173 The Painful Expression
After chatting with Young-Chul, she felt as if the huge pressure from her chest was relieved. A sudden feeling of warmth enclosed her. A person who was known as introverted and reserved, opened up to her. He basically told her that he needed her and wanted her to stay in his life.
After a lifetime of sadness, something good was finally happening. She had her dream job. She was appreciated for her ideas. She looked at Jae-Hwa, adoringly. Now, she had a sweet friend who didn’t go back to her home so that she could take care of her. Another friend, a doctor, who came running after hearing that she hurt her leg and seven world-famous boys who came early morning to check up on her.
She closed her eyes and big drops of tears fell from her eyes on the blanket. She had a content smile on her face. Still clutching her phone in her hand, she lay down, and tears started falling on her pillow. Smiling and crying, she had no idea when she fell asleep.
Nivritti kept groaning as she could feel her bed shaking. There was a faint chirp somewhere. “What is that? Why is the bed vibrating?” she pondered.
“What is that? What is that?” shouted Jae-Hwa and jumped from the bed.
Nivritti opened her eyes and looked at her. She yawned and touched her bed where she could feel the vibration was coming from. She grabbed her phone and brought it out of her blanket. “It’s just my phone. I think I slept with this in my hand, and it fell on the bed after I was deep in sleep,” explained Nivritti and shut off her alarm.
Both girls yawned and sat on the bed. “Who is going to the bathroom first?” asked Jae-Hwa.
“You! I am going back to sleep. Take your time in the bathroom,” Nivritti waved her bye and threw her blanket over herself.
“Aisshh… your alarm woke me up. You get up first, I am going back to sleep,” shouted Jae-Hwa and started pulling Nivritti’s blanket.
.....
“Ah! I am hurt,” pouted Nivritti, innocently. “Will you force me to wake up?” she pouted her lips and acted cute.
Jae-Hwa made a disgusted face and stared at Nivritti. “You look so ugly. Never make this face.”
“Ha-ha,” laughed Nivritti. “Byeee!” and again went inside cover.
Jae-Hwa groaned and got up from the bed. She looked at Nivritti angrily and picked up a pillow. With full force, she threw the pillow at Nivritti and ran to the bathroom.
“Hey!” shouted Nivritti and removed her blanket but Jae-Hwa was already gone. “Ugh… this girl!” groaned Nivritti and shut her eyes.
After 20 minutes, Jae-Hwa shouted from the bathroom, “Ritti! Ritti!”
Nivritti who was snoring woke up with a jolt and shouted, “what? What?” For a second, she had no idea where she was. She looked around and gulped. She relaxed when she realised that she was in her house in Korea.
“Ritti!” shouted Jae-Hwa.
“Yeah, what?” Nivritti shouted back.
“Please hand me a towel from my bag,” requested Jae-Hwa.
“Use one of mine. All the towels inside the bathroom are washed. Why do you want to wet your towel?” replied Nivritti.
“Really?” asked Jae-Hwa.
“Yes!”
Jae-Hwa closed the door of the bathroom and came out after a few minutes. She came to the room in just a towel. She was hesitant to enter Nivritti’s room but when she entered, she saw Nivritti was sitting on the bed with her back towards the door. She had her leg on the bed and was taking off the compression bandage.
The moment she removed the bandage, she groaned, “ah!”
“You, okay?” asked Jae-Hwa and came running near her. Nivritti raised her eyes and saw Jae-Hwa. She tucked her lips together and tried hard not to smile.
But ended up laughing and teased Jae-Hwa, “Hot!!”
“Aisshhh!” Jae-Hwa hit Nivritti on her forehead. “Why did you groan? Are you in pain?”
“It was a sting but after looking at you, all the pain is gone,” winked Nivritti.
“Shut up!” shouted Jae-Hwa and rolled her eyes at her. “Go, we will be late, otherwise.”
“I will go after you change,” teased Nivritti.
“You just stubbed your toe, if you don’t stop your nonsense, I will break your leg,” scolded Jae-Hwa.
“Why? Saving yourself for someone special?” Nivritti kept raising her eyebrows and smirking at Jae-Hwa.
“Yeah, just like you,” taunted Jae-Hwa.
“Wha… what? Are you really a virgin?” shouted Nivritti, shocked.
“Are you not?” asked Jae-Hwa.
“Who told you I am a virgin? I have a long list of boyfriends… and girlfriends,” winked Nivritti.
Jae-Hwa took a deep breath and stared at Nivritti. “If we get late because of you, I will kill you. And stop your nonsense. I know you are straight.”
“How do you know, darling?” teased Nivritti.
Jae-Hwa tilted her head and looked at Nivritti, sensuously. She slightly squinted her eyes and licked her lips. “Well, I too was interested in you the moment I saw you. I was not sure how you would react so kept my feelings suppressed. Now you are inviting me, I don’t think I can control myself anymore.” She slowly started moving towards Nivritti and placed her hand over her towel.
Nivritti’s jaw dropped with shock. With wide eyes and a dry mouth, she scooted back on her bed.
“I think… I think I should… go to the bathroom. Bye!” she jumped from the bed from the other side but the moment her legs touched the ground, she flinched in pain and sat back on the bed. It was getting difficult for her to breathe.
“Ritti! You, okay? You, okay?” cried Jae-Hwa. Their joke came to an end. Jae-Hwa pitifully kept staring at the painful expression of Nivritti. Nivritti’s eyes were closed, and she was clutching her toe in her hand. The fine lines on her forehead kept getting deeper and deeper every second.
“Show me, show me,” shouted Jae-Hwa and removed Nivritti’s palm from the injured toe. “What did you do?”
“I forgot… and put… pressure… on my toe,” Nivritti replied with difficulty. Jae-Hwa kept blowing warm air over her toe.
“Let me get some ice. That will reduce the pain,” said Jae-Hwa and stood up.
Nivritti immediately grabbed her arm and stopped her. “First, dress up. You will catch a cold. I will go to the bathroom and put some hot water on my toe, that too will ease the pain. We have to get ready for office.”
“Take leave and rest,” pleaded Jae-Hwa.
“I am new, Jae! I cannot take leave so early in my career,” replied Nivritti.
“What nonsense is that?” shouted Jae-Hwa.
Nivritti stood up and avoided putting pressure on her toe. “See, it’s fine now. It was just momentary pain. Get dressed.”
“Fine! Go. I will take care of the breakfast,” said Jae-Hwa. Nivritti smiled and nodded at her.
Slightly limping, Nivritti moved to the bathroom. The moment she closed the bathroom door, she closed her eyes and placed her palms over her mouth so that her groans would not escape from the bathroom.
She opened the hot water tap and filled her bucket slightly. She dipped her toe in the warm water. The moment the water came in contact with exposed skin, it stung immensely. She closed her eyes and moaned softly. She exhaled loudly when after a few seconds, her pain relaxed. The hot water felt like an elixir to her injured toe.
After she was relaxed, she brushed her teeth, sat on the toilet, and took a quick bath. She also came out in a towel and entered her room. Meanwhile, Jae-Hwa was all dressed up and was in the kitchen. It would be difficult to wear pants, so Nivritti chose a skirt. A white shirt paired with a flared red skirt and a red overcoat were her choices for the day.
After she was dressed, she applied the medicine Jae-Geun gave her and again wrapped the bandage around her leg. She came out of her room and went into the kitchen to help Jae-Hwa.
“Are you out of your mind?” shouted Jae-Hwa.
“What? What?” asked Nivritti.
“Go and sit. Don’t put pressure on your leg,” Jae-Hwa scolded.
“I am fine,” replied Nivritti.
“I will call Oppa,” threatened Jae-Hwa.
Nivritti scoffed, “as if I am scared of him.”
“You have no idea, how bossy, how nosy, how stubborn he is. He will chew your ears for not listening to him. Do you want me to call him?” warned Jae-Hwa.
“Okay, okay, fine,” said Nivritti, defeated. She walked up to the couch and waited for Jae-Hwa to bring the breakfast.
They were enjoying breakfast when the doorbell rang. Both looked at each other.
“Who came at this time?” asked Nivritti.
“Oppa?” suggested Jae-Hwa.
“Why would he be here early morning?”
“To check on you?” said Jae-Hwa. “Let me see.” Jae-Hwa stood up and walked up to the door. She looked through the peephole and her jaw dropped with shock.
“What? Who is it?” asked Nivritti, stuffing her mouth with toast and tea.
Without saying a single word, Jae-Hwa opened the door. Nivritti looked at the door and her eyes widened. Immediately she choked on her food and started coughing violently.