Chapter 34

34 The Cutie

Nivritti was walking with Thae and Kyung-Soo. They exited the practice room and were waiting for the lift to arrive. She was feeling uneasy as she was not wearing any bra. Although the extra large t-shirt and jacket covered everything up neatly. Still, she kept clenching the jacket near her chest.

“Give me your bag, please,” said Thae to Nivritti. He wanted to help her in any way possible. He was still feeling bad about spilling cola all over her. But found it amusing to look at her as she looked funny in an oversized t-shirt and jacket.

Nivritti was not ready for anyone to speak so she didn’t hear what he said. “What?” she inquired.

Thae pointed at her laptop bag and repeated, “let me carry it.”

“No, it’s fine, Mr Kang.” Thae’s face fell low with disappointment. She gave nicknames to every member of his team but was taking his name formally. He didn’t like being treated differently. He was loved by one and all but not her. That made him sad. Well, he knew it was his fault.

“Yeah, give him,” chimed Kyung-Soo. He was happy that Thae offered to help her but was disappointed that she refused his help.

“NK, I am fine,” replied Nivritti. Thae’s face fell lower after he heard “NK”. He too wanted a nickname.

“Why don’t you listen to anyone?” chided Kyung-Soo.

“It’s not heavy and I said I am fine,” emphasised Nivritti staring into his eyes.

.....

“He is just trying to help,” pointed out Kyung-Soo.

“I know that. But he already has a bag in his hand,” counterpointed Nivritti.

“So what? He has two hands,” contrasted Kyung-Soo.

Thae was just standing looking to and fro at them bickering at each other. He wanted to stop them but every time he would open his mouth, one of them would speak over him.

“That does not mean he must carry two bags,” weighed Nivritti.

“What is wrong with carrying two bags?” inquired Kyung-Soo.

“What is wrong with carrying one bag?” differed Nivritti.

“That means you are not ready to forgive him,” blurted out Kyung-Soo.

“What? Don’t you say that. Are you out of your mind?” shouted Nivritti.

Kyung-Soo had enough of her defiance. He hated that she never listened to him. In anger, he grabbed the strap of her bag and pulled her closer to his face. Her face was so close to him that she could feel his warm breath over her lips. She gulped hard. His one action made her shut up.

“What did you say to me? I am out of my mind? No one talks to me like that,” scolded Kyung-Soo.

Everyone was scared of angry Kyung-Soo. Thae looked at both of them, they were standing too close. He remembered Jung-Hwa’s word about Kyung-Soo liking Nivritti. But now he was angry at her. No matter what, he lowered his eyes to give them privacy.

Seeing that Kyung-Soo was too close to her, her tongue involuntarily ran over her lips due to nervousness. Kyung-Soo gasped and his anger flew out of the window. He closed his eyes and groaned loudly.

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“Stop it,” he murmured.

“What?” she asked innocently.

“The thing you do,” he pointed at her lips with his eyes, “unconsciously.”

The moment she realised that she again licked her lips, she gaped, “Oh, sorry.” She tried to move backwards but Kyung-Soo was not ready to let go of the strap. “Let go,” she muttered.

He pulled her even closer. Their noses were about to touch. “Give me the bag.”

“Why are you like this?” she barked.

“Why are you so stubborn?” he rebuked. The moment Thae heard them shouting he looked at them. He had to bite his lips to control his emotions. He never saw Kyung-Soo behaving like that with anyone. Girls always threw themselves over him and he could care less. If he would ask for their life, they would easily give him that.

But now he was fighting with a girl for a bag. So what, if she was not giving the bag, why was it so important for Kyung-Soo? He had a knack for getting things his way but with this girl, he was failing.

“I am not stubborn, you are,” screamed Nivritti.

“You are,” chided Kyung-Soo.

Thae had enough of their stupidity. He shouted, “enough, both of you. Give me the bag.” Nivritti tried to open her mouth, but Thae shut her down instantly, “bup, bup, bup, I have had enough from you two. Not a single word. Just hand me the bag and follow me.”

Both Nivritti and Kyung-Soo looked at each other and raised their eyebrows with disbelief. She handed him the bag and Thae rolled his eyes hard at them. They were bickering like married couples. Both were mature yet were behaving like children.

The lift opened and all entered in. No one talked after that. No one was even looking at each other. The lift reached the basement parking, and all exited the lift. Kyung-Soo waited near his car and kept an eye on both Thae and Nivritti.

He was not liking the idea of sending Nivritti with Thae. He just kept wishing for everything to go smoothly. “Please God, don’t let them fight again,” he kept praying.

As soon as Thae and Nivritti sat in Thae’s car, Kyung-Soo called up the security team and informed them that they were leaving the building. The moment both the cars hit the road, two separate teams of bodyguards followed their cars. Both the cars went in opposite directions.

Kyung-Soo kept staring at Thae’s car till it disappeared among the fleet of cars.

Nivritti noticed that two black SUVs were following them. She had seen this before when she was travelling with Jung-Hwa. She knew it was Thae’s security team. She found it odd that K&Q had so much trust in their idols that they were okay with them driving cars alone.

“Where am I driving you to?” Thae broke the ice.

Nivritti opened her phone and showed him her address.

“You don’t remember your address,” teased Thae.

“No,” grinned Nivritti sheepishly. “It’s just been two weeks. I need some more time.”

Thae smiled at her cuteness. “Of course. That’s near our K&Q building,” he noted.

“Yeah! It’s 15 minutes on foot,” replied Nivritti.

“You walk every day to work?” asked Thae.

“I love walking and it’s great exercise,” answered Nivritti.

“Absolutely,” he smiled at her. She politely smiled back. She was somewhat at ease because Thae was not shouting at her. He was talking and smiling at her. Even Thae was at ease to see her smiling freely.

Suddenly a thought popped into his mind. He signalled his security team and stopped the car. Two men instantly came and stood outside his car.

Nivritti was worried as the car stopped and she saw the security team outside her car. “What happened?”

“Relax! Nothing happened, just give me a few minutes,” he said, smiling.

He wore his mask, exited the car and his security team followed him. The street was full of people so she could not tell where Thae went. After a few minutes, the car door opened and Thae came back with a large bag in his hand. He just smiled at Nivritti and handed her the bag.

“What is this?” She looked inside. It had packets of food and cans of cola in it.

“I am sorry; you couldn’t eat because of me so when you get home, please have these,” requested Thae.

Nivritti gasped at his gesture then smiled at him. “You didn’t have to do this. This is too much food, Mr Kang. It was a mistake you need to stop feeling guilty.”

Again, his heart broke when she called him formally. “It’s not the only thing I feel guilty about. I am sorry from the bottom of my heart for the way I treated you,” said Thae in a sad tone. He was on the verge of crying.

Nivritti softly reached for his hand and patted the back of his hand. “You need to stop thinking about that too. I know how one feels if they love someone so much, you are ready to fight with the world for them.” She tried comforting him, but her own eyes became distraught. Her mind flashed back to her past for a second.

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. “But I should not have shouted at you.”

“I screamed at you as well and I’m sorry for that. I hope you can also forgive me,” replied Nivritti.

“No, you did nothing wrong, there is nothing to forgive. Wait! You said also, that means... that means you forgave me already?” noted Thae.

“I don’t even think about that incident anymore, you too need to forget about it,” exhorted Nivritti.

“Thank you for saying this; you really put my mind at ease,” he smiled at her.

“Well! As your fans say, you are too cute. No one can be angry at you for long, Mr Kang,” teased Nivritti. Thae was shy after hearing “cute” and smiled his brightest smile at her. But he still had a complaint.

“I don’t think you have forgiven me completely,” observed Thae.

“Why do you say that?”

“You became friends with my team members and gave them nicknames. If you forgave me truly, become my friend too and give call me by a nickname, not Mr Kang,” pouted Thae.

Nivritti could not control her laughter and laugh out loud.

“You really are cute. Fine, let’s call you TK.” He could not stop smiling after hearing his nickname.

He started the car and drove towards her home. He parked in her basement and got out of the car. After opening her door, he helped her with her bag and her food. She took him upstairs where he placed everything on her table.

“Thank you, TK,” said Nivritti.

Thae was so overwhelmed with emotions that before leaving her house he ran to her and gave her a tight, warm hug. He was happy that she forgave him. He was happy that she accepted his friendship. He was happy that she gave him a nickname and was calling him that.

“Whoa!” exclaimed Nivritti. Her eyes widened with shock. She never in her dreams expected a hug from Thae.

“Kyungsoona Hyung was right; you are too kind and forgiving. Thank you,” a tear dropped from Thae’s eyes. She understood his emotions and patted him on his head lovingly.

“You are absolutely welcome,” comforted Nivritti.

Thae broke the embrace, wiped his tears, and sniffled, “eat well and rest. Bye.”

“Bye, uh... TK!” she interjected. “You know I was thinking that TK is a nice nickname, but may I call you ‘cutie’ when we are alone? You know TK in front of everyone and ‘Cutie’ when we talk to each other.”

Thae beamed with happiness. He grinned like a Cheshire cat. “You can call me anything you like.”

“Then, bye cutie.”