To Kiss An Idol

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 glancing 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,” explained 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,” exclaimed 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 welcome. So you came up with any ideas?” inquired Jae-Hwa.

“I was too preoccupied 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 with coming up with ideas on my own. If you give me an idea I will elaborate on it but generating new ideas is not my forte. I will leave the CEO competition to you,” said Jae-Hwa. Disheartened.

Nivritti realised there was something else. “Don’t accept defeat. Try and think. I am sure you will come up with a kick-ass idea.” She tried to comfort 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 explained.

“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 to come 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 blasting 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 balance the water content of their body. the AC was in full blast 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 flash 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 it completely.

“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 accepted 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.