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 be coming 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 places 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 their laptop which was specially equipped by the IT team to get all the scripts entered in the Rencontre competition.

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 started coming 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 started coming 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 the last two days. She loved her sleep. She didn’t want anything to come 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 will come 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’t comprehend it.

“What are you waiting for? Go with him,” shouted Chung-Ho.

They all came back to their senses. They quickly packed their laptops 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 songs coming 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. He completed 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 black 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 could complete 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 black 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,” exclaimed 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.”

Nivritti laughed at her and said, “Now, it’s clear. You are an ASDian. Don’t worry you’ll be fine.” She placed 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.