To Kiss An Idol

“No one can harass him if I am here. ASD members are my friends, and no one can prey on them,” she thought. “I will make you regret creating problems for my NK. Wait, what? Not my NK, my friend NK, my friend Nam Kyung-Soo. Remember Ritti, he is world famous artist, and he is younger than you. Remember what happened last time, you just cried your eyes out just a day ago that too in front of NK. Stop thinking about stupid things, concentrate on this girl. No one should walk free after harassing anyone. She deserves punishment.” She mentally hit on the back of the head for calling Kyung-Soo ‘my NK’.

Due to all the shouting, the people in rooms next door peered through their doors. A few men and women came running towards the changing room. After looking at so many people, Nivritti suddenly remembered her dress. She again hid her cleavage with her hands and looked around.

She knew she could not take any dress from the pile on the bench as Kyung-Soo was hidden under it. Suddenly her eyes fell on the clothes that Kyung-Soo left before. She grabbed the shirt that was hanging by the door and immediately wore and buttoned it, hiding her naked skin.

“I asked you a question,” reminded Nivritti.

“I... I...” Da-Hee stammered.

“What is the problem, ma’am?” a man wearing a white shirt, brown jacket, and brown pants came running and asked her. Nivritti realised that the man too worked in the mall as his uniform’s colour matched with Da-Hee’s dress. She looked at his nameplate. His name was “Kim Man-Shik”.

“And who are you, Man-Shik? Are you her boss or her subordinate?” asked Nivritti.

“What? How did you know my name?” asked Man-Shik, shocked. She just pointed at his name badge. He was more shocked after her gesture. “You can read Korean?”

.....

“Is that more important to you?” queried Nivritti.

“No, ma’am,” replied Man-Shik.

“Then answer me, are you her boss or her subordinate?” Nivritti asked again.

“I am her supervisor, ma’am,” replied Man-Shik bowing down to her.

But she was in no mood for exchanging pleasantries. “So, tell me this, is her job helping customers or harassing them?” asked Nivritti with authority.

“Excuse me!” both Man-Shik and Da-Hee shouted at once.

Nivritti cracked her knuckles and started pointing out, “she kept disturbing me to find a man. She says she was following him, and she called him cute, handsome, and... oh yeah, dreamy. And then she insinuated that the man was hiding in my room and kept peeping inside to find him. Is this how everyone works here? Is this how you treat your customers? Is this a new way to cater to your patrons? First, you ogle at and harass a man and then you cause trouble for a woman to look for that said man. So, if someone is handsome you will stalk him? What will I have to do to get some privacy here? I think it would be better if I go and shop in some other store. At least I won’t be falsely accused of hiding someone in my room. And mind you that man is not wrong. He is hiding in your store to get away from her.”

After hearing all the commotion, Jae-Hwa who was trying dresses a few rooms away from Nivritti opened her door and came out. She was shocked to see so many people gathered near her room. She was worried as to what happened. She ran towards her, pushed, and pulled the crowd, and reached near Nivritti. “Are you alright? What happened, Ritti?” she asked urgently.

Nivritti tilted her head and condescendingly said, “ask them. They kept knocking at my door. I couldn’t even try a single dress.” She lowered her face and pouted. If she would have been good at acting, she might have shed a tear or two. “Some man is more important than other customers. And she thinks I am having a party inside, hiding men and whatnot. In short, she is calling me a promiscuous woman,” she sulked.

There was a collective gasp from the crowd, and everyone looked at Da-Hee in anger and disappointment.

“What? I never said that,” screamed Da-Hee.

Nivritti placed her arms on her waist and demanded an answer, “did you not peep inside my room?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Da-Hee lowered her head with shame.

“Did you not ask me if someone else was inside?” Nivritti inquired again.

“Yes, ma’am,” answered Da-Hee.

“Were you not looking for a man?”

“Um... I...” Da-Hee could not answer that.

“There you go,” Nivritti raised her eyebrow at Man-Shik and spoke. “If she peeped inside my room, how are you sure she did not peep inside when that man was changing clothes.” A faint hiccup was heard from Nivritti’s changing room. She cursed Kyung-Soo for making a noise. Luckily no one heard it.

Because Da-Hee shouted, “what? No, no, I would never.”

“Does this area have CCTV?” inquired Nivritti.

“No, ma’am,’ replied Man-Shik.

“Then how can anyone tell that she is not lying,” said Nivritti.

“What is the proof you are not lying?” Da-Hee tried to be over-smart.

“Oh, the audacity,” Nivritti raised her eyebrow at her. She looked at the crowd and questioned, “Excuse me, was anyone of you inside the changing room next to mine?” But no one said anything. She realised that not everyone could understand English, so she repeated her question in Korean. Suddenly, two hands appeared in the air.

“Would you please tell them if you heard something,” she requested in Korean.

“Yes, she was looking for a handsome man. She even knocked at my door,” replied a man in Korean.

“Mine too,” a girl interjected.

“There you go, proof!” said Nivritti. She extended her arm and dropped an imaginary microphone and shouted, “Mic drop!”