Chapter 28

28 The Crush

All four were climbing the stairs slowly. Jung-Hwa was happy to hear Nivritti’s opinion. She was not only sweet, smart, and kind, but she also knew how to treat a person. Jae-Hwa was tensed and Nivritti was trying her best to calm her down.

In presence of idols, people used to lose their minds. they would keep giggling or staring intensively but not Nivritti. She treated them as peers. She was working with them and always conversed with them like one. She even offered her help. Girls used to mob them but not her, the way she treated him, it was clear that she thought him of as a child. She took care of him, smiled at his idea, and praised him for it.

The only complaint he had with her was how she kept treating Kyung-Soo. Why was she so adamant about age? Why couldn’t she give his Hyung a chance? He knew Kyung-Soo would make her the happiest woman on the planet, but she was not ready to accept his love. He was ready to help his Hyung in every way possible.

Meanwhile, Nivritti was helping Jae-Hwa find her composure.

“Have you ever seen me talking to them?” questioned Jae-Hwa.

“Now, that I think about it, yes, you never spoke in front of any of the members. Why?” Nivritti was shocked.

“Why? Why??” whispered Jae-Hwa urgently. “I see them, and I forget where I am, I even forget to talk, breathe and whatnot.”

Nivritti held her palm tightly and reassured her, “Hey!! You will be fine. If you find them, their beauty, their handsomeness, to be distracting, you can look at my ugly face and come back to reality. Okay?”

“Ugly?!” Jung-Hwa was stunned at her answer. How could she call herself ugly?

.....

But Jae-Hwa laughed at her answer and side-hugged Nivritti.

They were passing the stairs entrance of the 2nd floor when Jung-Hwa informed Dae, “Seong-ssi, here.”

Jung-Hwa opened the door for everyone, and the others followed him to a large hall where ASDs were practising with backup dancers. Loud music was playing. Even though the dancers were sweating, there was no smell of the sweat. Nivritti had read somewhere that Korean lacked the gene for sweat smell. It was a unique experience for her. As being from hot and humid India, the smell of sweat was prevalent everywhere when she was there. Hell! she had to pack a lot of deodorants as she read that it was one of the most difficult things to buy in Korea as Korean do not need it.

While Nivritti and Dae moved forward with Jung-Hwa, Jae-Hwa froze in her path as soon as her eyes fell on Jeong-Eun. Nivritti and Dae moved a step forward and stopped after looking at so many people. Nivritti looked around, the room was made up of mirrors. Full-length mirrors covered the walls of the room. Dancers were looking in the mirror and practising their dance moves and stances.

She kept looking all around and her eyes met with Thae’s. Before she could avert her eyes, he bowed to her politely and hesitantly she greeted him back. She had no idea what to do so she repeated the same gesture. She was under the impression that Thae still hated her, but his bowing proved otherwise.

She wanted to smile but her sceptic brain stopped her from doing that. As soon as she bowed down, she averted her eyes from Thae and then they landed on Kyung-Soo. He was busy laughing with backup dancers. He was surrounded by men and women when suddenly a cute-looking female dancer touched his arm playfully while laughing with him.

It felt like someone stabbed her through her heart. Her eyes widened with fury. Then suddenly she became aware of her feelings. She scolded herself for feeling emotions for him. She shook her head and lowered her gaze immediately.

The next instant the door opened, and Jung-Hwa’s security team arrived with everyone’s bags that were kept in the boot space of the car.

“Guys take your bags; NK Hyung here is your team,” Jung-Hwa grabbed his back and shouted at Kyung-Soo, who was shocked to hear the word ‘NK’ from his mouth. He knew Jung-Hwa was teasing him as he brought Nivritti with him.

Kyung-Soo instantly looked at Jung-Hwa and then at Nivritti who was actively avoiding looking at him. He took a deep breath after looking at her. Even a dull colour like grey was suiting her. He moved forward toward the Rencontre team and met with Jung-Hwa midway.

“Since when did you call me, NK Hyung?” inquired Kyung-Soo with his eyebrows raised.

“Just teasing you, NK Hyung,” teased Jung-Hwa and smiled at him. Kyung-Soo was about to move away from him when Jung-Hwa interrupted, “by the way Hyung, someone called her ugly.”

Kyung-Soo was shocked. “What? Who?”

“She, herself,” replied Jung-Hwa and started laughing. Kyung-Soo hit his head playfully and made him run away.

Meanwhile, Kyung-Soo and Jung-Hwa were chatting, Korain and Jeong-Eun approached the Rencontre team. Nivritti looked around and saw that Jae-Hwa was frozen. She grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. But Jae-Hwa was still staring at Jeong-Eun and Nivritti noticed that.

Korain hugged Dae as if they were long-lost friends and then bowed down to Nivritti and Jae-Hwa. Jeong-Eun just bowed to all three. Nivritti returned the greeting and nudged Jae-Hwa in her stomach, breaking her trance. Jae-Hwa too bowed down to Korain and Jeong-Eun and wiped her nervous sweat from her forehead.

Korain was so impressed with Nivritti that he wanted her approval for his idea. So, she was the one he addressed first, “Welcome! So, did you like my ideas for the script sites?”

Nivritti was happy to answer as she too was impressed with him. “Yes, they are amazing, especially the option of clicking on your animated faces to select the person you want to write the scene about,” she replied excitedly.

“Our Hyung is a mastermind when it comes to marketing ideas,” praised Jeong-Eun.

Nivritti smiled at Jeong-Eun. She glanced back at Jae-Hwa who was trying hard not to stare at him. “Yeah, NK told me about that.”

“You guys talk about me?” Korain was shocked.

“Everyone talks about you Hyung, you are our genius,” teased Jeong-Eun. Korain grabbed him in a headlock and kept rubbing his head hard. All started laughing at their playful fight.

The next moment Kyung-Soo approached the scene and Korain let Jeong-Eun go.

Kyung-Soo’s good manners made him address the elder first. “Thank you for coming here Seong-ssi and keeping up with my every demand.” He bowed to him in respect and then he addressed the girls, “Hi Ritti! Hello San-ssi! Please follow me. The table on that side is where you’ll work. If you guys need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He pointed at a table with two long benches kept on either side and started walking.

All others started following but not Jae-Hwa. Nivritti had to drag her with her.

“Let me help you, give me your bags,” said Jeong-Eun with a smile. After seeing him smile, Jae-Hwa stopped breathing.

“It’s okay, One, thank you,” replied Dae.

Nivritti suddenly had an idea to help Jae-Hwa. “I’m fine, but you can carry her bag; she is not feeling well today,” she said pointing towards Jae-Hwa.

“What?” Jae-Hwa was shocked and confused. She froze, again.

“Just give him your bag,” commanded Nivritti.

Jae-Hwa absentmindedly gave her bag to Jeong-Eun who again smiled at her making her lose her mind. Nivritti stifled her laughter and moved forward. Jeong-Eun walked fast and reached near the table before anyone else. He placed the bag carefully and looked at everyone.

“He is your bias, isn’t he? You have a little crush on him?” Nivritti teased Jae-Hwa.

“Why would you do that? You gave me a heart attack. You are so bad,” complained Jae-Hwa placing one hand on her heart and breathing heavily.

Nivritti could not control her laughter anymore and started laughing at Jae-Hwa. Hearing her laugh, Kyung-Soo’s eyes widened, and he turned around. The fine lines on her laughing face made her more beautiful. The shine in her happy eyes made her mesmerising to look at.

“This was the dumbest decision you ever took King. How will you be able to work with full concentration if she looks like this every single time? You have to do something about your crush. Oh, God! Please help me. This girl will kill me one day for sure,” thought Kyung-Soo.

Then suddenly Nivritti saw him staring at her. She was still not over the fact that some girl touched him. She was angry at him, why she had no idea. “What?” she snapped.

“Are you here to laugh or work?” mocked Kyung-Soo.

“Can’t I do both, I am a multitasker unlike you,” chided Nivritti.

Him-Chan was standing in a corner staring at Nivritti. The confidence on her face, the smile on her lips, her dressing sense, her personality, all was attracting him. He tried hard to avoid but he had to talk to her. He was how easily Korain and Jeong-Eun talked to her, so he approached her. She was having banter with Kyung-Soo.

He had never heard anyone talking to him like that. He was well-respected and everyone spoke to him kindly and sweetly, but she was ready to go toe to toe with him.

He heard her answer and blurted out, “Ooh! Micdrop!!”

With his tease, all started laughing. Again, after seeing her laugh, this time two hearts skipped a beat.

“Shit! Why do I have this sudden urge to kiss her again?” pondered Kyung-Soo and took a deep breath.

Him-Chan could not believe his eyes. “Shit! Her laugh is prettier than her smile. Am I having a crush on her?”