Chapter 114

114 The Cause of Cynophobia

Everyone was busy with their work. The Rencontre team was working on the scripts and ASD and the dance crew were working on learning the long-forgotten dance moves. Continuously dancing with a small rest period in between, ASD were making progress.

Soon the lunch time arrived, and all sat on the floor, wiping their sweat. Kyung-Soo took out his phone and asked his manager to place the food order for every person in the practise room. His manager informed him that the food will arrive in half an hour.

The moment he disconnected the call, he glanced at Nivritti who was busy reading on her laptop. Her braided hair was on her shoulder, and she was rolling her fingers in the hair that was at the end of the rubber band. She would roll the hair in one direction for a minute and then would roll it in opposite direction the minute after.

“Another unconscious move!” she pondered and smiled at her.

“Should we go and read another script?” suggested Korain. Kyung-Soo wanted to kiss him for suggesting that. He wanted to get close to Nivritti and Korain snatched the words right out of his mouth.

“I was thinking the same,” said Thae. He started getting up when Kyung-Soo stared at him. Thae immediately sunk down on the floor. Kyung-Soo instantly stood up and almost ran to Nivritti. He sat on the place where Jung-Hwa sat in the morning.

“Seong-ssi, give me your laptop. Let me finish reading the last script,” said Kyung-Soo. While he requested Dae, Thae ran and sat beside Nivritti once again. This time Korain chose to sit next to Thae, and Young-Chul sat next to him. Jeong-Eun was happy that no one sat next to Jae-Hwa, and he got another chance to sit next to her. Him-Chan and Jung-Hwa sat next to Jeong-Eun.

“But you didn’t like the script,” commented Dae.

“I didn’t like the one before that. But the last one I was reading was good,” said Kyung-Soo. It made Dae smile. Finally, one of his scripts was liked by Kyung-Soo. He always respected Kyung-Soo. His ideas, his choices were always on point.

.....

Dae pushed the laptop towards Kyung-Soo, happily. But his happiness was washed away the very next moment.

“Ritti!” said Thae.

“Just a minute, TK. I am opening the folder for you,” said Nivritti.

Thae grabbed the lid of her laptop and closed it. “TK!” said Nivritti, taken aback.

“I have a question to ask you if you don’t mind,” said Thae. Everyone started looking at Thae.

“About what?” asked Nivritti.

“About your fear,” replied Thae.

“My fear?”

“Why are you afraid of dogs? Is this something you were born with? Or did you develop it over years?” inquired Thae.

Dae bit his lower lips with anger. He was finally getting his moment, but Thae had to interrupt that. Reading scripts was not important for him, her useless fear was more important. He wanted to push the laptop from the table and repeatedly stomp over it in anger.

“Oh, it is based on my personal history with dogs,” replied Nivritti.

“Could you tell me what happened?” pleaded Thae.

Suddenly a shiver ran down her spine. She exhaled loudly and clenched her fists. Kyung-Soo realised that painful memory was flashing before her eyes. He held her fists and tightened his grip. Him-Chan too bent over the table and grabbed her hand that was on the table.

“If you don’t feel like it, you don’t have to tell us,” said Him-Chan. She looked at him and smiled. Then she looked at Kyung-Soo and blinked her eyes once, gesturing to him that she was okay.

Thae stood up and wrapped his arms around Nivritti to comfort her. “Yes, Hyung is right. Sorry if I triggered a painful memory.”

“No, it’s fine, TK,” she assured him. She took a deep breath and started her story, “So, what happened was, I was a little girl, about three or four years old. My mother used to feed the street dogs and cows and birds. She made sure that I was close to nature and loved animals.

“I used to accompany her when she would go to feed the dogs. Slowly they started recognising me. I would play with them, touch them and they would quietly let me touch them. After some time, my confidence grew, and I started feeding them with my own hands. Everything was alright for months.

“Then one fateful day, I went with my mother to feed the dogs. I took pieces of bread and a few chapattis. The dogs came running at us. But that day, the number of dogs that approached us was somehow larger.

“Bread and the chapattis that we brought, were finished in an instant. My mother left me for a few seconds and went inside to bring more food. And that was my fault. Being a small girl, standing between so many hungry dogs.

“The familiar dogs, who received the bread, walked away after seeing that my mother had left. But two new dogs kept staring at me waiting for food. Unfortunately, I had nothing in my hand. I thought of patting them as I did with other dogs. But the dogs perceived it as a sign of attack.

“Before my hands could reach their back, the dogs jumped at me and pinned me to the ground. One dug his teeth into my left leg, and another dug his teeth into the back of my head. I started shrieking and wailing and my parents came running. They saw the dogs attacking me and started throwing stones.

“But the dogs never let me go. I started bleeding profusely. My dad came running and he literally pulled the dog away from my head and threw him away on a wall. When the dog started yelping with pain, the other dog let go of my leg and ran away from there.

“I was rushed to the hospital. Doctors immediately took me inside the operating room and worked on repairing my tissue and skin for hours. Luckily my bones were not damaged. I still remember the pain of the fourteen injections I had to take in my stomach.

“All this pain and memory get triggered every time I face a dog. I still have a scar on the back of my head and a faint scar on my left calf.” Nivritti exhaled again after her narration.

While she was telling her story, Kyung-Soo and Him-Chan, never let go of her hand. Thae tightened his grip and kissed on head. She felt water drops on her head and turned around.

“TK? Are you crying?” she inquired. Everyone looked at Thae.

“I am sorry, I am sorry, I was rude to you. I had no idea what you had endured,” sniffled Thae.

Nivritti tried to pull her hand, but Kyung-Soo was not ready to let her go. Him-Chan on the other hand loosened his grip and she wiped Thae’s tears with her right hand. Korain pulled Thae closer and hugged him. “Feeling guilty and asking sorry is a very good step. She forgave you, what else do you need? Let’s focus on our future and not the past.”

“Well said, Hyung,” clapped Young-Chul.