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 the competition. It also had the link for the Rencontre script competition which would go online soon.

All the huge billboards were playing 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 the latest 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 blank, 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 relax 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 play 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 accept 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, placed 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 alarm woke Nivritti up. She extended her hand and shut the alarm down. She grabbed her blanket 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 her laptop 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 Rencontre competition.

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 start coming in any moment.

Everyone clapped 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 be coming in any time now, so gear up you three. Good luck,” smiled Chung-Ho.