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 playing 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,” explained Kyung-Soo.

“That’s bullshit,” exclaimed 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 body language 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 the last 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 related 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 have laid 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 placed 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 playing 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 was late 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 her laptop 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 her laptop was calling her. She groaned and left the food at the kitchen counter. She went back to her laptop and started working on the proposal. She knew if she delayed the proposal that will delay the marketing team and the IT team which will delay 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 calling late 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 placed 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.

“Relax, 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,” comforted 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 place,” 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 glad Kyung-Soo helped you after what Thae did,” said Chung-Ho.

“Yeah.”

“Go eat, finish your work and rest,” commanded Chung-Ho.

“Yes, Mr Choi.”

“Good night, Ritti.”

“Good night, Mr Choi.”

She listened to him and set her laptop 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 the laptop. 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 flashing 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.”