter 222 - 222 The Faint Spell

    222 The Faint Spell

    The whole day was hell for Dae. First, he didn¡¯tplete the summary. Then Chung-Ho scolded him like he never did before. He berated him before his juniors, that too, two girls. He even said that two girls were better than him. He had to take their help toplete his list.

    After all that, Bong, the CEO of thepany was angry at him. Everyone knew that seniors have little time to work on their projects that¡¯s why they outsource to their juniors, but this stupid CEO didn¡¯t understand that. Bong was angry at him for reading fewer scripts than his juniors, even though he was the head of the Rencontre team.

    What irked him further was that his n failed. If Nivritti would not have backed up her data, everyone had seen her true colours. That she was azy girl who was working only on luck. His n to humiliate her failed. It was she who deserved all the scolding and reprimand, not him.

    He was in thepany for six years and no one was recognising his talent. Location department, Art department, Production department, all wanted her. What did she have that he wascking? He had more experience, he was more knowledgeable, what was wrong with everyone?

    He had enough. ASD loved her, the script department loved her, even the CEO loved her. He could not take it anymore. He wanted some of the power back from her. Even though he was colluding with Missmatch, it was early to shift all the me to Nivritti and get his revenge.

    He would have to wait. But an itch in his brain kept telling him to get revenge now. He wanted to hurt Nivritti, badly hurt. But there were so many people. He could not hit her. He was not violent that way. He only dreamed about stabbing her a few times, but he knew he would never act on that. But he had to find a way to release his anger, and he had to find that way soon.

    He had to leave the room and go back to his seat to read as many scripts as he can. He had another meeting with the CEO. While grabbing hisptop, his eyes fell on Nivritti¡¯s feet. The injured one was close to him staring at his face tied up in a band-aid. His brain kept telling him, ¡°what would happen if you step on it? Step on it. Step on it. Step on it. Get your revenge. Everyone scolded you because of her. Take your revenge, step on it.¡±

    He moved away from her and started walking away but his brain kept shouting. He turned and faced Nivritti. He put his leg on her toe and apply his whole-body weight on her already injured toe. The cry which escaped her mouth silenced the nagging voice in his head.

    He closed his eyes and sighed with relief. He got his revenge, and he was more than happy but he could not smile in front of everyone. He had to act as if was distraught, more distraught than everyone present there.

    .....

    Nivritti kept talking to Jung-Hwa and Him-Chan and kept smiling at them. She was happy. Her summary was a good one, though there was a little hup, but she overcame that. And suddenly her happiness changed into a big ball of pain.

    All her blood immediately ran to her feet after Dae stepped on it, depriving her brain of the necessary blood. Due to the syncope and the pain, her ear started ringing and everything turned white. When she came to for a moment, she was in a chair, crying in pain.

    She saw that Kyung-Soo had grabbed Dae¡¯s cor and was barking at him and Korain was trying to help Dae. Jae-Hwa was down on her knees looking at her injury. Everyone was looking at her with worry and Him-Chan had his hand on her back.

    Jae-Hwa immediately knelt down and applied pressure on her wound as she saw the bloody band-aid. Chung-Ho ran outside to get the in-house doctor while the boys threw Dae out of the room.

    ¡°What happened?¡± mumbled Nivritti with her eyes closed.

    ¡°She is still not in her senses,¡± said Him-Chan.

    ¡°Ritti! Your foot is injured again,¡± informed Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti opened her eyes and looked around for a brief second. ¡°I know but how am I in this chair? I was standing,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°You fainted. I had to catch you,¡± replied Him-Chan.

    Nivritti kept closing and opening her eyes. Her brain was not letting her feel anything. She was breathing heavily but she had no idea that she was doing that. asional groans and moans kept escaping her mouth and she kept shaking her leg, but Jae-Hwa kept the pressure on.

    ¡°Someone, please hand me my phone,¡± requested Jae-Hwa.

    Him-Chan being the nearest grabbed her phone and gave it to her. She unlocked her phone and called her brother. ¡°Oppa!¡± she shouted as soon as he received her call.

    Jae-Geun was instantly horrified after hearing the urgency and worry in her voice. ¡°Jaehwa! Are you alright? What happened?¡± he asked urgently.

    ¡°It¡¯s not me, it¡¯s Ritti. Her toe is again injured, and a lot of blood ising out. I have applied pressure and our office doctor ising to see her. After that, I am bringing her to the hospital. Will you meet us downstairs?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Come through ER. That will be the fastest. Call me five minutes before you are about to arrive. This time we should do an X-ray,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Okay, I will call you as soon as I get there,¡± said Jae-Hwa and disconnected the call.

    ¡°He is here, he is here,¡± the next moment the door flung open, and Chung-Ho walked in, breathing heavily. He dragged another person with him, and he stopped to catch his breath only after he reached near Nivritti.

    The doctor looked around and his mouth fell open as he was surrounded by the members of ASD.

    ¡°Stop looking at us, take care of her,¡± scolded Young-Chul.

    ¡°English?¡± asked the doctor as Young-Chul ordered him in English.

    ¡°Yes, talk to her in English,¡± Young-Chul replied.

    ¡°Can you tell me what happened?¡± asked the doctor.

    ¡°She already had an injured toe and a person just now stepped on it injuring it again. Due to pain, she fainted. And I don¡¯t think she ispletely conscious,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Miss! Miss! Can you tell me how much pain you are in?¡± asked the doctor.

    Nivritti just groaned and tears kept falling from her eyes.

    ¡°Miss! Please look at me,¡± ordered the doctor. When she did not answer he shook her shoulder and finally she opened her eyes. Nivritti looked at the doctor. ¡°Are you feeling any pain?¡± Nivritti nodded. ¡°Do you know where you are? How were you injured?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Why is she still under a spell, doc?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Faint spells canst for seconds to a few minutes. Nothing to worry about. Please let me check the wound,¡± said the doctor.

    Jae-Hwa let go of Nivritti¡¯s toe and moved out of the way. Jeong-Eun immediately grabbed a box of tissues from a nearby table and offered it to her. She smiled at him and took a few pieces of tissues and wiped the blood off her hands.

    The doctor knelt down and removed the soaked band-aid. He reached for his bag and took out a cotton pad. He soaked the cotton with sterile water and wiped the blood from her toe and cleared the injury to look at the wound clearly.

    Even though Jae-Hwa kept the pressure on the wound, it didn¡¯t stop the bleeding. The doctor kept wiping the blood and fresh blood would ooze out again. It was getting difficult to determine if there was any swelling.

    ¡°Okay, it is getting difficult to slow her bleeding. I will tie a bandage and we should take her to a hospital,¡± said the doctor.

    ¡°I have called my brother at Seoul General. All I need is for someone to carry her to my car,¡± informed Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I will help you,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No!¡± yelled Jae-Hwa. ¡°None of you! I have seen first-hand what happens if someone thinks that we are associated with you. She fought for me, I don¡¯t think I am as courageous as her. Anyone else, but none of you. If someone sees you carrying her all the way to the parking, you never know what kind of rumours will start.¡±

    ¡°I will call security,¡± said Chung-Ho. He took out his phone and called up the head of security. He told them that he need help to carry an injured person all the way to the basement parking. They informed him that they would send someone with a wheelchair.

    While the security arrived, the doctor did his best to tie a bandage around her toe. When security arrived, Him-Chan again helped Nivritti to sit in the wheelchair. Her brain was not ready toe out of unconsciousness as then it would feel the throbbing pain in her leg.

    ¡°Call us after your brother checks her, please,¡± pleaded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I will keep you updated,¡± nodded Jae-Hwa and security started pushing the wheelchair out of the conference room.

 Chapter 223 - 223 The Immense Pain

    223 The Immense Pain

    Jae-Hwa apanied Nivritti and they came out of the conference room. The person from security held the wheelchair and pushed it towards the door. ASD, the doctor and Chung-Ho followed them. Before they could leave the room, Dae came running toward Nivritti.

    ¡°I am sorry, Ritti, extremely sorry, it was just a mistake,¡± he shouted and came near Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo immediately blocked his path and looked at him angrily. ¡°It¡¯s enough,¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Sorry, King, please, let me apologise,¡± begged Dae.

    Kyung-Soo ced his palm firmly on his chest and stopped him. He sternly stared at him and through gritted teeth said, ¡°back-off!!¡± The legendary anger of Kyung-Soo was back. Dae instantly backed off and gulped in fear.

    The doctor went back to his room while ASD and Chung-Ho followed Jae-Hwa to her car. Kyung-Soo moved forward and lifted Nivritti in his hands and ced Nivritti in the front seat. She kept groaning and moaning with pain. She was slowlying out of her faint spell. He secured the seat belt around her and looked at Jae-Hwa who was standing near the driver¡¯s door.

    ¡°I will inform you, I swear,¡± said Jae-Hwa and sat in the driver¡¯s seat. She started the engine and drove away hurriedly. All the boys and Chung-Ho kept standing and staring at the car.

    Leaving ASD alone, Chung-Ho walked up to the script department. Dae came running at him. ¡°Please Choi-ssi, believe me, it was an ident. I would never hurt her. I would never hurt anybody.¡±

    ¡°Seong-ssi! I understand. These things can happen. Please go back to reading the scripts. You have to present everything to Hu-ssi in a few hours,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    .....

    ¡°Please inform me about her after you receive any news,¡± pleaded Dae.

    ¡°I will. Go back to your work,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    Dae lowered his head and walked toward his seat. The corners of his mouth were lowered, and his eyes were slightly wet. Everyone was feeling bad for him. All could see the guilt of hurting Nivritti on his face.

    He wiped the corner of his eyes and reached his seat. The moment he sat down his frown turned upside down and a devilish smile appeared on his face. He had his revenge, she was injured and everyone forgot about the scolding he received from both Chung-Ho and Bong. All were concentrated on his sad face.

    He then thought of moving to the new stage of his n. While reading the scripts he kept jotting down the title of the script, the writer of the script and the ID of the script. He was ready to send everything to Missmatch.

    Jae-Hwa drove Nivritti to the hospital and when she was about to reach, she called her brother. ¡°We will reach in a few minutes,¡± she informed.

    ¡°What? What? Ahhhh¡­¡± Nivritti, with all the jerks, all the twists and turns of the car, came to her senses and the moment her brain felt the pain, she shouted at the top of her lungs. Jae-Hwa was not ready for that. She swerved the car but took control immediately.

    ¡°Calm down!¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What? Where am I? Ow!!!!¡± asked Nivritti and immediately raised her injured leg and grabbed the bandage. She cried even louder after touching her injury.

    ¡°We are about to reach the hospital. Just a few more minutes,¡±forted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What happene¡­ Oh shit! Dae stepped on my toe. Ahhh¡­ the pain is unbearable,¡± cried Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, he kept apologising but you were not in your senses,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°You fainted and for minutes you were just moaning and groaning,¡± educated Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    Jae-Hwa parked the car, and a few nurses and Jae-Geun came running.

    ¡°She called¡­ ahhh¡­ you?¡± asked Nivritti while shouting with pain.

    ¡°Take her to the emergency room one,¡± ordered Jae-Geun. The nurses ced Nivritti on a stretcher and wheeled her inside the emergency room. ¡°What happened?¡± he asked his sister.

    ¡°We were having a meeting and we were just about to walk out of the room when Seong-ssi stepped on her injured toe basically crushing it. Ourpany doctor was unable to stop the bleeding. He somehow tied the bandage enough for her to travel. Also, she fainted after he stepped on it and her faint spell longed for about 10 minutes,¡± Jae-Hwa gave him theplete report.

    Jae-Geun moved toward the room and asked Jae-Hwa to wait outside.

    The moment Nivritti saw him she cried, ¡°SJ! The pain is unbearable. Give me something for that first.¡±

    ¡°Let me check and I will give you something after that,¡± replied Jae-Geun. The nurses had already removed her sandals. He opened the bandage quickly and looked at the injury. Her nail waspletely broken, and her toe had swelled twice its size. The good news was the bleeding had stopped but the bad news was, there was discolouration of her toe.

    It was clear that her nail had detached itself from the skin, but the nail was nowhere to be found. The nurse noticed the nail stuck to the bandage and informed Jae-Geun. He ordered the nurse to give some pain medication and take her to an X-ray to check if there was any fracture.

    The nurseplied, entered Nivritti¡¯s details into aputer, gave the dose prescribed by Jae-Geun to Nivritti and took her to take an X-ray.

    ¡°What did you see?¡± asked Jae-Hwa as soon as Jae-Geun came outside.

    ¡°I think this time it¡¯s a fracture. She is in immense pain, there is swelling and bruising. Her toe is bluish-ck. Let¡¯s see what the x-ray shows,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    The nurses came back after getting Nivritti¡¯s feet x-rayed and informed Jae-Geun that he can get the hard copy in a few minutes. He waited for another nurse to arrive with the report. In the meantime, he called an orthopedic surgeon for consultation.

    A nurse arrived with the film and Jae-Geun¡¯s friend from Ortho arrived to help him. Jae-Geun handed the film over to him and the ortho doctor checked her film.

    ¡°Oh! It is not that clear in this film, but I can see a faint hairline fracture. We should do CT to be sure,¡± said the ortho doctor.

    ¡°I thought so,¡± replied Jae-Geun. ¡°Look at her toe.¡±

    The ortho doctor moved near Nivritti¡¯s foot and saw the injury. There was substantial swelling and now her toe was darker in colour. He touched her toe and Nivritti let out a loud cry.

    ¡°Did you give her any pain med?¡± asked the ortho doctor.

    ¡°I ordered acetaminophen,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Let¡¯s push naproxen too and give her an IV. Then take her to CT and inform me after you are done,¡± ordered the ortho doctor.

    Jae-Geun signalled the nurse to take Nivritti to CT. Jae-Hwa kept walking up and down the corridor waiting for news from her brother. She knew ASD would be waiting for her to tell them about Nivritti. But she had no confirmation about her condition.

    After about half an hour, she received word from Jae-Geun toe to the orthopedic department. She ran upstairs and reached room no. 8, which her brother told her about. She opened the door and saw her brother and another doctor watching some films on a screen. All she could see were bones from a foot.

    ¡°There, see that, that¡¯s a fracture,¡± said the ortho doctor.

    ¡°Fracture!!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. Both the men turned around and saw the horror on Jae-Hwa¡¯s face.

    ¡°Young-Jae, meet my sister, San Jae-Hwa, Jaehwa, he is Park Young-Jae, ortho doctor and my friend,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Hello! Tell me what you were talking about fracture,¡± she asked impatiently.

    ¡°Who is she and what is she doing here with you brother and sister?¡± asked Young-Jae.

    ¡°She is our friend, my colleague. We work in the samepany. And where is she?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°We use this room for file viewing. She is in the casting room, next door,¡± replied Young-Jae. ¡°Did someone really step on her toe?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ouch!¡± eximed Young-Jae.

    ¡°Does she need a cast?¡±

    ¡°Well, hairline fracture, in most cases, does not need a cast. Complete bed rest and it will heal on its own. But Jae-Geun said that it would be better as she is never going to listen if I tell her to getplete bed rest. So, a cast would be better. I will get the cast done. Let her finish her IV and you can take her home at night,¡± educated Young-Jae.

    ¡°You are not wrong. As she is new in thepany, she is hesitant to take a leave. And today she received a list of her uing duties so I don¡¯t think she will stop going to the office,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Still, she must take rest for at least 3-4 days. You have to make sure of that,¡± said Young-Jae.

    ¡°I will inform my seniors,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    Young-Jae and Jae-Geun moved to the room next door and Jae-Hwa took her phone out of her pocket. She opened the RASD chat group and informed, ¡°Doctors took a look at her foot, and they found a hairline fracture. She is getting a cast and I will take her home at night. The doctor said that she must rest for at least 3-4 days. I will inform Choi-ssi when Ie back.¡±

 Chapter 224 - 224 The High

    224 The High

    ASD stood still while Jae-Hwa drove Nivritti to the hospital. They went to their practice room but instead of practising, they just sat in a round circle waiting for Jae-Hwa to reply. An hour passed by, and still there was no news.

    Finally, a message popped up in their group chat, RASD. It was news from Jae-Hwa.

    Immediately Kyung-Soo replied, ¡°why are youing back? You should stay with her. Don¡¯t worry about your work. We will help you select scripts when you guyse back.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you should stay with her. We will inform Choi-ssi,¡± replied Him-Chan.

    ¡°Oh! I want to kill him. How hard did he step on her toe that she has a fracture,¡± messaged Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°No, I will have toe back. I have to get my things and Ritti¡¯s things from the office,¡± messaged Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Leave that to me. I will bring everything to Ritti¡¯s apartment. You just calm down, take care of yourself and her,¡± messaged Thae.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s okay. I cane back,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae! Listen to him. He will get your things. Just tell him the time you will reach Ritti¡¯s apartment,¡± messaged Korain.

    .....

    ¡°No, people will talk if you go and collect our things,¡± messaged Jae-Hwa.

    Her message made everyone lift their heads and they looked at each other. ¡°Well, she is not wrong. Everyone would ask why we are collecting their things,¡± said Korain.

    ¡°What should we do then?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Involve Choi-ssi,¡± suggested Him-Chan.

    ¡°How?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°He can easily collect their things and bring everything to the lift and then we can take it from there. He can say that our security is bringing their bags to the hospital,¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°That can work,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°We will ask Choi-ssi to hand your things to us. We will make sure that no one sees us. If anyone asks, tell them that security brought your things directly to the hospital,¡± Kyung-Soo immediately typed up the message and send it to Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, I will message you guys when I leave the hospital with her. Please talk to Choi-ssi. I would make Ritti call him, but her phone is in the office,¡± messaged Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I will go and collect everything. I will call Choi-ssi first. Don¡¯t worry,¡± messaged Jeong-Eun.

    He closed the messaging app and called Chung-Ho. Over the phone, he informed him about Nivritti¡¯s condition, ¡°Choi-ssi! We received a message from Jae-Hwa. She wanted to call you, but we said that we would inform you. Ritti has a hairline fracture. Yeah, yeah, she is fine and regained consciousness. She is getting a cast. And Doctor said that she should rest for at least 4 days. No, you won¡¯t be able to talk to her, her phone is still inside the conference room. Yeah, we need your help regarding that. Please collect Jae¡¯s and Ritti¡¯s things and meet me near the lift. I will take their things to them, otherwise, Jae would have toe back here and then go back to the hospital and then drive Ritti to her home. You know, we know her address. Okay, okay, I will be there in a few minutes.¡±

    He hung up the phone and looked at his brothers. ¡°He is bringing the bags to the lift. I will be back in a few minutes.¡±

    ¡°I wille with you,¡± said Kyung-Soo and both Jeong-Eun and him walked up to the 11th floor. They exited the lift and waited for Chung-Ho to arrive. After a few minutes, he arrived with two bags and two purses.

    ¡°Theirptops and Ritti¡¯s phone are in her bag. Tell her to call me, no matter the time. Understand?¡± ordered Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes, Choi-ssi,¡± nodded Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Did you scold Seong-ssi?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Believe me, I want to, but such mistakes can happen. I am sure he didn¡¯t want to hurt her, and he is feeling guilty. Everyone saw him crying. His mind is preupied with reading scripts and Hu-ssi wants an update from him. On top of that, this happened. When I told him that she has a fracture, he practically bawled his eyes out. This is ugly,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°But you know how he treats women. There have been so many instances and his name every timees up,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°And do you seriously think he would harm someone intentionally? I don¡¯t think he is capable of that,¡± protested Chung-Ho.

    ¡°People escte, Choi-ssi,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, I will keep an eye on him. If something like this ever happens again, he will be reprimanded,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ we will tell her to call you when she gets home,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Go, go, before anyone sees you,¡± Chung-Ho started pushing them toward the lift and pressed the call button for them.

    Kyung-Soo and Jeong-Eun took the bags from him and entered the lift. Now they had to do was wait for Jae-Hwa to reply.

    Jae-Hwa kept pacing up and down outside the casting room waiting for the doctor to finish helping Nivritti. The doctor ced the cast on her ring toe and pinky toe together extending to half of her foot for more support. After the cast was done, she was transferred to a room.

    Jae-Geun signalled Jae-Hwa to follow him, and he took her to Nivritti¡¯s room. Nivritti was lying on the bed waiting for the IV to be over.

    Jae-Hwa ran to her and grabbed her arm. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Nivritti smiled at her and said, ¡°you are pretty.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Jae-Hwa was shocked. ¡°What is wrong with her?¡±

    ¡°She is high on pain meds,¡± replied Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Really?¡± Jae-Hwa shed a mischievous smile.

    ¡°What are you thinking?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Ritti! How pretty am I?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Sooo pretty. That¡¯s why PJ likes you,¡± Nivritti blurted out.

    Jae-Hwa¡¯s eyes widened and she immediately ced her palm over Nivritti¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°What did she just say?¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Nothing, nothing, you should leave,¡± she shouted at her brother.

    ¡°Remove your hand from her mouth, NOW!!¡±manded Jae-Geun.

    He moved near Nivritti¡¯s head and asked, ¡°Ritti! What did you just say?¡±

    ¡°Why are you here? I hate it,¡± pouted Nivritti.

    ¡°You hate me,¡± asked Jae-Geun, sadly.

    ¡°Not you!!¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°The situations! Whenever I am with you, embarrassing things happen. You saw me in that cute onesie, and then you saw the blood stain on my dress,¡± she sulked.

    ¡°So, you want to be presentable before him?¡± teased Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Why my house looks strange? This is not the colour of my wall,¡± said Nirvitti.

    ¡°This is not your house. This is a hospital,¡± informed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°What? I am dying?¡± shouted Nivritti and tried to get up but Jae-Geun grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back into the bed.

    ¡°No, you are not dying. Remember your leg is injured,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°My leg is injured? Again?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Thank God! She never drinks. She would never be able to handle her liquor,¡± Jae-Hwa rolled her eyes.

    ¡°As if you are an expert in that,¡± Jae-Geun teased her.

    ¡°Hey! I can handle my liquor,¡± protested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°No, you can¡¯t, you can¡¯t,¡± Nivritti waved her fingers at her.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get coffee. I thought her being high would give me joy. No, it doesn¡¯t,¡± said Jae-Hwa and walked outside.

    Jae-Geun looked at Nivritti and with the back of his hand, softly touched her cheeks, ¡°we will be back. You rest. I willplete your discharge formalities and then we can go.¡±

    ¡°You are my hero,¡± said Nivritti and smiled at him.

    He knew that she will not remember any of it. She would never remember that she called him her hero. He caressed her hair and walked out of the room. He bought coffee for Jae-Hwa, and she sat quietly inside Nivritti¡¯s room while Jae-Geunpleted every formality needed to discharge Nivritti.

    It was around eight when the doctor gave his permission to take Nivritti away. The effect was pain meds were wearing now. Young-Jae wrote a prescription for her and instructed, ¡°take this medicine in the morning after breakfast and this after dinner as this will make you sleepy. This is calcium and this is Vit. D. It would also help if you spent around half an hour in sunlight every day. Do not, I repeat, do not walk unnecessarily for at least three days. There will be some itching, but it should be fine. But if the itching is unbearable,e to me at once. Also, if your other toes start changing colour, contact me. You will need two more injections and Jae-Geun have assured me that he will administer them at your home, so you don¡¯t have toe here. This is a special covering for your ster, use it when you go to the bathroom.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± replied Nivritti. ¡°How long will I have to keep this cast?¡±

    ¡°Around 2 weeks, I think you will be fine by then,¡± replied Young-Jae.

    ¡°And I can go to the office?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°For the first four days, don¡¯t put too much pressure on your foot. Walk as less as you can. If it¡¯s not a matter of life and death, don¡¯t get off your bed. Keep your leg elevated at all times,¡± informed Young-Jae.

 Chapter 225 - 225 The Competition

    225 The Competition

    After hearing all the instructions from the doctor, it was time to leave for the house. Jae-Hwa grabbed all the medicine and the covering that the doctor brought and immediately shot a message to ASD that they were leaving the hospital and would reach Nivritti¡¯s house in a few minutes.

    ¡°Oh shit! I don¡¯t have my purse. How will I pay my bill?¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, it¡¯s done,¡± replied Jae-Geun. Nivritti stared at him with squinted eyes and gritted her teeth at him. ¡°You can pay me backter, chill!¡± But Nivritti didn¡¯t stop staring at him. ¡°You didn¡¯t have any money, your purse, your phone, how would you have paid? You need to pay all the bills to leave the hospital. So, I just loaned you the amount. Pay me after you get your things.¡±

    ¡°And how am I getting my things?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Um¡­ they are bringing to your home,¡± said Jae-Hwa. Nivritti looked at her and understood who was bringing her things. She avoided saying their names in front of the doctor.

    The doctor signalled a nurse to bring a wheelchair and Jae-Geun helped her to shift from the bed to the wheelchair.

    ¡°I will follow you in my car,¡± Jae-Geun said to Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I can take her,¡± protested Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°And will carry her to her floor in your arms?¡± teased Jae-Geun.

    .....

    ¡°Right!¡±

    The brother and sister went near their respective cars and the nurse helped put Nivritti in Jae-Hwa¡¯s car. Nivritti slid into the back seat and the nurse helped her to shift her foot on the seat.

    ¡°Are youfortable?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, thank you foring with me and staying here,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± scolded Jae-Hwa and dumped the things in her hand on the passenger seat. Both girls thanked the nurse and Jae-Hwa started her engine. She drove slowly and avoided all the roads with bumps and jerks. Finally, they reached Nivritti¡¯s building. Jae-Geun was right behind them, and he parked the car next to his sister¡¯s.

    Jae-Geun opened the back door and asked Nivritti to wrap her arms around his neck. Before Nivritti could protest, he scolded, ¡°don¡¯t tell me you are going to walk all the way up.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± sulked Nivritti. She moved one of her arms around his neck and he ced his hands under her thighs and behind her back and lifted her in his arms. Nivritti felt embarrassed while Jae-Geun kept walking with her in his arms. She was cursing K&Q for giving her an apartment that didn¡¯t have any lifts.

    Jae-Geun made Jae-Hwa walk before them so that she could easily open the door. He was slowly walking upstairs taking care of her leg, making sure it didn¡¯t hit any walls or railings. Slowly and steadily, she started feeling heavy, but he didn¡¯t mind that at all.

    She was finally in his arms, and he was going to enjoy that moment. He could feel the warmth emanating from her body. He could feel her fast heartbeat. He was enjoying her sweetvender smell.

    ¡°Tell me the code,¡± said Jae-Hwa after they reached her apartment. Nivritti told her the code and Jae-Hwa punched in. The door beeped and she opened the door. Jae-Geun moved in and ced Nivritti softly on her couch. He helped her move her leg and ced a cushion under her foot.

    Both brother and sister sat in front of her on the single chair of the sofa set and let their head fall on the headrest.

    ¡°You guys should leave. You too need some rest,¡± said Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa immediately lifted her head and shouted at Nivritti, ¡°you are joking, right?¡± she then looked at her brother and asked, ¡°she is joking, tell me she is joking.¡± She then stood up and walked toward Nivritti. ¡°Did you hurt your leg or your brain?¡±

    ¡°What!?¡± Nivritti shrugged her shoulder.

    ¡°You are not allowed to walk for four days, FOUR DAYS and you want us to leave you alone so that you can keep walking and break your toe altogether,¡± yelled Jae-Hwa. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you have a cast. God knows what you would have done!!¡±

    ¡°Okay! Calm down! Sorry, I said anything,¡± said Nivritti. ¡°So, you must want to stay here the whole week?¡±

    ¡°What do you think, genius?¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Fine! Then let me order some food for you two,¡± said Nivritti. But the next moment, she facepalmed after realising that she didn¡¯t have her phone.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I will cook something,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t have things in my pantry. I was supposed to go shopping today or maybe tomorrow,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Great!¡± Jae-Hwa sarcastically smiled at her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get snarky. It happens, Jaehwa. I will order food, what do you guys want?¡± asked Jae-Geun and took out his phone.

    ¡°Let¡¯s have a pizza party,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Ignore her. What do you want, Ritti?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    Before she could reply, the doorbell rang. Jae-Hwa¡¯s heart skipped a beat and faintly she gasped. Nivritti noted and started smiling. She realised that Jae-Hwa would make such an expression only before Jeong-Eun and it would mean that she was expecting him. ¡°It must be them. Open the door,¡± she winked at Jae-Hwa.

    Jae-Hwa stuck her tongue out at Nivritti and walked up to the door. She knew Thae wasing, and she was praying for Jeong-Eun toe as he was the one who went to get their things from Chung-Ho. She looked through the peephole. Immediately a smile shed over her face.

    She opened the door and looked at Jeong-Eun. They both stood at the door smiling at each other, but Thae was furious, ¡°get in, both of you. Why are you wasting time here?¡±

    He barged in and ran towards Nivritti, ¡°are you okay? Does this hurt?¡±

    ¡°TK! I am fine. It¡¯s just a hairline fracture,¡± replied Nivritti. She didn¡¯t realise but suddenly she was sad as she didn¡¯t see Kyung-Soo. She thought he woulde to see her, but he was not there. Why did she want him there? She had no idea.

    ¡°Everyone was concerned for you. All wanted toe but first, we had to be there for Seong-ssi¡¯s presentation, then Hu-ssi wanted to ask a few things from Kyungsoona Hyung. All others have said sorry that they couldn¡¯te. Even Hu-ssi sent his regards to you,¡± said Jeong-Eun and ced the bags on the table.

    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Others are in the office for sote,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh no! Everything is fine. We just have to be prepared for the live we are supposed to do on Sunday,¡± replied Thae.

    ¡°Ohh!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we are going to have live sessions with our premium fans. And they can ask any questions they want. So, we were getting the list of things we are not supposed to speak about,¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Like the news about NK reading the scripts?¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Exactly that!¡± smiled Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Sit, eat with us and then leave,¡± suggested Jae-Hwa. ¡°Oppa! Get something for them too.¡± Jeong-Eun¡¯s eyes widened, and he looked at the man sitting on the couch. He clenched his fists in anger.

    ¡°Why is she calling him Oppa? Who is he? Oh no! Is he, her boyfriend?¡± thought Jeong-Eun.

    Nivritti pursed her lips, hid her mouth with her palm and looked at Jeong-Eun and signalled, ¡°her brother!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± mouthed Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Give me my phone!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    Jeong-Eun ran and grabbed her phone from her bag and gave it to her. She opened the messaging app and messaged him, ¡°he is her brother, rx. He is not yourpetition.¡±

    ¡°What??¡± shouted Jeong-Eun. He was taken aback when she called him hispetition.

    ¡°What? What?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Nothing!¡± shouted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°What are you guys talking about?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°Nothing!¡± replied Jeong-Eun and Nivritti, together.

    ¡°We cannot stay for the food. We have a lot to discuss. Tomorrow, we have to practice what we will answer if we get any questions regarding the Rencontre leak,¡± said Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Will you be, okay?¡± asked Thae.

    ¡°I will be fine, Jae is staying with me,¡± replied Nirvitti.

    ¡°And he is? Will he be staying as well?¡± asked Thae.

    Before Jae-Geun could reply, Nivritti shouted, ¡°no, he is not. No boys are allowed to stay at my house. My house rules. And he is Jae¡¯s brother, Jae-Geun.¡±

    ¡°Wow! Nice way to throw me out of the house,¡± smiled Jae-Geun but his heart was aching. He never thought that Nivritti would show such a reaction to him staying at her house. He felt that he was not wee at all and that hurt him. He didn¡¯t know why she made such a rule or what she endured a few years back.

    ¡°I am not throwing you out. For years I have been living alone. I have epted that Jae will always keep barging in. But I cannot allow any men inside, I am sorry,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s okay. As you said, your house, your rules. I am fine. I will leave and wille by in the morning with her clothes,¡± said Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Good! So, order pizza, and I will go and change into somethingfortable. TK! Help me,¡± requested Nirvitti.

    Thae lifted her and took her to her bedroom while Jeong-Eun kept staring at both brother and sister alternatively. He cursed himself for not seeing the resemnce sooner. Thae came out and closed the door behind himself.

 Chapter 226 - 226 The Phone Calls

    226 The Phone Calls

    Thae looked at Jeong-Eun and Jae-Geun in a staring match. Jae-Hwa sat there with an awkward expression on her face. No one was speaking, just staring. Suddenly the bedroom door opened, and Nivritti appeared in the living room.

    All turned to look at her and Thae shouted, ¡°are you mad? You should have called me. Why are you walking on that foot?¡±

    ¡°I am not walking, I am hopping on one foot,¡± smiled Nivritti.

    Everyone facepalmed making Nivritti smile awkwardly. Thae shook his head in disappointment and walked up to her. Without warning, he lifted her up and carried her to the couch. ¡°TK!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°What? I just carried you to your room,¡± protested Thae.

    ¡°You need to give me a warning,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, next time I will. Now, we are leaving. Take rest. We will see you on Sunday after our live session would be over,¡± said Thae.

    ¡°Okay, good luck for the live,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Will you watch it?¡± asked Jeong-Eun.

    .....

    ¡°She does not have an ID for the live app,¡± said Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Thae and Jeong-Eun, disappointed.

    ¡°You have never watched our live?¡± shouted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°I have, I have,¡± lied Nivritti.

    ¡°Liar!¡± Thae kept shaking his head to show his disappointment.

    ¡°Okay! I will watch it this Sunday. I will buy the premium service,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I can¡¯t even¡­¡± Jeong-Eun started walking out of the door but then turned around and said, ¡°bye.¡±

    ¡°Bye,¡± said Jae-Hwa and Nivritti.

    Thae immediately followed Jeong-Eun but before leaving the apartment he turned to look at Nivritti and said, ¡°you are lucky JJ is not here. He would have broken your other leg after hearing that you have not seen any of our live sessions.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± pouted Nivritti. ¡°When he heard that I only know a few of your songs, he was pissed. Don¡¯t tell him, please.¡±

    ¡°I will try,¡± said Thae and after sticking his tongue out at her walked out of the house.

    ¡°Is that PJ?¡± asked Jae-Geun after Jeong-Eun and Thae walked out.

    ¡°No!!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa. She knew what Jae-Geun was going to ask.

    ¡°What are you talking about, Jae? Yes, the handsome one was PJ. Why do you ask?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°Does he like Jaehwa?¡± Jae-Geun gritted his teeth.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti.

    ¡°What are you on about?¡± Nivritti¡¯s voice turned into shrill.

    ¡°Why is your voice changing, Ritti?¡± questioned Jae-Geun with raised eyebrows.

    Nivritti scoffed, ¡°what? Nooo!! My voice is normal.¡± She lowered her tone. ¡°It¡¯s just pain. By the way, where did you get the impression that PJ likes Jae? Did you see something?¡±

    ¡°You said that, in the hospital,¡± shouted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No!!! I did? No!!! Me? No!!¡± with every passing moment Nivritti¡¯s reactions were getting more and more bizarre.

    ¡°I heard it,¡± yelled Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember that. Are you sure I said that?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, first you said that Jaehwa was pretty, then you said that because she is pretty PJ likes her,¡± informed Jae-Geun.

    ¡°See, I didn¡¯t mean that. I was clearly joking,¡±ughed Nivritti.

    ¡°Hey!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa feeling offended. ¡°What do you mean you were joking? Am I not pretty?¡±

    ¡°Well! That¡¯s debatable,¡± teased Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa grabbed the cushion from behind her and threw it at Nivritti, shouting, ¡°you are so bad.¡±

    Nivritti caught that cushion and ced it behind her head. ¡°I know.¡± She then looked at Jae-Geun and tried to change the topic, ¡°did you order food? I am starving.¡±

    ¡°No, I will order now. And give me money for the hospital bill and then some more. I will bring groceries for you tomorrow,¡± said Jae-Geun but he was still angry at Jeong-Eun. In his opinion, no one was good for his sister, especially not some K-pop idol.

    While Jae-Geun ordered food on his phone Nivritti told Jae-Hwa that sheid out some pyjamas for her on the bed and she should change into them. Jae-Hwa walked into the bedroom leaving Nivritti and Jae-Geun alone.

    Jae-Geun wanted to know more about Jeong-Eun. He wanted to know what he thinks about his sister. K-pop idols have neatly curated images, and the real person lies underneath all that fake persona. He wanted to know who Jeong-Eun really is.

    But before he could ask, Nirvitti¡¯s phone started ringing. She looked at her phone. It was a call from Kyung-Soo. She didn¡¯t realise but her lips curved in an upward direction and a smile shed on her face. The moment she realised that she was smiling, she started twisting her lips trying to stop herself from smiling.

    ¡°Hello, NK,¡± said Nivritti. Jae-Geun immediately clenched his jaw after hearing his name. He hated him as every time he would meet him, he would fight with him about Nivritti.

    ¡°Hi! Sorry, I could note to see you. How are you feeling now?¡± asked Kyung-Soo over the phone.

    ¡°I am fine, now.¡±

    ¡°You really gave us a fright when you fainted and the blood¡­ oh it would not stop oozing,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°No, need to worry. Everything is okay now. You should concentrate on your uing live session,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, we were doing that. We have half an hour break while we wait for those two idiots. Did they give you your things?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes, they just left a few minutes ago,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Will you be okay alone?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I am not alone, San-siblings are with me, and Jae is going to stay with me,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh!¡± said Kyung-Soo. Nivritti noticed a slight change in his tone. He didn¡¯t like that Jae-Geun was there in her apartment with her. He knew that Jae-Geun was going to give him strongpetition for Nivritti¡¯s affection. He was tall, handsome and a doctor, a freaking doctor in one of the best hospitals in Seoul.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Nivritti after noticing the tonal change in Kyung-Soo¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, just tired,¡± lied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Then I should let you rest. You only have a few minutes till those idiots reach home,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks. Oh, Ritti,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Please call Choi-ssi. He asked us to tell you that no matter what time you get back from the hospital, you should call him,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, I will do that,¡± said Nivritti and after saying their goodbyes, they disconnected the call.

    ¡°Who was that?¡± asked Jae-Hwa who came back while Nivritti was on phone.

    ¡°Oh! NK,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°What was he saying?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°He told me to call CH,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Right! Choi-ssi. He gave all our things to One. They wanted to go and get it from the conference room, but I stopped them. Think about the gossip in the office when everyone would have found out that ASD were grabbing our bags,¡± Jae-Hwa visibly shuddered. Nivritti knew the trauma Jae-Hwa experienced when everyone associated her name with Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°I will call him right now,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I will make tea for you guys while we wait for Pizza,¡± said Jae-Geun. He ced his phone on the table and moved towards the kitchen. Jae-Hwa grabbed all the bags and hung them on the hook near the door.

    Nivritti dialled Chung-Ho¡¯s number and he received it within a few seconds.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he screamed.

    ¡°CH! I am fine,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Hu-ssi also was concerned about you. I will inform him that you are doing okay,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Thank you, CH and thank Mr. Hu too,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°I am sorry on Seong-ssi¡¯s behalf. Please note that he would never hurt anyone intentionally. He is slightly arrogant but not violent. Please forgive him,¡± requested Chung-Ho. ¡°I know he wants to say sorry but is feeling guilty for doing that to you.¡±

    ¡°No need for that, CH. I know that was a mistake. I will call him and tell him that he must not feel bad. I am fine,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°We have approved five days of medical leave for you. So, don¡¯t daree to the office next week. Rest and let your foot heal,¡± informed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Ritti! You can read scripts in your house, and I know those idiots visit you. So, they can select your scripts when theye to your house. Just rest, that will be better for you. Is your familying to take care of you?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Shit!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t told them,¡± scolded Chung-Ho.

    ¡°I forgot. I just received my phone. NK called to tell me that I should give you a call and now I am talking to you,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Call your family and then call Seong-ssi,¡± suggested Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Okay, okay, noted. I will do that,¡± said Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°Take care, bye,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Good night, CH,¡± smiled Nivritti and disconnected the call.

    Nivritti knew if she told her parents about her foot, they would force her to tell them where she was and the next moment, they would buy a ne ticket to visit her. But she was not ready to tell anyone where she was. So, she decided not to tell her family.

    Also, she didn¡¯t want to talk to them in front of San-siblings. If she would not introduce her family to them, they would feel awkward and if she would introduce them to her family, Apeksha would sure shot figure out that she was residing in Korea. Even if she didn¡¯t figure it out what if Jae-Hwa just blurts out that?

 Chapter 227 - 227 The Satisfaction of Dae

    227 The Satisfaction of Dae

    Dae wanted his revenge and he exacted that. Nivritti was in pain. She fainted. He was happy, ecstatic. If he couldn¡¯t hurt her any other way, he would settle on physically hurting her. What he didn¡¯t expect was such an adverse reaction from Kyung-Soo. He grabbed his cor and shouted at him.

    Only after Korain intervened, Kyung-Soo let go of Dae¡¯s cor. Dae kept yelling sorry, but Kyung-Soo was not satisfied. Even after Chung-Ho took Dae¡¯s side, Kyung-Soo kept giving Dae the stinky eye. When Chung-Ho ran from the room to get the doctor, Kyung-Soo and the boys send him away from the room.

    The moment he stepped out of the room, a few of the script department people came toward him.

    ¡°What happened, Seong-ssi?¡± asked one of them.

    Dae¡¯s lips quivered and he replied in the saddest tone possible, ¡°it is my fault. I hurt her. I stepped on her toe and now she is bleeding. The star of the script department is hurt because of me.¡± Before anyone could reply to him or ask any other questions, he sniffled and ran to his seat.

    He threw theptop on the table,id his head, hid his face with his hands and kept making sobbing noise. She kept squinting his eyes, pressing his eyes hard so that at least one tear would drop from his eyes.

    Do-Yun grabbed Dae¡¯s bottle and ced his hand over his shoulder to calm him down. ¡°Please, Seong-ssi, it¡¯s okay. She will be okay. Please drink some water and calm down. Do we need to call the doctor?¡±

    Dae slightly lifted his head and wiped his fake tears. He sniffled and took the water bottle from Do-Yun¡¯s hands. After taking a sip he replied, ¡°no, Choi-ssi went to get the doctor. I hope she is okay.¡±

    The next moment, Chung-Ho came back with the doctor. Everyone left Dae alone and ran to the door to hear what was happening inside.

    .....

    ¡°Great! These idiots have an attention span of a fly. Instead offorting me, they are concerned for her,¡± he gritted his teeth and angrily lifted the p of theptop. He realised that instead of being angry, he should be happy that no one asked him about the scolding he got from Chung-Ho and Bong.

    He wanted to read the scripts as he had to give the presentation to Bong but his mind was inside the conference room. ¡°What is happening inside? There is no sound. What are they doing there? Did I make a mistake again? Oh, she will gain so much sympathy now. Shit! Should I have injured myself? Everyone would have allowed me to escape this stupid summary session. Oh, I am an idiot!¡±

    After a few minutes, he saw security peoplee running with a wheelchair. ¡°Oh, drama queen!¡± he rolled his eyes. ¡°I just stepped on her toe. How hard was that? Did her foot break?¡± he mumbled and smiled at his own joke.

    With one eye on hisptop and the other on the conference room door, he kept waiting for Nivritti toe out. He was dying to know what happened to her. There was a doctor inside, security came with a wheelchair, was she going home?

    Finally, what he wished for happened. Chung-Ho and security came out with Nivritti. She had her eyes closed and her head was resting on the headrest of the chair. He wanted to see the pain in her eyes, on her face.

    He ran toward the wheelchair and shouted, ¡°I am sorry, Ritti, extremely sorry, it was just a mistake.¡±

    But she never replied, she didn¡¯t even look at him. Instead, Kyung-Soo again stood between him and Nivritti. He blocked his path and asked him to back off. Everyone knew the scary face of Kyung-Soo. When he would get angry, no one had any say after that. His words were always final.

    Dae stepped away and stared at everyone walking away with Nirvitti in a wheelchair. He waited and waited for Chung-Ho to return and after a few minutes, he came back. He had to show that he was feeling guilty, he was feeling sorry.

    He ran toward Chung-Ho and cried, ¡°Please Choi-ssi, believe me, it was an ident. I would never hurt her. I would never hurt anybody.¡±

    Chung-Hoforted him and asked him to concentrate on the scripts as after a few hours he would have to give another presentation. Dae asked him to tell any news he would receive about Nivritti and Chung-Ho nodded.

    Wiping the tears from his eyes, he reached his seat and when he was hidden from everyone, a devilish smile shed on his face. Now, no one was thinking about Dae or his crappy day. When during the morning everyone was making fun of him and gossiping about him, now everyone was feeling bad for him.

    Smiling like a Cheshire cat, Dae took out his phone and opened a note app. The scripts they had in the ¡®Kyung-Soo¡¯ folder, he kept jotting down the title, writer, and ID of the script. He was determined to give everything to Missmatch.

    He first thought of getting money from his sabotage but now his first priority was getting Nivritti out of thepany. He didn¡¯t care for money anymore. He only cared about kicking Nivritti out of thepany and out of his life.

    After he was satisfied with the list, hepiled he locked his phone. He made sure that therge number of scripts that he was going to give to Missmatch woulde from Nivritti¡¯s servers. That way he could nt more evidence against her.

    He kept reading and reading and increasing the numbers on his list. But his concentration was broken by Chung-Ho going inside the conference room. He kept ncing at the door trying to figure out why did he went inside.

    He received his answer when Chung-Ho came back with Nivritti¡¯s and Jae-Hwa¡¯sptops. He moved to their seats and packed their things for them.

    ¡°What is this Choi-ssi?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°I am sending security people to the hospital to give them their bags,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Dae and stood up from his seat, shocked.

    ¡°You fractured her toe, Seong-ssi,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°No!¡± screamed Dae. ¡°No, no, no, I didn¡¯t mean that. That was a mistake. I didn¡¯t see her and stepped on her toe. I am sorry. I need to call her and apologise but I don¡¯t know what to say, how to apologise.¡±

    ¡°Seong-ssi! Her phone is here. Rx! I have sent a message to Jae-Hwa. She will keep us updated,¡±forted Chung-Ho. ¡°You please concentrate on your work. That is important too.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir, sorry again,¡± Dae sat down and looked at the screen of hisptop and kept rubbing his eyes trying to show off that he was wiping his tears.

    But Chung-Ho had no time for him. He just grabbed the girls¡¯ things and stepped out. The moment he stepped out, Dae raised his head and with a smirk on his face looked at the door. He scoffed with happiness, ¡°wow! I am strong. I really broke her bones. I would kiss you, my leg if we were at the house.¡±

    He then concentrated on his work and he was happy to do so. His heart was full of happiness, wrapped in an envelope of satisfaction. ¡°I won¡¯t have to see her for days. Thank God!¡±

    He immediately unlocked his phone and messaged Missmatch. ¡°We need to meet. I have something for you.¡± He then ced his phone on the side and kept waiting for her to reply. Seconds changed into minutes and minutes changed into hours but there was no reply from her.

    Finally, the time came for his presentation. Chung-Ho stood up and said, ¡°Seong-ssi! Are you ready? Hu-ssi is waiting for you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir, I am ready,¡± replied Dae, grabbed hisptop and his phone, and stood up from his seat. Chung-Ho walked before him, and he followed him. The whole way to the CEO¡¯s cabin, Dae kept ncing at his phone. Missmatch has still not replied to his message.

    ¡°Is everything okay?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, everything is fine,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°You keep checking your phone,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°My wife! She injured her hand in the kitchen and went to the hospital. I am waiting for her reply to tell me that she reached back home safely,¡± lied Dae.

    ¡°Oh! That is so sad. Is she okay?¡± asked Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, just a burn. But you know how much I love her. I am just worried,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Finish the meeting and then leave. No need to stay till the end of the day. Your wife too needs you,¡±forted Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Thank you, Choi-ssi.¡±

    They reached the 21st floor and greeted CEO¡¯s assistant. ¡°Kim-ssi!¡±

    ¡°Choi-ssi! Please go inside. They are waiting for you,¡± replied Ms. Kim.

    ¡°They? Who¡¯s they?¡± thought Dae. The meeting was supposed to be between Dae and Bong. What did she mean by ¡®they¡¯?

    Chung-Ho opened the door and walked in. Dae took a deep breath and was about to walk in when his phone chimed. He halted in his path. He wanted to check the phone to see if Missmatch replied to him but that would make himte and again Chung-Ho and Bong would rip into him.

 Chapter 228 - 228 The Shady Area

    228 The Shady Area

    Dae was in a dilemma about whether to check his phone or just go in. He needed to check if Missmatch messaged him for a meeting. If she did, what time and ce was she proposing? Was he going to get into another encounter in the car? He was in his thoughts when Chung-Ho came out.

    ¡°What are you doing? Everyone is waiting for you,¡± whispered Chung-Ho, angrily.

    ¡°Sorry, sorry, give me a minute. I think my wife messaged me,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Okay, just a minute. Bute fast,¡± said Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Chung-Ho left him alone and went inside. Dae took out his phone and opened the SNS app. There was a DM from Missmatch replying to his message. She gave him an address. It had the name of a hotel with the room number. But there was no time mentioned. He started dreaming about what can happen inside a hotel room.

    After reading the message, he looked up the distance of the hotel from the office. It would take around half an hour without traffic. He messaged her immediately and asked for the time. She replied that she was already in the hotel room waiting for him. She also asked him to take as much time as he needs, and she would wait for him.

    A satisfied smile yed on his face. He sighed and went inside the cabin. It received his answer as to who was ¡®they¡¯. ASD and Bong were seated inside while Chung-Ho kept standing near the door waiting for Dae.

    ¡°Sorry! I had to talk to my wife. Very sorry,¡± Dae apologised the moment he entered.

    .....

    ¡°How is she now?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°Doctors treated her burn and gave her some pain medication. She is taking the cab to home right now,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Do you want to leave as well?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°No, no, let me give you an update and then I will run home,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°And how is Ms. Rathod, Choi-ssi?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°She has a hairline fracture. San Jae-Hwa is with her. I will ask for more updatester. But I know that she is getting a cast and doctors have said that she must not walk and be on bed rest for at least 4 days,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Ohh!¡±

    ¡°That was my fault, I am very sorry. This day is not mine. One mistake after another, I will do anything to make up to all of you and Nivritti. Please forgive me,¡± Dae immediately knelt down and apologised to everyone.

    ¡°That is not necessary, Seong-ssi. Please get up,¡± said Bong.

    ¡°But King was so angry at me,¡± sulked Dae. ¡°He even grabbed my cor. And I deserved that, poor Ritti, I fractured her toe.¡±

    ¡°What? King!¡± asked Bong. He found that difficult to swallow. It was true that King cared for everyone and it was also true that he had legendary anger in him. But he never restored towards violence. His looks and his angry voice were enough for people to back off. He also had great control over his anger then what happened that he grabbed Dae¡¯s cor? Why was his reaction so over the top?

    ¡°We all knew her toe was already injured. It was on the verge of healing and then he did that. He should have been more careful,¡± chided Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, okay, we all know, it was a mistake. No one wants to hurt anyone here. Choi-ssi, give her leave for a week and let her work from home,¡± announced Bong.

    ¡°What?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo. He was shocked and sad that he won¡¯t get to see her if she does note to the office. But the next second he realised how selfish he was acting. She needed rest. She needed to get better.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Bong, surprised. Why was he getting affected if she was getting a leave?

    ¡°I am just worried that when shees back, I will have a heap of scripts to read,¡± lied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°You can read her scripts on either Jae¡¯sputer or Seong-ssi¡¯sputer. All selected scripts go in your folder, remember?¡± informed Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Right! I forgot,¡± smiled Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, Seong-ssi, show us your numbers,¡± said Bong.

    Dae ced hisptop on Bong¡¯s table and opened the p. The word file appeared on the screen. Bong noticed that it only had ten questions.

    ¡°Where are all the other categories that Nivritti had?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Before she could send her document, she was injured,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Ohh, okay. Go on!¡± said Bong.

    Dae then gave them a little summary and the meeting was done within minutes. Bong looked at him, he thought he was again going to be scolded. He prepared himself for the reprimand.

    ¡°Well, your numbers improved but I want to see these numbers even more. We have been receiving the scripts in thousands every day. You all need to pick up the pace if you want to be done before Rencontre. I am not asking you to take your work home. You have been in this industry for years, so, can I hope that you have great reading speed. Or English is throwing you off?¡± asked Bong.

    ¡°No, sir, English is fine. I will increase my speed even more. I will not disappoint you again, I swear,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°Okay! When Nivritti gets back from the hospital, ask for the document from her. Choi-ssi keep that document as a temte for the future. And when you talk t her give her my regards,¡± said Bong.

    ¡°Yes, sir, I will do that,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Fine! You both can go. And remember, no talking to the press or media about Rencontre. We have one leak, I don¡¯t want any more information going out in the world. ASD have their Live session on Sunday, nothing should impact that,¡± warned Bong.

    ¡°Of course, sir. I will talk with everyone and warn them, again, to not to anyone, not even their families and rtives. We don¡¯t know who said what to whom,¡± replied Chung-Ho.

    ¡°Yeah, that is the issue. We don¡¯t know who the leak was,¡± sighed Bong. ¡°Boys! You guys need to sit with our PR and rehearse what you will be saying in your Live session. Now, we have to be extra careful. And as this is going to be a one-on-one session with your fans, they will definitely ask you about the scripts. Be stoic and political in your answers,¡± suggested Bong.

    ¡°We will sit down with PR, Hu-ssi,¡± assured Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I will inform PR, they will contact you. Seong-ssi! Take care of your wife,¡± said Bong.

    ¡°Of course, Sir. Thank you, sir, I am very sorry for today,¡± Dae bowed and ran away from the room.

    ¡°How hard did he stomp on her foot that it fractured?¡± asked Bong, immediately after Dae left.

    ¡°Her foot was already injured, maybe that weakened her toe,¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ okay let¡¯s move on. Go, prepare for Sunday,¡± said Bong and everyone left his cabin.

    When Chung-Ho reached the Script department, Dae had already left for the day. He knew that Dae was worried for his wife, so he didn¡¯t give it another thought.

    Dae meanwhile, ran downstairs and threw his bags in the passenger seat and opened the GPS on his phone. The address for the hotel was at some ce he never visited in his life even though he had been living in Seoul all his life.

    He kept following the GPS and almost after 25 minutes, entered a narrowne. The street was dimly lit. All around he could see the small, dirty houses made of cheap wood. They didn¡¯t even have any paints or packing around them to keep the house warm.

    Red and blue neon lights outside the buildings signalled him that he was in an area that was full of cheap hotels and guest houses. A number of eateries were filled with drunk people and girls in skimpy-d clothes.

    He was getting scared and scared with every passing moment. ¡°Is this address the correct one? I am at the right ce? She would note here. She is a famous, sophisticated girl, why would shee here? Am I getting murdered here? Should I go back? Oh, what should I do?¡± Even though the AC in his car was turned on, he was sweating profusely.

    Suddenly his phone rang, and he let out a shriek in fear. He flinched away from his phone but then controlled himself and looked at his phone. He was getting an audio call on his social media app. He picked up the call and Missmatch¡¯s voice streamed in, ¡°did you leave your office?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and now I am in a shady neighbourhood. Did you send me the correct location?¡± gulped Dae.

    Missmatch immediately startedughing. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you are on the right path. This is the only ce I can meet with people without anyone following me. No onees to this filthy area. It is famous for drugs, prostitution, drunken brawls, not even police respond to this ce on the first call.¡±

    ¡°But what if someone sees you here?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°The hotel you areing to is the start of a different street. It does note under that den of crime. And also, I own the hotel. So, don¡¯t worry, juste here,¡± replied Missmatch.

    ¡°Okay, GPS is showing five more minutes. I will be there,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°See you then,¡± said Missmatch and disconnected the call.

 Chapter 229 - 229 The Hotel Room

    229 The Hotel Room

    After talking with Missmatch, Dae was slightly at ease. He now knew that he was on the right path. He just had to get out of this sketchy street. He navigated slowly from that narrow street and reached the hotel Missmatch gave him the address to.

    He parked the car and reached for the door handle, but his hands froze. He had never done such a thing in his life. Never in his life, he had a meeting in a seedy hotel that too with a woman. He almost kissed her thest time, and he knew what meeting in a hotel room would mean.

    But he kept thinking if he was ready for that. Was he ready to cheat on his wife? But if Missmatch would initiate everything, that would mean he was not cheating. If a girl throws herself on a man, it absolves the man from any responsibility. Dae smiled at his thoughts. He was too proud of his thoughts and beliefs.

    He clenched his fists, took a deep breath to calm himself down and then grabbed his phone. He had all the material on his phone. He wanted to take hisptop too but he was not sure about the security measures K&Q had installed on it and he didn¡¯t want to take any chances.

    He opened his door and came out. A big ss door let him see inside the hotel. Though Missmatch said that it was a nice hotel out of a crappy street, it still looked like a cheap motel. The lighting was dim and red.

    When he entered the hotel there was no one at the reception. He thought of calling someone but then realised that Missmatch had already sent him the room number. All he had to do was get to the room. He reached her room and knocked at the door.

    ¡°Is that you?¡± a voice came from inside the room. He knew that voice to be Missmatch¡¯s.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he replied.

    The door opened and Missmatch appeared in front of him in a little ck dress. The off-shoulder dress had a red skirt that was hardly covering her thighs. The ck high heels were adding to her beauty. Her legs looked even longer and slim. His heart stopped after looking at her sexy figure. He gulped at the thought of what was about to happen.

    .....

    ¡°Come in, dear!¡± smiled Missmatch, grabbed him by his cor and pulled him inside.

    He stumbled but regained his bnce and stood inside the room. The first impression of the hotel was wrong. He thought that it was a seedy motel but now after he was inside the room, he could see he was wrong.

    The room screamed sophistication just like Missmatch. The whole was in a monochrome tone filled with modern furniture. Everything in that room was charcoal greybined with bright light. It looked like the office of a big, chic fashion brand.

    She in ck was matching with the grey colours of her room. She looked like a masterpiece on disy in that elegant room. He thought just like her, her room would be bright and pink, but it waspletely the opposite. His eyes wandered all around the room admiring the interior.

    ¡°I see that you like my room. You can call this my office,¡± smiled Missmatch.

    ¡°Well, I have never seen a bed in any office,¡± Dae too smiled. Missmatch threw her head back andughed out loud. She covered her mouth with her palm and batted her eyes at him.

    She walked up to him and ran her fingers along his tie. She rotated her fingers around that tie and asked, ¡°so, what do you have for me?¡± the moment she finished talking, she pulled his tie and brought his face closer to herself.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ got¡­¡± he cleared his throat and thenpleted the sentence, ¡°I have something for you.¡±

    She ced a kiss on his cheeks and said, ¡°tell me, dear.¡±

    ¡°I have it¡­ on my phone,¡± stammered Dae.

    Missmatch kept smiling at him and slowly ran her hands all over his chest and moved her hands towards his pocket. Looking at him and moving her body in rhythm with her hands, she ced her hand inside his pocket.

    Dae shuddered with pleasure. A beautiful young girl was paying attention to him, and he was loving that. All the hair on his body stood up. He could feel the blood rushing to his groin area. She took out his phone and shed it before his eyes.

    ¡°Show me, dear,¡± she said seductively.

    But he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. He was about to put his mouth on hers but at thest minute, she ced his phone between their lips. ¡°First show me, then we can get on the real business,¡± she teased him.

    Dae took the phone from her and unlocked it. He then opened the notepad and showed it to her. For a second, she kept staring at the screen and then asked, ¡°what the hell is this?¡± She could not understand what he was showing her.

    ¡°Oh, you see, these are the list of the scripts shortlisted,¡± Dae replied happily.

    ¡°Aww¡­ really! You brought that for me,¡± she jumped at him and hugged him. When she tried to get away from him, he didn¡¯t loosen his grip and ced his lips over her exposed shoulder. He nted a wet kiss, but she pulled away. ¡°Patience dear, show me how this list works.¡±

    ¡°So, you can post this information on your blog and people can find their scripts through these IDs. Every script is filed with a serial number. I also have their names. Think about how much money you can make,¡± smiled Dae.

    ¡°Oh, my sweetie, you are good,¡± she again kissed his cheeks, but he went for a kiss on her lips. ¡°Anh¡­ anh¡­ anh¡­ first, send me this list and everything you want will be yours. And make sure to send this from that fake ID. That will add as another evidence that your archenemy sent me the list.¡±

    ¡°Ooh! Nice! Good thinking,¡± he immediately pecked her lips. She was taken aback. She was trying hard not to give him what he wanted. She was only teasing him, but he just stole a kiss from her. She clenched her fists in anger, but she knew that she needed him.

    Dae smiled after the kiss and then concentrated on his phone. He attached the file to his message and send it to Missmatch. ¡°Make sure to publish it on Sunday. K&Q will be busy with the Live session of ASD. And by the time they would find out about your blog, the traffic on your site will make it difficult for them to evenunch an investigation. Rest you know what your PR should say,¡± he said.

    ¡°Yeah, that we don¡¯t give up our informant,¡± she winked at him.

    He smiled and moved towards her. She knew what he was going to do. But she had countermeasures for that. She just wanted to use Dae. She knew that if there would a promise of sex, he would do anything for her and charge less money for the information he would provide.

    He grabbed her hands and slowly moved his hands upwards toward her shoulder. Before he could touch her face, the door flung open, and an old man came inside. Dae immediately removed his hands off Missmatch and stood away from her.

    ¡°We have to go. You have another meeting,¡± said the old man.

    ¡°Oh sorry, dear. We will continue thister on,¡± she whispered to Dae and winked at him.

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°You know how busy I am,¡± pouted Missmatch.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, but make sure to post the list on Sunday, not before that,¡± warned Dae.

    ¡°I will keep that in mind,¡± smiled Missmatch and blew an air kiss at him.

    ¡°And my money?¡± asked Dae.

    ¡°I will transfer it to your ount. Don¡¯t worry, dear,¡± smiled Missmatch.

    She took her phone and walked away with the old man leaving Dae alone in the room. The moment she came out she rubbed off Dae¡¯s touch of her body. ¡°Ugh, what took you so long?¡±

    He offered her a wet tissue and replied, ¡°I had to wait till he gave you the information.¡± Missmatch rolled her eyes. ¡°Was the information worth it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I received a list of shortlisted scripts. Just imagine the traffic on our site. People will flock to see if their script is on our list. Ohh! I can see the bling,¡± Missmatch¡¯s eyes twinkled with the thought of the money she would be getting from a single blog. ¡°Did you record everything?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the whole encounter is recorded, just like you have footage of actors, directors, idols, politicians and other bureaucrats,¡± smiled Su-Bin. Missmatch smiled at him, and they walked away from the hotel.

    Dae closed his eyes and groaned with frustration. He was again left wanting for more. Why couldn¡¯t he get what he wants in his life for once? He let himself fall on the bed with his arms stretched to his side and sighed loudly.

 Chapter 230 - 230 The Cat and The Mouse

    230 The Cat and The Mouse

    After talking with Chung-Ho, now it was time for Nivritti to call Dae. Laying on the couch she kept thinking about her family. She was contemting if she should tell them about her injury, again. She had told them she stubbed her toe. Should she tell them know it was broken?

    She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then called Dae. He was resting on the soft,fortable mattress in Missmatch¡¯s room. His phone rang and he jumped in fear. Did someone find him? Did his wife find out that he was meeting with a girl in a hotel room?

    He jumped from the bed and looked at his phone. Suddenly the feelings of pleasure, happiness, fear, all changed into anger. ¡°Why is she calling me?¡± he gritted his teeth. ¡°Oh wait! Shit! Did she find out I am the one leaking the info? She is smart. What should I do? What should I do?¡± he started panicking.

    He exhaled a few times to calm himself down and then picked up the call. He cleared his throat and said, ¡°Oh my God, Ritti! Are you okay? I am sorry, I am extremely sorry.¡±

    ¡°Dae! Rx! It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s no one¡¯s fault. These things happen,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°But the blood, oh, there was so much blood. Even the doctor was not able to stop it. Is that okay now?¡± asked Dae in a sad voice.

    ¡°Yes, yes, I have a cast now. But that is okay too. I don¡¯t if CH told you, but he has granted me a week of leave for me. I thought I should inform you too,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, of course, when you have a cast, you should minimise your activity and walk less. Take rest and you can keep working from home,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Yes, be assured. I will keep working from home,¡± replied Nivritti.

    .....

    While she was talking, Jae-Geun brought the tea for everyone. He handed one cup to Nivritti. She just bowed her head a little to thank him. One sip of the hot, aromatic tea and she started feeling better. The warmth enclosed herpletely. And the love she was receiving from one was filling her heart with happiness.

    ¡°If you need anything, you can always call me,¡± suggested Dae.

    ¡°I will keep that in mind, Dae. Thank you,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I am sorry again for your injury. Get well soon,¡± replied Dae.

    ¡°No need to say sorry. Everything is fine.¡±

    ¡°Take care, Bye,¡± said Dae.

    ¡°Bye, Dae.¡±

    Nivritti disconnected the call and looked at Jae-Hwa who kept staring at her. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°What did he say?¡± asked Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Who? Dae? He kept saying sorry,¡± replied Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa rolled her eyes and looked at Nivritti. ¡°Yeah, he must be sorry.¡±

    ¡°Jae! It was an ident,¡± assured Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, right! Oh, how I wish King would have knocked him out,¡± Jae-Hwa blurted out.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh shit!¡± mumbled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Jae! What happened?¡± asked Nivritti. A moment shed before her eyes. She could swear that she saw Kyung-Soo grabbing Dae¡¯s cor.

    ¡°Nothing! He was in the way, so, King moved him away,¡± Jae-Hwa said a white lie.

    ¡°Did he hit him?¡± asked Jae-Geun.

    ¡°No, Oppa, King¡¯s anger is enough to make people run away. He does not need to throw his hands,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Oh, yeah!!¡± said Jae-Geun and rolled his eyes. He knew that Kyung-Soo was capable of throwing hands. He fought with him in the parking area.

    While talking and drinking tea, the doorbell rang, and food arrived. Jae-Geun brought the tes and sses, and Jae-Hwa brought some water bottles and a few cans of c to the table. The mouth-watering smell and the hot steam hitting their faces made them hungrier.

    Due to medicine or maybe pain, Nivritti ate less. Both the brother and sister kept pressuring her to eat more but she denied it. All she wanted to do was rest. After dinner, Jae-Geun gave her medicine and helped her to her bed.

    Before Jae-Geun left, Nivritti paid him the hospital bill and gave him extra money to bring groceries.

    ¡°Oh, my God! You can¡¯t wait, can you?¡± he scolded her.

    ¡°You want me to wait for groceries?¡± teased Nivritti.

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± he gritted his teeth. ¡°Not grocery, Medical bill!!¡±

    ¡°Oh, that! Well, I was paying you for my future food and it would not look nice if I omitted the hospital bill,¡± she exined.

    ¡°Well, if you say it like that,¡± Jae-Geun epted defeat. ¡°Jaehwa! Lock the door behind me and don¡¯t kick or punch her during sleep.¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± protested Jae-Hwa and punched him hard on his upper arm.

    ¡°Ow! We already have a broken toe. Do you want broken arms too?¡± taunted Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Oppa!¡± shouted Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I am kidding! I will go. I will get bring a syringe to give you medicine and I will get your clothes for you. Anything else?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No,¡± replied both girls.

    ¡°Oh, yeah! Message me the list of things you want me to buy from the store,¡± ordered Jae-Geun.

    ¡°Yes, sir¡± saluted Nivritti which made everyone smile.

    Jae-Geun started walking out but he turned back and said, ¡°Ritti! If you feel any difort, itching or extreme pain or as if something is pinching on your nerves, if your skin changes colour, call me immediately. Or call a cab and run to the hospital. Okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay. Don¡¯t worry, she is with me,¡± said Nivritti looking fondly at Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°That is what I am worried about,¡± teased Jae-Geun.

    ¡°I will kill you,¡± shouted Jae-Hwa and again lifted her hand to hit him but Jae-Geun ran away. Nivrittiughed at the cat-and-mouse rtionship between brother and sister.

    Jae-Geun left and Jae-Hwa locked the door. As Nivritti had so many medicines in her system, she fell asleep instantly. Of course, after sending messages to Jae-Geun, RASD and Young-Chul. But he was not replying to her. He didn¡¯t even talk to her after her injury. But she was feeling so sleepy that she didn¡¯t even give a single thought as to why he stopped sending messages.

    The next morning, she woke up after hearing the banging and nking of the utensils.

    ¡°Jae!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Coming,ing!¡± Jae-Hwa replied and came running at her.

    ¡°What? Are you in pain? I checked your foot. Everything looked okay. Is the cast ufortable?¡± Jae-Hwa bombarded Nivritti with questions.

    ¡°Am I allowed to speak?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry.¡±

    ¡°I need to go to the bathroom,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, that! Wait!¡± Jae-Hwa went to the living room and brought the cover that the doctor gave her. She wrapped Nivritti¡¯s cast neatly and then helped her walk to the bathroom. ¡°Call me after you are done.¡± Nivritti nodded and closed the door.

    The girls had breakfast and they were sitting in the living room working on theirptops. Jae-Geun arrived with lots of bags and huffing and puffing, sweating all over, and sat on the couch.

    ¡°Did you order groceries for a whole year?¡± he scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°That was her. She dictated and I just wrote,¡± pouted Nivritti.

    Jae-Geun turned in to look at his sister. ¡°What? I am staying here. I will cook so I need all the ingredients. She does not know what is needed to cook Korean meals. Ask Mom to send more kimchi tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Oh, my God! Fine! I have to run to the hospital. Ritti! Let me give you your medicine, first,¡± said Jae-Geun. He took out a syringe from the packets and Jae-Hwa brought the medicines they collected from the hospital. Within that was a liquid medicine meant to give through injections. Jae-Geun measured a few ml of the medicine and injected it into Nivritti¡¯s upper arm.

    ¡°You might feel sleepy. So, take as much rest as possible. And I have brought a few supplements, Jaehwa, make sure you both have some,¡± he ordered both girls.

    ¡°Okay,¡± replied Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Okay, I will run. I amte for hospital,¡± said Jae-Geun and ran away.

    True to his words, Nivritti fell asleep for a few hours after he injected the medicine. Jae-Hwa brought a nket and covered Nivritti and made sure that her foot was well elevated over a soft cushion. After making herfortable, she kept working on her scripts.

    No one disturbed the girls for the whole day. Jae-Hwa prepared a hearty meal. Nivritti woke up in the evening and was feeling uneasy as Jae-Hwa kept doing all the work and she could not help her. She asked Jae-Hwa, if she could help her peel, cut, or dice anything but Jae-Hwa refused.

    ¡°If you want to get better soon, keep that foot elevated and rest. Do you understand?¡± scolded Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡±

    Nivritti woke up. She had no idea what the time was. All she knew was she needed to pee. She looked at the phone. It was around midnight. She somehow got off the bed and started hopping towards the bathroom.

    She kept squinting in the dark and hopping towards the bathroom. Suddenly there was a beep-beep-beep at her door. Was someone trying to break in? Was someone trying to figure out her code? She had to do something. She had to warn Jae-Hwa.

    But before she could shout and wake up Jae-Hwa, the door flung open, and a dark figure ran past her. She was not ready for the things that were about to happen.

 Chapter 231 - 231 The Barging In

    231 The Barging In

    Nivritti had to eat medicines three times a day. Pain, medicine and loss of blood, made her weak. She wanted to concentrate on her work, but all her body wanted to do was sleep. Soon, after dinner, which she took early as she was feeling sleepy, she messaged everyone ¡®goodnight¡¯ and retired early.

    Jae-Hwa helped her to the bed and let her sleep. She worked for about an hour and then she too retired for the night.

    It was around midnight when Nivritti woke up. She could hear Jae-Hwa snoring faintly. She needed to pee. She could see Jae-Hwa was soundly asleep, so she thought for a minute if she should disturb Jae-Hwa. But she needed help.

    ¡°Jae! Jae!¡± she said softly. But Jae-Hwa was too deep in her sleep. Nivritti groaned and ced her good foot on the ground. While hugging the sides of the bed she hopped towards the door. After bed, she kept leaning on the wall and made her way to the bathroom door.

    She was about to move into the bathroom when she heard hurried footsteps outside her door. Her fear made the hair on her neck stand. Her mind went to Ritvik. Did he find her finally? Was he searching for her in the building? She rxed for a minute after realising that he had no idea which apartment she lived in.

    But then the unexpected happened. Her heart jumped out of her chest. Beep! Beep! Beep! One by one someone was inputting her code. She moved towards the door slowly to peep through the peephole, but it was difficult to hop and move close to the door.

    Her mind went to Jae-Hwa sleeping inside. She only kept thinking about her. She had to save her. She had to wake her up. She wanted to shout and warn her. But before she could that with a final beep her door flung open.

    Nivritti gasped and saw a dark figuree in. He swooped past her, opened her balcony door and ran outside. With the force that he swooped past, she tumbled and lost her bnce. Before she could fall to the ground and hurt herself more, another person came in and grabbed her before she could fall.

    Her heart skipped a beat when she realised the familiar touch. A secondter a few other men came in whom she knew very well.

    .....

    ¡°Sorry, sorry, sorry,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa and finally the light came on. Everyone gasped as they saw Nivritti in Kyung-Soo¡¯s arms. He had her lifted above the ground in his arms.

    Nivritti looked at everyone and gulped with embarrassment. ¡°Put me down,¡± she signalled Kyung-Soo. He softly ced her on the ground.

    The very next second Manager Park came in running, breathing heavily shouting, ¡°where are we?¡± he saw Nivritti and fell quiet.

    ¡°Who? What?¡± Jae-Hwa too came running with a pillow in her hand ready to hit someone. But the moment she saw ASD standing in front of her, she hid the pillow behind her. ¡°What is happening?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, what is happening?¡± asked Nivritti. She suddenly realised that someone pressed the code of her door. She whispered to Kyung-Soo, ¡°you need to stop entering my door code in front of everyone.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t enter the code,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Excuse me!¡± eximed Nivritti.

    ¡°Where is Youngie?¡± shouted Korain.

    Nivritti looked at him with an open mouth. She realised that the person who flew past her was Young-Chul. But why did he run to the balcony?

    ¡°Help me,¡± she said to Kyung-Soo, and she walked to the balcony door. She opened the door and saw Young-Chul standing close to the railing. She tilted her head and observed him closely.

    ¡°Youngie!¡± shouted Korain and wanted to go to the balcony but the door was blocked by Kyung-Soo and Nivritti.

    ¡°No, stop! Don¡¯t shout, you will rm him,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°What? He is standing so close to the railing,¡± yelled Korain.

    ¡°Get in, everyone, get in and no one will shout,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°First, you guys need to tell me what happened?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No, we need to be with him. He might¡­ he might¡­¡± Korain was unable toplete his sentence.

    ¡°Jump?¡± Nivrittipleted his sentence. No one replied to her but sadness, concern, fear, everything was visible on their faces. ¡°Rx! He is not going to jump. He is just thinking about something.¡±

    ¡°How are you so sure?¡± shouted Korain.

    ¡°SK! If he wanted to jump, do you have any idea how much time we wasted to realise that he went up to the balcony?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°She is right,¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Well, I will tell you. We were preparing for tomorrow¡¯s Live. We were just talking, and he just stood up and ran outside without saying a single word. As he is not allowed to drive for health reasons, we all ran after him. We followed him here at your house,¡± said Manager Park.

    Nivritti finally realised why Young-Chul came to her house. She smiled and said, ¡°not my house, his house!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± asked everyone together.

    ¡°I think you all overwhelmed him with your talk of Live and he came running to a ce he knew to be his safe ce, somece he could relive his days before he became famous, before he had to deal with all this mental stress. Look at him, his head up, looking at the sky, his hands holding on to the railing tightly, he is going through something, he is clearly asking for help from the heavens. He wanted toe to a familiar ce, that¡¯s it,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± asked Him-Chan.

    ¡°Just give him time. He needs to calm down. If you guys want one of you can go talk to him,¡± before Nivritti couldplete her sentence all the boys started walking towards the balcony, but Nivritti stopped them with the show of her hands, ¡°but let him cool for a while.¡±

    ¡°I think it would be better if you go and talk to him,¡± said Jeong-Eun to Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked.

    ¡°Clearly, if he wanted to talk to us, he would have done that in our house. But he came running here. I think he came here because you live here. We have been together for so many years, but we have never found him in this house or near this house. Youe and live here, and hees running here. I think you should talk to him. Also, you have some knowledge of therapy and how to help people, please do that,¡± pleaded Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Okay, fine. Tell me this, did something happen on Thursday?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± inquired Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Because I saw him on Wednesday before therapy and he was fine but after that, he has been very quiet, rarely talked to me and stopped replying to my messages,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Well, SK Hyung went with him that day,¡± replied Thae. Korain was quiet but when he heard his name he looked around.

    ¡°Oh, nothing happened. The doctor gave him homework and he had to write a letter and read it to me. So, we did that and then I came out while he was inside the room for the rest of his session. After that he didn¡¯t speak much,¡± replied Korain.

    ¡°Any other changes in his behaviour?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°No,¡± replied Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Except!¡± said Manager Park.

    ¡°Yes!¡± encouraged Nivritti.

    ¡°Since we started discussing the Live session and coaching them on everything, he kept getting angrier and angrier and kept shutting down. I had to ask him the same questions again and again before he would reply,¡± replied Manager Park.

    ¡°So, you were asking him to act,¡± sighed Nivritti.

    ¡°No!¡± protested Manager Park.

    ¡°Don¡¯t deny, that¡¯s what you were basically asking him to do. He has been trying hard to ept himself, trying to ept the love he receives. So, when you asked him to act, his imposter syndrome red up. He thinks he is not eligible to ept so much love, and so much respect and that derailed him. My god! You guys too need therapy so that you can learn how to talk to your idols, how to treat them how to help them,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    Every ASD member kept staring at her and listening to her exnation.

    ¡°Okay! Everyone, make yourself at home. There are drinks in the fridge. Jae, go back to sleep, you need your rest and I need to go to the bathroom,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you were up?¡± asked Kyung-Soo. ¡°And you were walking alone without any help?¡± he scolded her.

    ¡°Yeah, why didn¡¯t you wake me up?¡± yelled Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°Guys! Rx, the first bathroom, then you can scold me,¡± said Nivritti. Kyung-Soo helped inside the bathroom and Jae-Hwa brought her protective covering.

    While relieving herself, she closed her eyes, exhaled a big puff of air, and sighed loudly. ¡°Not a day goes by that I don¡¯t deal with drama in Korea. Korea! Korea! What are you doing to me? Please let me breathe calmly for a minute,¡± she kept mumbling to herself.

 Chapter 232 - 232 The Panic Attack

    232 The Panic Attack

    Nivritti sighed while washing her hands and came out of the bathroom. Kyung-Soo was standing at the door waiting for her.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you need help to walk?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yeah, I do.¡±

    ¡°Okay! What is he doing?¡± asked Him-Chan and pointed at the balcony. Young-Chul was now knelt down on the floor with his hands over his chest and stomach.

    ¡°Help me, now,¡± shouted Nivritti and Kyung-Soo instantly took her to the balcony. All ran behind her to help Young-Chul. Nivritti sat before him cross-legged as it was impossible for her to kneel. For a few seconds, she said nothing, she did nothing just kept staring at Young-Chul.

    Everyone surrounded Young-Chul and saw that he was breathing heavily. He was unable to catch his breath no matter how hard he inhaled or exhaled. It was clear that something was bothering his chest and his stomach, and he held both parts of his body as tightly as possible. The back of his neck was wet and sweat was constantly dripping down his body.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± shouted Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°Is he in pain?¡± asked Thae.

    .....

    ¡°MY Hyung, say something,¡± pleaded Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Youngie, Youngie, what is the problem, tell us,¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    Every person standing near him kept shouting and pleading with him to tell them what was bothering him. But one person was focused on Nivritti and that was Korain. He kept staring at her face trying to figure out why she was not saying anything or doing anything. Finally, he realised that she was essing the situation.

    ¡°Help him, do something, please,¡± begged Korain. ¡°Just likest time, please help him,¡± he shouted.

    ¡°SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!!¡± shouted Nivritti. ¡°Everyone, step back, give him space. In fact, move as far as possible. MOVE, move, move!!¡±

    Immediately everyone backed off and ran to the door. But no one wanted to go inside so they all huddled near the door.

    Nivritti moved her hands forward but before touching Young-Chul, she warned him, ¡°MY! I am going to touch you. Do you hear me? I will touch you now.¡± Slowly she ced her hand over his palm and held it tightly.

    ¡°I am dying, I am dying, help me,¡± cried Young-Chul with a shuddering breath.

    ¡°No, you are not dying. Look at me, look at me, MY,¡± Young-Chul slightly raised his head and looked at her. ¡°Whatever you are thinking, whatever you are feeling will pass. You are not dying, you are having a panic attack. Do you understand me? You are having a panic attack.¡±

    ¡°Why does it feel like I am having a heart attack? Here,¡± he ced her hand on his chest. ¡°See, it is about toe out of my chest. I am going to die. See my hands and feet, they are shivering, I cannot control them. I feel cold and hot at the same time. I am dying.¡±

    Nivritti grabbed his hand and ced it over her chest. ¡°Feel that, feel my heartbeat,¡± she asked. But Young-Chul didn¡¯t reply, he just kept staring at her. ¡°Now close your eyes and listen to my pulse. It is beating slow, right?¡±

    Young-Chul nodded. ¡°Now breathe through your nose with every heartbeat. Feel the air entering your nose, your windpipe, your lungs, your body, 1, 2, 3, 4 and exhale. The same process, feel the air exiting your lungs and through your nose and out. Again, take a deep breath, 1, 2, 3, 4 and exhale,¡± Nivritti repeated the breathing exercise for a few more seconds.

    Slowly, the hyperventtion of Young-Chul subsided. He was still breathing heavily but it was way better than before. He gulped and kept catching his breath. He removed his hand from her breast and rested them on his thighs.

    ¡°Okay, MY, there is something I want you to do. Will you do that for me?¡± asked Nivritti. Young-Chul looked at her and nodded. ¡°Tell me three things that you see,¡± prompted Nivritti.

    ¡°Three¡­ three things?¡± he gulped.

    ¡°Yes, three things, anything,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Well, that drying rack, this railing, you,¡± replied Young-Chul and gulped again.

    ¡°Jae! Can you bring me a ss of water?¡± requested Nivritti as she noticed that Young-Chul kept gulping again and again. The panic attack made his throat dry. Jae-Hwa nodded and went inside to get water. Everyone had this question what was she trying to do with water? But no one asked her, all kept staring at her while she calmed Young-Chul down.

    ¡°Now tell me three things that you hear?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Um¡­ the cars on the road, their loud breathing and the faint music ying,¡± replied Young-Chul. By the time he answered, Jae-Hwa came back with the water and moved towards Nivritti, but she stopped Jae-Hwa by show of her hand.

    ¡°Last question, MY, touch three things, whatever you see, touch them, it can be your leg, your hand, anything, just touch,¡± said Nivritti.

    Young-Chul looked near him. He first touched the ground they were sitting on, then he touched the railing next to him andst, he just threw himself and Nivritti and hugged her. He wailed loudly, ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do, I don¡¯t know what to do.¡±

    Every ASD member pursed their lips and tears started flowing down their faces.

    ¡°Tell me everything MY, maybe I can help you. Even if I can¡¯t do that, I might help you find a solution. We can work together,¡± she kept caressing his back. ¡°And to do that you have to calm down. If you keep crying, I won¡¯t be able to understand what you say and then I won¡¯t be able to help you. When we find the solution, I will cry with you together, I promise. But first, tell me what is bothering you,¡± pleaded Nivritti.

    Young-Chul broke the embrace and Nivritti wiped his tears. She nodded at Jae-Hwa who came running with the ss of water. ¡°Here! Drink it first,¡± said Nivritti. Young-Chul looked at Jae-Hwa and the ss and took it off her hand. After he drank, he ced the ss next to him and sighed and sniffled.

    ¡°Are you ready to tell me what happened?¡± asked Nivritti.

    Young-Chul first looked at her and then at everyone standing near the door. Nivritti too looked at them and asked, ¡°do you want them gone?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°Everyone inside!¡±manded Nivritti. ¡°NOW!¡± Everyone lowered their heads and started moving inside.

    ¡°Fine! They can stay,¡± said Young-Chul and everyone came running to the balcony.

    ¡°Can they sit near you?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°And you won¡¯t be overwhelmed by all the stimuli?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± sighed Young-Chul.

    ¡°Okay, everyone, you can sit but maintain your distance,¡± she ordered. After everyone was settled, she looked at Young-Chul and said, ¡°now tell me what is bothering you?¡±

    ¡°I know you could tell that something was troubling me. I had so much to think about. I just cannot find a solution and today when they kept coaching us, I lost it,¡± said Young-Chul. Nivritti tilted her head and quietly kept listening to him.

    ¡°It started on Thursday. Dr. Tan told me to write a letter to Korain Hyung telling him something I have never said to anyone. So, I told him that I appreciate him, his love, his care, that he showers on every member, and I ended the letter with ¡®I Love You¡¯,¡± narrated Young-Chul.

    There were collective gasps and oohs and aahs. But one nce from Nivritti and everyone lowered their head and shut their mouths.

    ¡°Continue, please!¡± requested Nivritti.

    ¡°Dr. Tan was very happy with the result. She said that I was opening myself and epting people in my life. We talked about a lot of things and then she asked me what bothered me most about being an idol. And I replied, lying to our fans. We have hidden our real personality, a big chunk of our life, our images are crafted by our team. Every turn we lie, we hide things just because we are scared of a scandal. No matter what we do, scandal always finds us, then why do we even bother to do that? Why can¡¯t we show our real life to our fans? It¡¯s not like we are doing drugs or¡­ or we are serial killers¡­ or serial daters. No one of us has ever been in a really long rtionship. Our busy hours, our busy schedule prohibits us from making new rtionships, we see our families after months, sometimes after years. We don¡¯t know what is happening with our own siblings or our rtives. Many of our friends are friends with us because we are rich and famous. I don¡¯t want that lie in my life anymore. I am fed up with it. I feel like I am not living my life, someone else is living my life,¡± exined Young-Chul.

    Nivritti turned to look at Manager Park and raised her eyebrow at him. He lowered his head as he realised that what she said was true. Young-Chul ran away as he started feeling like an imposter.

    ¡°And when thepany started telling you that you had to lie even more, you lost it,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know why, but I just drove here. It was like muscle memory,¡± replied Young-Chul.

 Chapter 233 - 233 The Experiment

    233 The Experiment

    Everyone was sitting on the balcony floor around Young-Chul listening to Nivritti and Young-Chul quietly. All were mesmerized by the way she calmed him down in a minute. He narrated everything that happened to him since Thursday. He was not feeling well after his session with his doctor.

    He just said that he drove to her house but had no idea why.

    ¡°No, that was your brain taking you out of a difficult situation and taking you to your safe space. That is the first step to getting rid of the anxiety,¡± exined Nivritti. Young-Chul stared at her shocked. ¡°So, I get that you don¡¯t want to lie, but why now? Why does it bother you so much now?¡±

    ¡°Because that is my second homework. Tell something about myself to my fans that we have kept hidden. Show my real self to fans,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°And you fear that your fans will judge you, cancel you, or even stop loving you?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Uh¡­ huh!¡± nodded Young-Chul and tears again started falling down his cheeks.

    ¡°MY! Do you know what I think?¡± she wiped his tears.

    ¡°What?¡± he sniffled.

    ¡°I think your fans know who you are. Even if you hide yourself, they can find out who you are. You don¡¯t need to tell them all about yourself,¡± exined Nivritti.

    .....

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°I told you when I applied for this job, I researched everything about K&Q, right?¡± asked Nivritti. All nodded. ¡°So, I looked at song videos of all the groups, everyone¡¯s daily videos, funny behind the scenes and then I went down the rabbit hole of fan-made videos. Have you watched them?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Where they portray us as mafia and write fanfiction about us?¡± Jeong-Eun jumped into the conversation.

    ¡°What? No! there is a video of you as a mafia?¡± asked Nivritti, shocked but at the same time intrigued.

    ¡°You watch those?¡± scolded Him-Chan.

    ¡°Okay, you need to tell me how to find those videoster on,¡± she signalled Jeong-Eun and then talked to everyone else, ¡°I am talking about the videos where your fans psychoanalyse your every move, every gesture.¡±

    ¡°There are those too?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Yes, many of the observation is wrong as they are not trained professional, but few are right. You have no idea how much your fans know about you even though you try to hide,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°So, you think I must tell them a fact about myself? And what should be that?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°That I cannot tell you. You have to figure that out by yourself. But the most important thing is that this should be about you. Will you befortable showing a part of your life to your fans? Will you be able to ept that person who will say those things before the camera or your imposter syndrome would again re up? Will you be able to ept the verdict of your fans? Then you have to ask yourself which part of your life you want to reveal but only after you feelfortable with sharing your life with your fans,¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I came here,¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Okay, rx! Why don¡¯t we take it slow? Answer me this if you wanted to share something about your life, what would that be? You can think of a small thing,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°Um¡­ I can tell them all about my family,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°Wrong answer. Do you really think your fans don¡¯t know about your family? They know more than you know about them. I am sure they stalk their social media too as they do yours. And giving them more personal information, which is not really about you would be wrong, to both your family and you,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°I¡­ I have an idea, but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the right one or if I want to tell anyone about it,¡± said Young-Chul.

    ¡°You want to tell everyone that you are in therapy, right?¡± asked Nivritti.

    That shocked Young-Chul to his core. He shouted, ¡°how do you know that?¡±

    ¡°Because you came here. You know I approve of therapy, and you really wanted someone to say to you that telling everyone about mental health is a good thing,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°So, what do you say, should I?¡± asked Young-Chul.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Nivritti scratched the back of her head and thought for a while. All kept staring at her with anticipation. ¡°Okay, does anyone have any coins?¡±

    ¡°What? What? Why? Why do you need a coin? What are you going to do?¡± all started talking at once.

    ¡°Guys! Just give me one and I will tell you,¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, no! We don¡¯t have any money. Do you even see us? We are in our pyjamas. We ran after him without taking our wallets. We only have our phone with us,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I have a coin,¡± said Manager Park.

    ¡°May I have it,¡± she extended her hand towards him. ¡°I will return it to you,¡± she added.

    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t care about that,¡± assured Manager Park and took out a coin from his wallet and handed it to Nivritti.

    She looked at the coin and asked, ¡°so, this bird side is, heads, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the crane is the head,¡± replied Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, ornithologist! Thank you!¡± taunted Nivritti making everyone purse their lips as they didn¡¯t want to smile orugh after the insult of their leader. But Young-Chul smirked a little. Nivritti saw that and her heart was filled with love and warmth. She was finally able to make Young-Chul happy.

    ¡°Here is the thing MY, I will flip the coin in the air. Heads, you tell your fans, tails, you do what yourpany wants you to. This way the decision will be on fate not you. You will not be held responsible in either situation. Is that okay, for you?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°I guess, that¡¯s okay,¡± said Young-Chul.

    After his signal, Nivritti flipped the coin in the air and Young-Chul said, ¡°Heads.¡± The coin came down and Nivritti caught it and immediately closed her fist.

    ¡°Ready?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Just open your fist!¡± shouted Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Shh¡­ everyone around here is sleeping. Don¡¯t shout,¡± she scolded.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± whispered Jung-Hwa.

    She raised her two fingers and opened her fist halfway and took a peek. Young-Chul was staring at her with open eyes. He was sitting straighter and straighter with every passing second. ¡°It¡¯s tails,¡± announced Nivritti. Young-Chul¡¯s shoulder instantly slouched, and he sat back again, defeated.

    ¡°You don¡¯t look happy, MY,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe in the back of my head, I was thinking about getting a head,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°Because you want to tell your fans?¡± inquired Nivritti.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe I wanted to,¡± replied Young-Chul, confused.

    Nivritti shed a broad smile at him. ¡°You do know that coin flipping for your problem was an experiment, right?¡±

    ¡°Now what idea did your brain concoct?¡± Kyung-Soo asked.

    ¡°Coin does not tell you what you should do. It tells you what is in your heart. If your desired resultes, you will be happy, but if the opposite happens, you will feel how MY is feeling now,¡± exined Nivritti.

    ¡°Oh, my God! You tricked him?¡± asked Korain.

    ¡°No, I helped him find what is in his heart. And he really wants to tell his fans about the ordeal he is going through. He wants to tell them that he is fine and wants their support as well,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°But he will not let me tell this to my fans,¡± said Young-Chul and pointed at Manager Park.

    ¡°Huh¡­ what did I do now?¡± Manager Park was confused.

    ¡°Yeah, MY is right, no one in the history of K-pop idols have said anything about mental health and then not seen a decline in career,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°And that fear will stop you from living a healthy mental life?¡± taunted Nivritti. She tilted her head and stared at him, angrily.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that,¡± protested Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°What he is saying is that everypany has this fear thatizens will cancel a group or an idol because they will perceive them as weak and thus for years no one has talked about that,¡± exined Manager Park.

    ¡°Exactly, years! We are talking about years. We have seen the globalisation of information in recent years. The Inte has made us aware of many world problems, healthcare is one of the pressing issues dered by the United Nations as well as the World Economic Forum and mental health is a major part of healthcare. Do you really think Koreanizens are not aware of that?¡± counterpointed Nivritti.

    ¡°We understand that. But how are we going to make our bosses understand? They invest so much in us. They do so much for us. They took care of us since we were young. Do you even know how they will feel when they get to know that we betrayed them?¡± contrasted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Okay, Mr. leader, tell me this. Have you even talked about this issue with your Boss, Mr. Hu?¡± asked Nivritti, condescendingly.

    ¡°Um¡­ no, we haven¡¯t. We never even started something along the line of this issue with him,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you should? Maybe he too would be in favour,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°But what if he says no, how will you convince him?¡± asked Korain. He knew she would give him a reply that they could easily use, and everything will go their way. He had seen her use her brain. But will she be able to give a usable idea, again?

 Chapter 234 - 234 The Broken House Rule

    234 The Broken House Rule

    Everyone was looking at Nivritti waiting for her reply. She immediately looked at Korain and replied, ¡°it¡¯s easy. Just tell them that you are saving them from future headaches.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What, future headache?¡± asked Young-Chul. No one understood what she was trying to say. Korain was slightly disappointed as he thought she might again knock the problem out of the park.

    ¡°You have to go to Seould General for your therapy every Wednesday and Thursday, right?¡± asked Nivritti.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°And you hide it from everyone so that you can avoid a scandal?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that has been established. Get to the point!!¡± said Korain impatiently.

    ¡°What is the best solution to a problem?¡± she asked everyone. She kept staring at everybody, but all just scratched their head as they had no answer. ¡°No one?¡±

    Manager Park raised his hand like he was in a ss and Nivritti was the teacher. ¡°Yes, Manager Park?¡±

    ¡°Get in front of the problem?¡± he replied.

    .....

    Nivritti touched the tip of her nose twice and smiled at him, ¡°correct, the answer was to the point. If you want to take care of a problem, get ahead of it. If you are scared of a scandal, control the narrative.¡± Even though she exined almost everyone was a little confused except Manager Park. She looked at their expression and shouted, ¡°oh,e on! Do I have to spoon-feed you?¡±

    ¡°What she means to say is that we should tell everyone that you are in therapy,¡± said Manager Park to Young-Chul.

    ¡°I am still confused,¡± said Thae while rubbing his chin with his forefinger.

    Nivritti sighed and lowered her head with disappointment. ¡°Okay, tell them to think about this scenario. One or two of you go to Seoul General twice a week. You have done a great job of hiding yourself and doctors too have signed an NDA but what would happen if a nurse or a doctor breaks the NDA anonymously or amon person spots you and records you going to the doctor¡¯s office, that will be a great scandal, right?¡± Everyone nodded.

    So, she continued, ¡°so, wouldn¡¯t it be better if you tell your fans everything on your own, in your own words, controlling the narrative? You have no idea what the news media would say about you or how they will spin the news. But if you start the conversation, they will have to print your words verbatim. They cannot change anything or add anything. That can give you a cause for a defamation suit.

    ¡°Thepany can put the PR to spin the news as they like. Even if you get a little pushback from your fans, I know for sure that your international fans will support you. We can ask PR to say that your decision to go to therapy was a brave one and then telling everything to fans was braver. You can share your experience with everyone. I assure you there will be so many ASDians who will be proud of you to start this conversation in a positive light.¡±

    All kept listening to her words quietly. She could see in their eyes that they were in deep thinking mode. Only Manager Park and Korain were smiling. Finally, she something that Korain was proud of. He knew this was the best argument they could use with their seniors.

    ¡°Also, you can ask your fans to share their story about how therapy helped them. If you will talk about it, they will talk about it. You know they love to follow you, they admire you and so many people will rte to you after that. The world needs to stop thinking in a conservative way and open their mind,¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°But I really don¡¯t know if I have the courage to ask my seniors or talk to my fans,¡± Sighed Young-Chul.

    ¡°You know what I do when I have no idea what to do next?¡± said Nivritti.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I sleep on the problem. And when I am asleep, my brain keeps working on the solution and when I wake up, I get the answer,¡± replied Nivritti.

    ¡°Then I will do that, Good night,¡± said Young-Chul, he stood up and walked inside the house without even acknowledging anyone. But instead of walking out of the house, he moved towards Nivritti¡¯s bedroom.

    She kept looking at him with widened eyes and an open mouth, ¡°what the hell just happened?¡± but no one had any answer. They too were quite shocked. ¡°Is he going to sleep in my bed?¡± she asked again. And again, no one had any answer.

    ¡°I will try to find out,¡± said Korain and walked inside the house.

    Nivritti kept sitting in the same position without elevating her feet for long and now it was hard for her to stand up on her own. She involuntarily looked at Kyung-Soo and said, ¡°please help me up.¡± Kyung-Soo stood up and grabbed her hand. He gave the support to stand up but the moment she lifted her foot, she cried in pain.

    ¡°What? What?¡± shouted Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°My¡­ foot!¡± gasped Nivritti. ¡°I was¡­ supposed to¡­ keep it elevated.¡±

    Without wasting a single moment, Kyung-Soo ced his hand under her thighs and lifted her in his arms. He carried her to the bedroom, but Young-Chul was under the covers and alreadyying on her bed.

    ¡°We need to go, Youngie. Ritti, needs to rest too,¡± scolded Korain.

    ¡°I am sleeping here today. This is my safe space, she said it. She can sleep next to me,¡± replied Young-Chul.

    ¡°I am not. ce me on the couch please,¡± requested Nivritti.

    Kyung-Soo shook his head in disbelief after seeing Young-Chul acting like a child and carried Nivritti to the living room couch. Jae-Hwa immediately ced two cushions under her foot and brought another pill for her to consume. Her eyes were closed due to pain, and she kept massaging her thigh.

    Jae-Hwa fed her the pill, gave her the water, and immediately brought an ice pack for her foot. When the blood started moving away from the injured toe, her pain rxed.

    ¡°Okay, Ritti, where do you keep your extra bedding and nkets?¡± asked Jung-Hwa.

    Nivritti opened her eyes with a jerk and looked at him shocked. ¡°Um¡­ you are staying here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, obviously!¡± replied Jeong-Eun.

    ¡°No, no, no, no, no, noooo¡­ no man is staying in my house. None of you,¡± yelled Nivritti.

    ¡°Okay, so I take it that you don¡¯t have extra bedding. Hmm, I will go with Manager Park and get some,¡± announced Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°Pillows too,¡± added Thae.

    ¡°Right!¡± Jung-Hwa nodded.

    ¡°And don¡¯t forget the nkets,¡± said Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± replied Jung-Hwa. He grabbed Manager Park¡¯s arms and started pulling him out of the house.

    ¡°Did you not hear what I just say?¡± scolded Nivritti.

    ¡°Do you want us to die from stress and worry?¡± scolded Him-Chan.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Youngie Hyung is staying here. You know he is not going to leave. We will all night worry for him. Do you want to keeping and going to your house all night? And now we caused you pain. We will be worried about you too. Do you want us to keep phoning you every hour?¡± said Him-Chan.

    Nivritti looked at him, then at Jae-Hwa and then looked back at Him-Chan defeated. ¡°So much for the no boys in my house rule,¡± she murmured to Jae-Hwa.

    ¡°I am sorry, Ritti, I tried but he is not ready to leave this house. He is adamant that he will sleep in his ¡®safe space¡¯,¡± said Korain by air quoting ¡®safe space¡¯.

    ¡°Great!¡± Nivritti rolled her eyes.

    Jae-Hwa innocently raised her head, and everyone looked at her.

    ¡°What, Jae?¡± asked Kyung-Soo.

    ¡°Where will I sleep?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Right! I will ask JJ to get a bed for you too,¡± replied Kyung-Soo. And immediately he messaged Jung-Hwa.

    ¡°But we don¡¯t have much space here,¡± said Jeong-Eun while looking at every corner of the house.

    ¡°Well, I will sleep next to Youngie, and if we slide the couch to the kitchen wall and these single couch chairs and table under the TV, we will get a nice open space and you all can sleep nicely. Jae can sleep next to Ritti who will obviously sleep on the couch. Sorry, about your foot,¡± said Korain.

    Nivritti had no choice but to ept that ASD were sleeping in her house tonight. She justpletely surrendered. Kyung-Soo and Korain pushed the couch with Nivritti on it and ced it near the kitchen wall. Jeong-Eun and Him-Chan took care of single couch chairs and Thae dragged the table near the TV wall.

    ¡°Downstairs neighbour will kill me tomorrow,¡± groaned Nivritti.

    Within half an hour, Jung-Hwa and Manager Park returned with beddings and nkets and pillows. Boys had to run downstairs and with a joint effort, they brought everything in one turn. By the time they were done with their beds, Nivritti was already asleep due to the medicine.

    Korain went inside the bedroom and slept next to Young-Chul while the rest of the ASD and Jae-Hwa slept in the living room. After making sure that everyone wasfortable, Manager Park went home with the promise that he will return in the morning, and he will bring their clothes.

    He assured them he will get them a meeting with Hu Bong before their Live session, and they can discuss everything with him then.

 Chapter 235 The Disturbance in Sleep

    Chapter 235 The Disturbance in Sleep

    After a chaotic night, everyone was sleeping peacefully in Nivritti''s apartment. Korain and Young-Chul were in her bedroom and the rest of the party was in the living room.

    In the middle of the night, Young-Chul woke up due to thirst. He talked so much and straight up went to sleep. All the emotional turmoil made him extra tired, and he wanted to sleep in his safe space.

    Rubbing his eyes, he came to the living room and saw his brothers sleeping on the floor next to each other. He carefully navigated between the spaces and reached the fridge. He took out a water bottle, drank two sses of water and stored the rest of back in the fridge.

    With the light of the fridge, Kyung-Soo woke up and looked at the source of the light. He saw Young-Chul standing near the fridge. Kyung-Soo raised his head to look at him and asked in a whispering tone, "are you alright?"

    "Yes, just thirsty, go back to sleep," Young-Chul whispered back.

    "Not that, Youngie!" replied Kyung-Soo.

    "Hyung! Go back to sleep. We will talk tomorrow," yawned Young-Chul.

    "Okay," said Kyung-Soo.

    Young-Chul walked back inside the bedroom and Kyung-Soo kept staring at him. He sighed after Young-Chul went inside the room. Now he too was thirsty. He got up and went to finish the bottle of water that Young-Chul had just drunk from.

    He didn''t want to crush the bottle as everyone was sleeping soundly. He moved towards his bed when he nced at Nivritti. She was deep in sleep with her foot raised on cushions. Half her nket was on the ground and the other half was hardly covering her. One of her hands was on her chest and the other was dangling in the air.

    If Jae-Hwa would have slept close to her, he was sure that Nivritti would have pped her in her sleep. Luckily, Jae-Hwa''s bed was slightly away from her. He came close to the couch, softly ced her dangling hand on her stomach and lifted her nket to cover herpletely.

    He covered her to her neck and looked at her face. Even though it was dark, he knew what she looked like. He could trace every contour of her face even in darkness. How he was wishing for a lock of her hair to y on her face which would have given him an excuse to touch her.

    After he was sure that she wasfortable, he moved near his bed and covered himself with his nket. The moment he closed his eyes, a tap on his shoulder made him open his eyes. He looked to his side, he knew it was Jung-Hwa. It was dark so he could not see him, but he could hear his smugness and smirk.

    "What?" Kyung-Soo murmured.

    "What were you doing?" sniggered Jung-Hwa.

    "What? What do you mean what I was doing?" asked Kyung-Soo.

    "You were going to kiss her, weren''t you?" teased Jung-Hwa.

    "Shut up! Don''t talk nonsense," scolded Kyung-Soo. "I just saw her nket away from her and was covering her. Did you see me touch her, you moron?"

    "But I saw you standing close to her. Your back was facing me so I couldn''t tell what your expression was. Tell me do you want to kiss her again?" snorted Jung-Hwa.

    "Why are you not sleeping and talking about nonsense?" asked Kyung-Soo.

    "You are not the only one MY Hyung woke up," replied Jung-Hwa.

    "Then go back to sleep and stop pestering me," Kyung-Soo hit him somewhere he was not sure where.

    "But I love pestering you. Did your love story move forward? Did you even talk to her about how you feel about her?" asked Jung-Hwa.

    "JJ! Go to sleep, if anyone else hears you talking about me and her, I will kill you," said Kyung-Soo.

    "But that is such an interesting topic. Why won''t you answer? Oh! You are scared of her," teased Jung-Hwa.

    "Why would I be scared of her?" asked Kyung-Soo.

    "I don''t know. You tell me. Why haven''t you talked about your feelings?" asked Jung-Hwa.

    "Hey! Snakes! Stop with you psst psst. Stop whispering and let me sleep," shouted Nivritti, shifted to her side and went right back to sleep.

    Young-Chul and Korain were sleeping peacefully inside the cosy room.

    Even though everyone sleptte, due to their overactive body clock, every member of "Shit! Did she hear you?" asked Kyung-Soo.

    "I don''t know," replied Jung-Hwa.

    "Before she shouts again, it will be better if we keep quiet," said Kyung-Soo and both the boys looked away from each other and went to sleep. It was years since they all slept together next to each other. By the time morning came, all the boys were tangled with each other.

    One had his hand over the other while some had their leg on someone''s waist. One was curled in a ball and his head was poking into someone else''s stomach. Only Young-Chul and Korain were sleeping peacefully inside the cosy room.

    Even though everyone sleptte, due to their overactive body clock, every member of ASD woke up early. The hustling and bustling and whispering and murmuring woke Nivritti up.

    "Oh my god! Can you all please shut up? I need my beauty sleep," shouted Nivritti and covered her head with a cushion. Hearing her shout, Jae-Hwa woke up and looked around. For a second, she was shocked that every member of ASD was looking at her. She forgot that they arrived at night and were sleeping in the house.

    Thinking of it as a dream, she let her head fall on the pillow and she went back to sleep.

    "Oh, girls!"mented Jung-Hwa and a flying cushion hit him on his arm. He looked in the direction from where the cushion came flying at him and saw Nivritti staring at him with squinted eyes.

    "Sorry!" he mouthed the words and all the boys stopped talking. They folded all the bedding, and nkets and ced them neatly in a corner in her bedroom.

    Nivritti thought that she could sleep again but how wrong she was. After the boys were done with the bedding, they started fighting about who would go to the bathroom first. Even though they kept talking in a hushed tone, the whole house was loud and chaotic.

    Nivritti yawned and sat up with a jerk on the couch. Her eyes were filled with tears due to constant yawning and it was opened only halfway. "Oh, my God! You guys are so annoying!!" shouted Nivritti.

    "What? What?" Jae-Hwa too woke up with a jerk.

    Nivritti looked at the boys with anger and then turned to console Jae-Hwa. "It''s okay, everything is fine. Go back to sleep."

    "Why are you shouting?" asked Jae-Hwa and looked in the direction of the boys. A loud shriek escaped her mouth.

    "Woah! Woah! What? Why are you shouting?" Nivritti tried to calm her down.

    "Oh sorry! Sorry, I forgot that I was sleeping in your house, and they were sleeping here too. I thought they came to my house. Sorry, everyone," Jae-Hwa smiled sheepishly.

    "Sorry for the trouble!" said Jung-Hwa.

    "Sorry doesn''t even cut it. We sleptte. Who told you guys to wake up so early?" Nivritti scolded all of them. She then looked at the clock on her wall and saw that it was only 6.30 in the morning. "What the fresh hell? It''s only 6.30 and you guys are up?? Why? For the love of God, why?"

    "We wake up almost every day at this time," replied Kyung-Soo innocently.

    "No, no, no, no, nooo¡­ you guys are not allowed to sleep in my apartment anymore. That''s final! I cannot have morning people in my home, that''s a strict no-no. On Saturdays and Sundays, no one is allowed to wake up before 8, BEFORE 8. Is that clear?" rebuked Nivritti.

    "Sorry! Do you want us to go back to sleep?" asked Thae.

    Nivritti facepalmed grabbed one of the cushions kept on her side and screamed into it.

    "We broke her," whispered Him-Chan. Everyone nced at him, angrily.

    Nivrittiy on the couch wide awake sighing and groaning with every sound ASD were making. Jae-Hwa was on her bed yawning and staring at ASDing and going to Nivritti''s bedroom. One by one everyone was going inside the bathroom and getting ready for their morning.

    The constant opening and closing of the door were making Nivritti crankier but she said nothing.

    "There is really no scenario where we can go back to sleep, is there?" asked Jae-Hwa.

    "I don''t think so. I can''t kick them out, my foot is injured," groaned Nivritti.

    "I think I should start making breakfast," said Jae-Hwa.

    "Rx! I think they will jump into the kitchen in a few minutes. After making so much noise, I don''t think they will be at ease if they didn''t bang the utensils in the kitchen," mocked Nivritti.

    "Well, you are not wrong," said Jae-Hwa andy down on her pillow. "Now, I fully support your no boys in the house policy."

    "Thank you."

    "You are right, they are annoying," said Jae-Hwa.

    "Tell me about it."

    "Well, now I have a glimpse of how they lived in their struggling era. A small house, one bathroom and they all had to share," said Jae-Hwa.

    "Yeah, and you are so lucky to experience everything with them," replied Nivritti, sarcastically.

    "Sorry about all this. We will be gone after Manager Park arrives. He said he be here early," Kyung-Soo walked up to the girls and spoke. Both the girls just turned to look at him and stared at him, angrily.

 Chapter 236 The Chaotic Morning

    Chapter 236 The Chaotic Morning

    Nivritti and Jae-Hwa were still on their beds trying to tune all the boys out. Whereas the boys were waiting for Manager Park to arrive with their clothes. They all had so much to do today. First, they had to persuade theirpany to announce about Young-Chul''s condition, then they had to get ready for Live and then talk to fans in that Live session.

    Young-Chul came out of the bedroom only once when he had to use the bathroom. He was not talking to anyone. Nivritti asked Jae-Hwa to help her to reach the bathroom. After Nivritti saw the condition of the bathroom, she hit her head hard with her palm.

    The handwash had dripped around the bottle. The toothpaste was stuck on the edge of the washbasin as the boys used their fingers to clean their teeth. There was water around themode and the washbasin. Even though no one had taken a bath, her shower area was wet. She groaned with fear and agony that she couldn''t even clean her bathroom in her condition. She would have to use a dirty bathroom for days. The icky feeling made her shudder.

    "What?" asked Jae-Hwa.

    "Either I am going to die after using this dirty bathroom or I am going to kill them all," Nivritti gritted her teeth.

    "Don''t worry, I will clean it after they leave," said Jae-Hwa.

    "No, you will not do anything. I will call a cleaning service," said Nivritti and went inside the bathroom making disgusted faces. When she came out Jae-Hwa was waiting for her outside. She helped her walk to the couch and now it was Jae-Hwa''s turn to enter the bathroom.

    The doorbell announced the arrival of Manager Park and as Jae-Hwa was upied, Kyung-Soo opened the door.

    "Everyone! Get in the bedroom," Manager Park said to all the boys wandering in the living room.

    "What?" asked Thae.

    "Just go inside," scolded Manager Park. All listened to him and went inside. "Come in," Manager Park said to someone standing outside the door.

    Two men came in with a big wooden almirah and ced it near the door. Nivritti''s mouth fell open with shock. She wanted to ask what he was doing but no words came out of her mouth. After the men had ced the almirah carefully, they walked out and again came back in, but this time one had a big box in his hands and the other had a few stic chairs stacked over one another.

    "Huh!!!" Nivritti tilted her head in disbelief and only one word came out of her mouth.

    Lucky for her, Jae-Hwa came out of the bathroom and asked in surprise after she saw Manager Park entering the house with a big stic bag filled with some white stuff, "What is all this?"

    He raised his finger at her signalling her to give him one minute. He again ran outside. Nivritti and Jae-Hwa heard some murmur and then Manager Park came in, breathing heavily with a lot of small stic bags in his hands.

    "Get him water, please," requested Nivritti.

    "Yeah, yeah," said Jae-Hwa and ran into the kitchen. She brought a ss of water for him, and he gulped the whole ss in one breath.

    "Now can wee out, I am hungry," shouted Thae.

    "Yes," replied Manager Park.

    All the boys came running and a few of them picked up the stic bags near Manager Park and ran in the kitchen. Kyung-Soo and Korain stood before the almirah and kept staring at it from every angle. Thae brought a knife from the kitchen and started opening the big box.

    Jae-Hwa walked near Nivritti who was sitting on the couch staring at the chaos in her house. "What is happening?" asked Jae-Hwa.

    "I really have no idea," replied Nivritti. "My house is like a fish market. Not even Apeksha made so much noise."

    "Is she noisy?" asked Jae-Hwa.

    "No, she is a delinquent. She alone could destroy a whole house, she would need no one''s help. But these seven men are giving her strongpetition," Nivritti blinked her eyes at them. "Okay, I need some answers!" she shook her head and got rid of the shock.

    She pped her hands loudly and shouted, "will someone exin what all this is?"

    All the members of the ASD stopped what they were doing. They looked at Nivritti and one by one replied to her.

    "This is breakfast," replied Him-Chan from the kitchen.

    "These are extra chairs so that we can sit whenever wee here. We had to squeeze ourselves on your couch," replied Jeong-Eun.

    "This box has four bean bags," replied Thae.

    "Don''t open it now, we cane backter and fill itter on," said Korain. Thae''s face fell after Korain stopped him. He simply shut the box and slid it to the side.

    "Come back?" asked Nivritti but no one heard her or simply chose to ignore her.

    "This almirah is to store all the bedding we usedst night. It''s ced on the floor which might create some difficulty for you, so we asked Manager Park to bring it," informed Kyung-Soo.

    "Woah! These two bags have the beans for the bags," Thae picked the bags excitedly.

    "Wait, just a minute! You mean to say that all those mattresses and nkets and pillows are going to be stored here. You guys are not taking it back?" asked Nivritti.

    "Why would we take it back? Do you want us to bring them every time wee here to sleep?" Kyung-Soo made a confused face.

    "Y¡­ o¡­ u¡­ you¡­ areing back here to sleep?" yelled Nivritti.

    "Yeah!" replied Kyung-Soo as if it was the only obvious answer.

    "Where are our clothes?" asked Jung-Hwa to Manager Park.

    "Oh, right! Sorry, I forgot it in the car. You get the cement done, I will be back in a jiffy. All those stairs, I am definitely going to lose a few kgs today," Manager Park exhaled loudly and walked out of the room.

    Nivritti raised her head and looked at her ceiling and murmured, "Korea, Korea, why are you doing this to me?"

    "Okay, guys, let''s get to work, Korain hyung and I will shift this almirah in the bedroom. TK, go, and help JH with the food. Jae, get your bedding out of the way and bring it to the bedroom, we will store it. PJ, JJ, get the couches and MY take care of the table and the chairs," Kyung-Soo ordered everyone around.

    Everyone started running around toplete their chores. Jeong-Eun and Jung-Hwa first came to Nivritti to move her couch, but she stopped them. She didn''t want them pushing the couch while she was sitting like a princess on it. She stood up and leaned on the kitchen wall while everyone took care of the table, chairs, and couches.

    After they were done, Jung-Hwa helped her get on the couch. After taking care of the bedding, Kyung-Soo, Korain and Jae-Hwa came out of the room. Him-Chan and Thae too were ready with the tes of food and Manager Park too came back with two duffel bags.

    All sat around and were having breakfast when the doorbell rang. All looked at each other in horror. Everyone they knew was inside the house then who arrived in the morning that too on a Sunday. Nivritti had no other friends in Korea.

    "Who is that?" Manager Park was the first person to ask that question. He had to hide ASD from the world. No one must see them that too on the day that were going on Live.

    "Rx! I will check and send them away," said Jae-Hwa and stood up. She looked from the peephole and saw her brother standing outside the door.

    "Oh, it''s Oppa!" she announced. Everyone rxed but not Manager Park.

    "Who?" he asked.

    "Rx! He is Jae''s brother and we have met him," Kyung-Sooforted him.

    Jae-Hwa opened the door smiling. She saw her brother but immediately her smile faded.

    "Oh no!" escaped from her mouth. Two people were standing behind Jae-Geun, a man and a woman. Jae-Hwa squinted her eyes at Jae-Geun and muttered some curse words at him. He tried to look innocent and stared at her helplessly.

    "I am sorry, Ritti!" announced Jae-Hwa and opened the doorpletely.

    Nivritti who was drinking water saw the people standing at the door and sputtered the water all over Young-Chul who was sitting next to her. She realised what had happened and started profusely apologising to him, "sorry, sorry!"

    "Guys! Meet me, parents," Jae-Hwa introduced everyone while actively hiding her face with her hand.

    "I am sorry, Ritti. She insisted that she had to see you," apologised Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti who was actively trying to wipe Young-Chul''s face with her hands looked up and looked at Jae-Geun. She again apologised to Young-Chul and then said to Jae-Geun, "it''s okay." She then shifted her eyes to Mr. and Mrs. San who stood in their path frozen.

    Their mouth was hanging open with shock. The people they had only seen on television or in magazines were sitting in front of them shoving their faces with food.

 Chapter 237 The Breakfast Fight

    Chapter 237 The Breakfast Fight

    All were staring at Mr. and Mrs. San. No one was speaking. ASD were eating their food but when they saw them looking at them with open mouths and wide eyes, they too stopped eating. It was a battle of stares.

    "What is wrong with them?" asked Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa shut the door with a loud noise breaking shock of her parents. "Yes, they are who you think they are. Get over the shock. And NEVER TELL ANYONE YOU MET THEM. Do you understand? Ahppa?" she shouted at her parents. Her father nodded his head but never wavered his eyes away from ASD.

    "Uhmma?" asked Jae-Hwa but Mrs. San gave no response. "Uhmma!!" Jae-Hwa shook her shoulder.

    "What? What?" asked Mrs. San.

    "Tell no one you saw them here. Am I clear?" Jae-Hwa shouted in Korean. "If you do, I will run away from home and will never get married. Bye, bye, grandchildren," threatened Jae-Hwa. Nivritti stared at her with a confused yet amused expression.

    "Okay, okay, no need to terrorize me. I won''t speak a word of it, happy now," replied Mrs. San. She changed hernguage to English and looked at Nivritti, "oh, dear, far from home and broke leg. Sorry, think of me as uhmma. I will take care."

    Kyung-Soo immediately stared at Nivritti. Only he knew that Nivritti was fluent in Korean, well, San-siblings too knew, so he was surprised when Mrs. San tried to talk to her in broken English. He wanted to know the reason why she didn''t tell that poor woman that she can talk in Korean. He had heard her talking to San-Siblings in Korean and was more surprised that even Mrs. San''s children didn''t tell her about Nivritti''s fluency in Korean.

    Nivritti felt two pairs of eyes on her, and she nced at Kyung-Soo. He was smirking at her. She knew that he knew about hernguage skills. She kept praying to God that Kyung-Soo must not reveal her secret.

    "I am fine, Ajhumma!" replied Nivritti and slightly bowed her head in front of her.

    "See Jaegeuna! She is so nice. Would it not be nice if she bes my daughter-inw?" said Mrs. San in Korean to her son.

    The moment she said those words, there was a barrage of reactions from everyone.

    "Uhmma!" shouted Jae-Geun and Jae-Hwa. Kyung-Soo and Jung-Hwa who were sipping their juice sputtered out the juice on Korain and Manager Park who were sitting in front of them. Thae and Jeong-Eun choked on their bread while the rest of the people stared at everyone with stunned expressions.

    "You have to stop saying things like that, Uhmma!" Jae-Geun gritted his teeth at her mother.

    "JJ! Paper towels are in the kitchen, get them," suggested Nivritti. Jung-Hwa ran to the kitchen and brought the paper towel to the table and Young-Chul, Korain and Manager Park wiped their faces with it.

    "Okay, okay, I won''t say another word. I just came to see her and give her this," Mrs. San handed a big packet wrapped in a satin cloth to Jae-Hwa. "Make sure you girls eat well and take care of her."

    "Promise me you will note here unannounced. You have to tell me if you areing here, okay?" Jae-Hwa took the packet her mother brought and scolded her.

    "Yeah, yeah, I always embarrass you both," pouted Mrs. San.

    "No, you embarrass all of us," Mr. San scolded her.

    "Why did you have to bring her here?" Jae-Hwa punched her brother.

    "I am sorry. You know how she gets. She never listens to anyone," replied Jae-Geun.

    "Get her out before she says something about them," Jae-Hwa tilted her head and kept signalling at ASD.

    "Okay, okay, rx, I will take her away," replied Jae-Geun. He then looked at his mother and said, "uhmma, we have to go."

    "Let her finish eating, Jaegeuna!" said Mrs. San and sat on the handrail of the couch. She could not keep her eyes off Jung-Hwa. "Eat, dear. Oh, I brought Oi Kimchi. You all should have some," she smiled at Jung-Hwa and caressed his head.

    "She is touching him, she is touching him," Jae-Hwa gritted her teeth and pinched her brother''s upper arm. He flinched in pain while his mother ran toward Jae-Hwa to grab the packet she brought. She took the parcel to the table and opened the packet. A lot of containers became visible, and she opened the kimchi box.

    "Take her away," Jae-Hwa clenched her teeth and whispered to her brother.

    "This for you, dear," Mrs. San handed a container of soup to Nivritti. "Samgyetang soup, good for sick. You well soon," she said in broken English.

    "Thank you, Ajhumma. This is so kind of you," Nivritti again bowed her head.

    "See Jaegeuna! Ask her on a date," said Mrs. San.

    "Uhmma!!" shouted Jae-Geun. "It''s time for you to go. Ahppa! Let''s go. I will drop you home then I have to go to the hospital."

    "Wait! Her medicine," said Mrs. San.

    "What?" asked Jae-Geun.

    "Injection!" replied Mrs. San.

    "Oh, right!" said Jae-Geun. "Are you done with your breakfast?" he asked Nivritti.

    "Yeah!" replied Nivritti.

    "Okay, first let me check your foot," said Jae-Geun. He came close and knelt on the floor. He made Nivritti lower her foot so he couldpare both feet. He softly turned her foot left and right to see if there was any swelling or discolouration of muscles. He pressed near her broken toe, and she flinched in pain.

    "Ow!" Nivritti sucked her teeth.

    "Hey! Careful!" said Young-Chul and grabbed Jae-Geun''s hand.

    "It''s okay. I have to check. She is fine," replied Jae-Geun and softly smiled at Young-Chul to assure him.

    "Okay!" Young-Chul blinked his eyes a few times and removed his hand from Jae-Geun''s arm.

    "There''s a mild swelling. Did you put pressure on your foot?" demanded Jae-Geun.

    "No, but I didn''t keep it elevated for some time," replied Nivritti.

    "Ritti!" he scolded her.

    "Sorry, I had to. But after that, I took medicine and have not put pressure on my foot, I swear," replied Nivritti.

    "Hmm, Jaehwa, keep an eye on her foot. If swelling increases, bring her to the hospital immediately. We might have to do another X-ray," ordered Jae-Geun.

    "Another X-ray, could it mean her fracture is getting worse?" asked Kyung-Soo immediately. Nivritti looked at his face. His wide eyes, red nose, and quivering lips showed her he was worried and scared.

    "No, I am not saying that. But putting pressure on hairline fracture or resuming activities on an injured foot can cause a lot of problems. It can develop into arger bone break, cartge damage, chronic pain, etc and we do not want that. So, from this moment, no putting pressure on your foot and always keeping it elevated. Jaehwa! Also, give her an ice pack that will reduce the swelling," exined Jae-Geun.

    "This happened because of me," murmured Young-Chul.

    "Excuse me!" shouted both Nivritti and Jae-Geun as only these two heard him.

    "Nothing happened because of you. I me NK," said Nivritti.

    "What!! Me? What did I do?" shouted Kyung-Soo.

    "You broke my toe first," Nivritti raised her eyebrow at him.

    Kyung-Soo''s mouth fell open with shock. "Excuse me! I didn''t ask you to run around your house. You have these big eyes. Why didn''t you use them?"

    "You made me run after you, or did you forget?" shouted Nivritti.

    "I didn''t make you run. I just told Jae-Hwa about what you said to her brother that he should not tell her about MY or his hospital visit," smirked Kyung-Soo.

    "That''s it, I will break your leg too," Nivritti tried to lunge at Kyung-Soo, but Jae-Geun stopped her with just one look. Kyung-Soo jumped backwards in fear.

    "SIT!"manded Jae-Geun.

    Nivritti lowered her head and apologised, "Sorry."

    "When will you both stop fighting? Every time this happens," scolded Korain.

    "He provokes me,"ined Nivritti.

    "I literally said nothing. She pinpointed me," argued Kyung-Soo.

    "I will hit you both on your head if you don''t stop. Am I clear?" scolded Korain.

    "Yes, hyung. Yes, SK," both Nivritti and Kyung-Soo nodded.

    "And what did you say that she shouted at Kyungsoona?" Korain demanded from Young-Chul.

    "If I would not havee here at night, she would have gotten proper rest and her foot would be alright by now," sulked Young-Chul.

    "Someone hit him on his head for me," Nivritti rolled her eyes at him.

    "They came here at night?" whispered Jae-Geun to Nivritti.

    "Not now," Nivritti gritted her teeth at him.

    "So, no boys rule was only for me," he teased her.

    "SJ! Shut up!" she murmured back. "MY, as I told you, it''s not your fault. You needed help and if he would not have injured my toe in the first ce this would not have happened," again Nivritti pointed at Kyung-Soo.

    "You, see that hyung, you see that. Again, she is taking my name," pouted Kyung-Soo andined to Korain.

    Korain facepalmed hard and looked at Nivritti, Kyung-Soo, and Young-Chul. One by one he scolded all three to his heart''s content.

 Chapter 238 The Relationship Scandal

    Chapter 238 The Rtionship Scandal

    Korain was angry at everyone. They had so much to do yet Kyung-Soo and Nivritti kept bickering like always. On top of that Young-Chul was feeling guilty about Nivritti''s pain.

    "Your fault, your fault, your fault, shut up both of you!!" scolded Korain. "You two, stop fighting about everything and anything thates to your mind. I have had enough of that. You both are responsible for that injury. He is an idiot to provoke you, but I thought you were smart, why did you chase after him? You could have asked me, I would have thrown him to the ground just like that," he snapped his fingers to put emphasis on his words.

    "And you, you need to stop saying sorry for asking for help. Not everything is your fault. She chose to help you, you didn''t force her. She could have left you on that balcony and not dealt with you. Did she say anything about her pain to you? Then why are you demeaning her kind gesture? She didn''t care about her pain, or her injury and sat with you the whole night to make you feel better. She calmed you down after you were freaking out and now you do this? If she is ready to put aside her pain to help you, you need to put aside your guilt and get better. Do you understand?" Korain scolded Young-Chul.

    "Yes, hyung," Young-Chul lowered his head and spoke. Everyone stood there scared, not speaking a single word after Korain''s disy of authority.

    "Now everyone, finish your breakfast. We have a lot of work to do. Doctor San, please take care of her and please leave. You must not bete, your patients must be waiting for you. Boys, before we leave, we need to clean her house and set up the bean bags," ordered Korain.

    "What? No. No need to clean¡­" said Nivritti.

    Before she couldplete her sentence, Korain pointed his forefinger at her and ordered, "not a word. Lie down, get your medicine and rest. We are sorry for making a mess. Boys, we have little time. We need to finish everything and then go talk to Hu-ssi. We have history to make today."

    "History?" whispered Jae-Geun.

    "Yeah, you will find outter today," replied Nivritti.

    Jae-Geun grabbed his bag and took out the medicine. He approached Nivritti, raised her sleeve, and gave her an injection. "You know you will feel sleepy after this, right?" he asked. Nivritti just nodded.

    He again informed Jae-Hwa to apply an ice pack on Nivritti''s foot, pulled and pushed his parents, especially his mother and left.

    Leaving Nivritti on the couch, everyone started working their way through the house. Young-Chul and Korain said that they will take care of the bedroom as they slept therest night. They changed the sheets and threw theundry in the washing machine.

    "Hey! Why is this not working?" asked Korain who stood before Nivritti with a vacuum cleaner in his hand.

    "You guys don''t have to do that," protested Nivritti.

    "Ugh¡­" groaned Korain. "Do you ever reply on the first try? Or do you want Jae to do all the work?"

    "What? No! Why would she do all the work?" asked Nivritti.

    "So, you are saying that you will clean your apartment, with that leg, with that swollen leg?" Korain stood before her with a tilted head and one hand on his waist grinding his teeth, condescendingly.

    Nivritti sighed, closed her eyes, shook her head in disbelief and then replied, "it has never worked. You will have to use the old-fashioned broom and dustpan."

    "Okay, TK, PJ, you take care of the bean bag and be careful of the beans, don''t spill any. Without a vacuum cleaner it will be difficult to clean them up if they get out. MY will take care of theundry. I will do the brooming, JJ, take care of the moping. JH, take the balcony, NK, you are responsible for cleaning the bathroom," Korain was giving out orders.

    And Nivritti shouted when she heard that Kyung-Soo would clean her bathroom, "what?"

    "What?" Korain stared at her.

    "Nothing! You are the boss," Nivritti replied andy down on the couch quietly.

    "Let me help too," said Manager Park.

    "You can help Jae in cleaning the table and take care of the kitchen," replied Korain.

    Everyone nodded and started to move in their respective direction. Suddenly a thought came to Nivritti''s mind. She promised Jeong-Eun that she would help him talk to Jae-Hwa and drama after drama stopped her from doing that. Now she had that opportunity.

    "Um, Manager Park, could you help me please?" she interrupted.

    "Yes, please!" he said.

    "Could you please get myptop from the night table in my room?" she requested.

    "Of course!" he walked away.

    "Psst!" she signalled Jeong-Eun to look at her. He was busy opening the box of the bean bags. He looked at her and saw that she was gesturing towards Jae-Hwa.

    "What?" he mouthed.

    "Go talk to her," she mouthed back.

    But he didn''t understand the shape her lips were making. He again mouthed, "what?"

    She moved her forefinger and gestured for him toe near her. He looked around and walked close to her.

    "What?" he murmured.

    "Come closer," she said.

    Jeong-Eun lowered his face near her. She immediately grabbed his cor and lowered him even more. "Go talk to her. Help her in the kitchen. Ask her whatever you wanted to ask. This can be your opportunity, you moron," she gritted her teeth.

    "What about Manager Park?" he asked.

    "Why do you think I sent him away? Grab the chance. Help her carry the boxes and utensils," she snapped at him.

    "Right! Right!" he stood straight and looked at Jae-Hwa who was collecting empty boxes of breakfast. He cleared his throat and walked near Jae-Hwa. She lifted her head and looked at him. For a second, she stopped whatever she was doing and kept staring at him. Nivritti looked at them and could not stop smiling at them.

    She felt someone approaching her and she straightened her face. Manager Park came with herptop and the charger. She sat up and leaned her back on the handrail of the couch. She took theptop from his hand and ced it on herp.

    "Comfortable?" he asked and reached towards her leg to take care of the cushion.

    "No, please don''t," she shouted at once.

    All looked at her shocked.

    "What? Are you in pain?" asked Jung-Hwa who was standing on the threshold of the bedroom, waiting for Korain to finish the sweeping.

    "No," she replied.

    "Then why did you shout?" scolded Kyung-Soo who came out of the bathroom after he heard her scream.

    "He was about to touch my feet and, in my culture, elders don''t touch the feet of their young ones. It''s a respect thing," she exined. "Sorry, if I offended you," she apologised to Manager Park.

    "Oh, please don''t say that. I understand. But let me help you," he said.

    "Let me," interjected Jung-Hwa and walked close to Nivritti.

    "JJ! No!" she tried to stop him.

    "What? Am I older than you?" he asked.

    "No."

    "Then?" he asked again.

    Nivritti just looked at him. She had no answer for him. He just moved forward and took care of her foot and fluffed the cushion under it. Everyone went back to their chores except Manager Park who stood there staring at Jeong-Eun who walked behind Jae-Hwa into the kitchen.

    "You can help, TK," Nivritti nudged Manager Park.

    "Right!" he smiled at her but looked at Jae-Hwa and Jeong-Eun, sceptically.

    Nivritti saw his facial expression and understood that something bothered him after looking at them together. He was not liking that Jae-Hwa and Jeong-Eun were standing close while washing the dishes. "Shit! What is he thinking about?" she thought.

    She knew she had to divert his mind away Jeong-Euna and Jae-Hwa. "Don''t think much about that. I told him to help her," she said.

    "What?" asked Manager Park, confused.

    "I see you are thinking along the lines of spooky scandal. He is just helping her. There is nothing going on between them. You can rx," she assured him.

    "You have no idea how people will react if they get to know that the boys are in a rtionship. It can destroy their fanbase. Their poprity will decrease drastically. All everyone will talk about is their rtionship and not their music, their talent," replied Manager Park.

    "Is it that bad?" asked Nivritti.

    "You have no idea. Not only his, but her life will also be chaotic," said Manager Park.

    "Oh!" eximed Nivritti.

    He moved near Thae after having a chat with Nivritti and started helping him but kept his eyes on Jae-Hwa and Jeong-Eun all the time. Nivritti kept ncing at herptop and Manager Park alternatively.

    "Why is he staring at them? Will he try to separate them? Why is he so concerned about ASD''s rtionship status? What bad can happen? Did something bad happen in history? Nothing came up about their rtionships of affairs when I researched them. Well, I researched only about their music and albums and videos. Should I look at what happened? Nah! I don''t want to know about their personal life, that would be snooping," she thought.

    She opened a new tab and typed "ASD affairs and ex-girlfriends" in the search bar.

 Chapter 239 The Embarrassing Hug

    Chapter 239 The Embarrassing Hug

    Nivritti kept staring at Manager Park who in turn kept staring at Jeong-Eun and Jae-Hwa talking and working in the kitchen. She knew what they were talking about, but Manager Park had no clue. He thought they were on the verge of having an affair.

    His behaviour made her search for ASD''s previous girlfriends. Google was ready to show her the results when suddenly Kyung-Soo shouted from the bathroom, "Park-ssi! Please hand me my clothes."

    Abruptly, Nivritti closed the search tab. She didn''t like that she was snooping on ASD''s private life even though it was just a matter of a small Google search. She felt like she wasmitting a crime. She saw Manager Park walking with a duffel bag and handing it to Kyung-Soo in the bathroom.

    It meant that he was done with the cleaning and was ready to take a bath. She removed all the distractions from her mind and concentrated on her scripts. She had a lot of work to do.

    Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Jeong-Eun and Jae-Hwa were oblivious to the eyes that were staring at them.

    "Sorry, you had to sleep on the floor because of us," apologised Jeong-Eun.

    "Huh¡­" said Jae-Hwa who was too shocked because Jeong-Eun was close to her and helping her. Her brain fried the very moment he approached her near the table and helped her carry all the boxes and utensils to the kitchen.

    "Are you okay?" asked Jeong-Eun.

    "Yeah, yeah. What did you say before?" Jae-Hwa came back to her senses.

    "I said I am sorry that you had to sleep on the floor," repeated Jeong-Eun.

    "Oh no, no worries. It is fine. And thank you for helping me," she raised a te that she was washing to show him. She kept washing the tes and he kept drying them.

    "Oh,e on! It''s nothing after the mess we made in her house," Jeong-Eun pointed at Nivritti.

    "Yeah, I have seen her keeping her ce spotless and she was angry when she saw her bathroom," smiled Jae-Hwa.

    Jeong-Eun''s heart stopped when he saw her cute smile. Her eyes squinted when she smiled and fine lines near her mouth and the corner of her eyes appeared making her even more beautiful. He kept ncing at her eyes and her lips alternatively when she handed him a wet te. He came back from his dreand and awkwardly smiling took the te away from her hand.

    "Jae!" said Jeong-Eun and looked at her.

    "Oh shit! Ritti! Do you want tea or coffee? You have not had anything with your breakfast," shouted Jae-Hwa from the kitchen.

    "What?" Nivritti lifted her head and asked. She didn''t hear anything as she concentrated on the scripts.

    "Tea or coffee?" Jae-Hwa asked again.

    "Coffee!" shouted Young-Chul.

    "Excuse me!" scolded Nivritti. "You have anxiety, and you drink coffee. Are you stupid? No coffee, drink tea from now on. Mild, green tea. Do you understand?"

    "Fine," pouted Young-Chul.

    "I want tea," shouted Jung-Hwa while wiping the floor.

    "Me too, me too," every member of ASD repeated the phrase.

    "Not me, thank you," said Manager Park.

    "You will drink. I will put the water to boil," said Jeong-Eun.

    Nivritti looked at Jeong-Eun and he looked at her while searching for the kettle.

    "First shelf to your left," instructed Nivritti. He smiled and bowed his head slightly to her. And then they had a conversation with only their eyes. She kept gesturing towards Jae-Hwa asking him if he talked to her. He shrugged his shoulder and shook his head in no. Nivritti moved her lips as if she was cursing him and then he assured her by the show of his palm that he was going to talk to her.

    Jeong-Eun who was sad that Jae-Hwa didn''t hear his voice when he tried to talk to her, tried again. "Jae! I need to ask you something if you don''t mind."

    "Why would I mind?" smiled Jae-Hwa while cing all the containers, her mother brought, in the fridge.

    "It''s about you and Seong-ssi," said Jeong-Eun. Jae-Hwa''s hands abruptly froze. The container dropped from her hand but luckily Jeong-Eun caught it from falling to the floor. "Sorry, if I am overstepping my boundaries. We don''t have to talk if you don''t want to."

    "I am sorry, One. It is difficult for me to talk about it," replied Jae-Hwa and cleared her throat as she felt it closing just with the mention of Dae''s name. She hated talking about him. She hated working with him. She hated even thinking about him. She wanted no part of him in her life.

    "It''s okay. You don''t have to talk about him. Just tell me if you are okay. Just tell me everything is okay between you two," requested Jeong-Eun.

    "It''s sweet of you to worry. But I am fine. And I have my saviour with me. Nothing will happen to me if she is with me, I am sure of that," Jae-Hwa pointed at Nivritti.

    "I am d. But if you want, not a saviour, just a friend to talk about things, you can always talk to me. You can call me whenever you want, I will be there for you, I promise," smiled Jeong-Eun.

    "Thank you, One. Thank you so much for understanding."

    "Anytime," said Jeong-Eun. While Jae-Hwa moved to the centre table to wipe it up, the water boiled. "Where are your cups, Ritti?" asked Jeong-Eun.

    "Um¡­ I don''t have 10 cups. I only have six," replied Nivritti.

    "No worries, few will drink from cups, few from sses," said Thae.

    "Thank you, O'' wise one!" teased Korain who was done with sweeping the floor and was collecting his clothes from the duffel bag to get into the bathroom.

    The bathroom door opened, and Kyung-Soo walked out while drying his hair off with a towel. The wet hair was all over the ce with a few of them dancing on his forehead. Tiny droplets of water were hanging for their dear life on his sideburns. Even they didn''t want to leave his handsome face.

    He came out in a hurry so that every member of his team could take a bath and they should leave for their meeting with the superiors. As a result of that, he didn''t close the top three buttons of his pastelvender shirt. One could see his toned chest muscle clearly.

    Nivritti looked at him and her lips parted a little when her eyes fell on his handsome face and bare chest. How can one look so gorgeous was iprehensible to her? How many days did God spend sculpting him? Nivritti licked her lips and gulped hard.

    There was no thought, no feelings. She just kept staring at him. Her mind was busy taking in his beauty. Her mind was so flooded that nothing else existed for her at that moment.

    "Why are you staring at NK Hyung, Ritti?" taunted Jung-Hwa who while mopping the floor nced at Nivritti staring at Kyung-Soo. But Kyung-Soo was oblivious to her stare. Jung-Hwa''s jibe made him look at her, her lips, her wide eyes.

    "What?" said Nivritti absentmindedly.

    "What were you thinking? Do NK hyung look handsome?" Jung-Hwa taunted, again.

    "Huh, what nonsense?" she shouted.

    "Then why were you staring at him?" smirked Thae.

    "I was thinking about a script when he disturbed my concentration. For your kind information, I was not staring at him, I was looking at him angrily," she lied.

    "Great! She is again ming me," shouted Kyung-Soo.

    health will be good and you will contribute much more to the music and your group and of course, yourpany. Third, as I told you, get in front of the problem. Before "Don''t make mee out," screamed Korain from the bathroom.

    "Sorry!" said Kyung-Soo and Nivritti in unison.

    "Why do you have to always me me?" whispered Kyung-Soo.

    "You opened the door, and it broke my focus, and I lost the sentence where I was," she lied again. She didn''t lose the sentence when he came out, she lost her mind.

    "Okay, okay. Don''t let him hear that. He will kick both our asses," said Kyung-Soo.

    "Really?" asked Nivritti.

    "Yeah, ckbelt in Taekwondo," replied Kyung-Soo.

    "Like JJ?"

    "Yes, they both are experts," replied Kyung-Soo.

    "Wow!"

    Kyung-Soo sat on the couch in front of her and buttoned his shirt. Thae and Manager Park were done with the beanbags, and they ced two near the centre table and stored the remaining two under the TV.

    Jeong-Eun and Jae-Hwa brought tea for everyone and one by one every member took a bath afterpleting their chores.

    It was time for them to leave. They all collected their things and were ready to move out.

    "Best of luck, MY," said Nivritti.

    "What if they won''t budge?" asked Young-Chul.

    "First, be patient and don''t assume anything. Second, tell them how beneficial it will be for your mental health. Don''t think about fans, don''t think about them, don''t think about stupid scandals, think about yourself. Right now, YOU must be your priority. Nothing else matters. Tell them that. If your mental health will be good, your physical health will be good and you will contribute much more to the music and your group and of course, yourpany. Third, as I told you, get in front of the problem. Before anyone finds out and it really gets messy, tell everyone, everything," exhorted Nivritti.

    Young-Chul ran towards her and threw himself on her. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug but broke the embrace within seconds. "Thank you," he said while staring at the floor as he was embarrassed after hugging her.

    Nivritti looked at his flushed face and smiled, "you are very wee."

 Chapter 240 The One-on-one Live

    Chapter 240 The One-on-one Live

    After the boys left, Jae-Hwa dropped on the couch with a thud. She looked around, they had changed the whole face of the room. There were chairs stacked on one another and ced in a corner. Bean bags were lying near the couch.

    She knew about the changes in the bedroom too. There was a big ass almirah with all the bedding inside it. The whole house was sparkling clean. They even washed their cups and sses before they left. The whole balcony was dust-free and freshundry was hanging.

    "Tired?" asked Nivritti.

    "Yeah, didn''t sleep well. You know that," Jae-Hwa let her head fall on the headrest.

    "Then go and have some rest," said Nivritti.

    "Nah! I would do some work instead," replied Jae-Hwa and stood up. She brought herptop and ced her foot on the table. Both the girls kept reading scripts for hours. Jae-Hwa had no concerns about cooking lunch as her mother brought tons of food.

    Nivritti kept reading the scripts but her mind kept thinking about Young-Chul. She wanted to know what happened in the meeting. Did the bosses listen to him or blocked his wishes? Was he going to listen to them or just blurt out about his condition to the world? She needed answers but was getting nothing.

    She kept checking her phone to see if anyone of them messaged her. But she knew that was impossible. They had a busy schedule today. They left her house a littlete after all the cleaning and then they had to meet with their bosses and after discussing everything with them, they had a Live session with fans.

    She just kept hoping that Young-Chul must not have another panic attack. His mind was in a fragile condition and was getting pressure after pressure. That could break himpletely and she didn''t want that. She tried giving him as much support as she can provide and wished that to be enough.

    It was around noon when Jae-Hwa looked up from herptop to give her eyes some needed break. She looked at Nivritti. A smile appeared on her face when she saw that Nivritti''s head was tilted and rested on the headrest and she was snoring softly. The medicine did its job and she fell asleep with herptop on her legs.

    Jae-Hwa stood up and moved near Nivritti. She first removed theptop and ced it on the table. She then woke her up a little and made her lie downpletely on the couch. After adjusting the cushion under her feet, she tucked Nivritti into her nket and let her sleep quietly.

    Jae-Hwa too was tired, so she shut both theptops and went to the bedroom to sleep. After having a hefty breakfast no one felt hungry by noon, but both the girls were extremely sleepy. The moment Jae-Hwa''s head fell on the pillow she fell asleep.

    She was sleeping peacefully when her sleep was disturbed by the ringing of her phone. She groaned but raised her head to look at the caller ID. It was Jae-Geun. She picked her up the call and while keeping her eyes closed, she answered the phone, "Yes, Oppa!"

    "Why do you sound like this?" asked Jae-Geun.

    "I was sleeping," replied Jae-Hwa.

    "And Ritti?"

    "She too is sleeping, thanks to your medicine," replied Jae-Hwa.

    "How is her leg? Is the swelling down?" asked Jae-Geun.

    "Yeah, I applied an ice pack twice and she had not ced her foot down once," replied Jae-Hwa.

    "Did you give her the second pill of the day?" asked Jae-Geun.

    "Oh no!"

    "Jaehwa!" scolded Jae-Geun.

    "I will wake her up, feed her something and then give her medicine," replied Jae-Hwa.

    "Jaehwa! You guys didn''t even have your lunch? How will you take care of her if you don''t even take care of yourself? Why didn''t you eat your lunch yet?" shouted Jae-Geun.

    "We were tired, Oppa and she fell asleep due to the medicine. I will go now," said Jae-Hwa and jumped from the bed.

    "Do you want me to order something?" asked Jae-Geun.

    "No, uhmma brought so much food. That will be enough for us," replied Jae-Hwa and walked into the living room. Nivritti was still sleeping soundly without a care in the world. "Okay, talk to youter." She disconnected the call and ran to the kitchen.

    She woke up Nivritti after heating the food and ting it. Nivritti groaned and moaned but after constant pressure from Jae-Hwa, she finally woke up. Her eyes kept drooping and she kept chewing her food without even tasting the food.

    "Come on! Keep eating. You need to have your medicine too," said Jae-Hwa.

    "God! I hate them. The whole night they kept hissing and then they woke up early morning and then they would not shut up. I am so tired, and this stupid medicine makes me sleepy," yawned Nivritti.

    "Eat and you can go back to sleep," said Jae-Hwa.

    "When are they going Live?" asked Nivritti.

    Jae-Hwa scoffed, "you hate them, yet you are worried about them."

    "I want everything to go smoothly so that they don''te back here to disturb our sleep," replied Nivritti.

    "Oh, so you are thinking about yourself," teased Jae-Hwa.

    "Shut up and eat your food," scolded Nivritti.

    Nivritti somehow finished her food and Jae-Hwa brought her medicine for her. After eating and taking her medicine shey down again. Jae-Hwa applied an ice pack again to her foot and Nivritti again slept for a few more hours.

    Jae-Hwa left the dishes in the sink and againy down for some time on the bed. But after walking around and eating, she was not sleepy now. She keptying down, staring at the ceiling for minutes. When she could fell asleep, she got up from the bed and sat next to Nivritti and opened herptop.

    She was supposed to read scripts, but her fingers typed the site of ASD Live. She had no idea what to expect. The site opened but it was just disying the faces of ASD members. She was confused about what she was missing. Then she realised it was one-on-one Live. She would have to pay to even see the session even though she was a member.

    She paid the entry fee of the Live and the session appeared before her. All the boys were sitting smiling at the camera, but they were frozen, no one was moving. She saw the timer at the bottom of the screen. It said that the Live would start in 2 minutes.

    She waited for 2 minutes, and the session started. She was only allowed to be present in the session but not ask questions. That slot was already filled by patrons who booked the slot in advance.

    The boys greeted everyone in their signature style and wished them a happy Sunday. For minutes, Kyung-Soo talked about the overwhelming response they were getting for the Rencontre contest and thanked every one of his fans for participating.

    Then Korain talked about the giarism they were seeing in the scripts and urged his fans not to use the wrong methods to get their way. He tried exining to everyone that if they won''t mean the contest won''t mean that it would be the end of the world and they should not overwork themselves and just enjoy the whole process of the Rencontre.

    The producer then announced that they would start the one-on-one questions from the fans in a few minutes but before that Young had something to tell everyone. Jae-Hwa''s heart stopped beating. Her jaw dropped to the floor.

    She extended her arm and started hitting Nivritti. As she kept her eyes glued to herptop screen she was not sure where she was hitting Nivritti. After a few seconds of pping and hitting, Nivritti groaned and opened her eyes.

    "Woah, woah! What? Stop hitting," moaned Nivritti.

    "You need to see this. Wake up, wake up," shouted Jae-Hwa.

    "What? What?" Nivritti rubbed her eyes and raised her head.

    Jae-Hwa turned herptop towards Nivritti. She saw Young-Chul and her eyes opened wide. Young-Chul cleared her throat and looked straight into the camera.

    "Is he¡­?" asked Nivritti.

    "I think so," replied Jae-Hwa.

    "So Mr. Hu epted?" asked Nivritti, shocked.

    "I think so," replied Jae-Hwa.

    Nivritti tried to sit down but Jae-Hwa stopped her. "Don''t overexert yourself. You can hear while lying down."

    "Right!" Nivritti stopped moving and focused on theptop screen.

    "Hello everyone!" Young-Chul started his speech. "I have something to tell you all. There is something that I have been hiding from everyone. I know this might make some people angry, some people might feel pity for me, some might call me weak, or some mightpletely abandon me. But I can no longer hide my truth.

    "A few days ago, I fainted in my room and was admitted to a hospital. After all the tests I was diagnosed with depression. Yes, I have mental health issues. I know what everyone will say. I am rich, I am famous, and I have millions of fans then why am I depressed?"

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!