To Kiss An Idol

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,” commanded 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, four large 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 displaying 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 blackmail 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 she composed herself under such circumstances. She not only saved her friend but also tried to fight back.

“I am literally no one and apology accepted. 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 black 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, Nivritti commanded, “drive around for a bit. Don’t go directly to K&Q Building.”

“Excuse me!” exclaimed the bodyguard. He was perplexed that a girl was commanding 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 translated 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 black.

“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 placed 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 your company. 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 overcome 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 anyone come 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 you coming?” 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 anyone come 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.