To Kiss An Idol

He had that phone on silent so even if anyone rang her phone, no one would hear its ringtone and that would make it difficult to find it. Now he just needed time alone to check the contents of the phone.

Jae-Hwa came back after talking with her mother and sat in her place. All others were waiting for Him-Chan and Kyung-Soo. Finally, they arrived. Him-Chan was walking while supporting Nivritti. He helped her all the way to the working station and left for practice.

Dae was dying to know why she was crying. What happened suddenly? Did someone say something that hurt her? Or was it another secret that she was hiding? He asked her why she was crying. She lied that she was not crying. When Jae-Hwa scolded her that everyone saw tears in her eyes, she said that she was feeling uncomfortable due to pain, hence the tears.

He could feel that something was off. Her eyes were slightly red. No matter how much she was smiling and trying to hide the fact, it was clear that she cried. All he wanted was the reason. But this girl was like fort Knox, she didn’t spill any beans.

He rolled his eyes and to appear polite suggested that she should have taken leave, the same way he sent her home after Thae spilt coke on her. She replied that she didn’t want to take a leave so early in her job. Dae sighed with disbelief, “drama queen! She thinks not taking leave will create a big impression. It’s your work, Ms. Ritti. The way you are working your way through the members of ASD, you will climb the stairs of promotion very soon. And these idiots, don’t they get what she is trying to do? She is trying to find a man among them by being their friend. I don’t doubt if she strings two or three of them along. I very well know girls like her. Poor Jae! She does not know what kind of girl she is being friends with. She will break her heart.”

“Just look at Jae, perfect features, perfect figure, why don’t these boys look at her? What is it about this stupid Indian girl that they like? Yeah, she has big eyes and double eyelids and full lips and nice cheekbones and a somewhat likeable figure, but except for those features, nothing is attractive. I would not be interested in her at all even if we were the last humans on this planet. Jae on the other hand, uff… I have had my eyes on her since the day she joined. If only, I was not married,” he stared at Jae who was being comforted by Nivritti.

Lunchtime arrived, and the kids had their food with ASD. They were so happy that they were sharing food with their favourite idols. A few kids came and offered a few pieces of food to Nivritti which she happily ate. Kids giggled shyly and ran away.

Dae clenched his fists and his whole body shook with jealousy. His blood started boiling. Why everyone liked her was beyond his imagination. All he knew was she was taking his glory away from him. She took away Rencontre from him. She took away his bonus, she took away any chance of his promotion.

.....

His jealousy suddenly changed into shock when he saw Young-Chul choosing to sit close to her and resting his eyes for a bit. He had seen him sleeping and resting but he did that away from everyone. He never wanted anyone close to him. If any of the boys disturbed him or touched him while he would sleep, he would shower curse words on them.

And here he was sitting close to her. He was sure that their thighs were touching. He never saw Young-Chul showing any interest in any girl. Then why was she special?

“What does this girl have? Even Young feels comfortable with her,” his shock again changed into envy.

The whole afternoon he kept glancing at her with a clenched jaw and squinted eyes. He hated her with every cell in his body. He wanted her gone at any cost. And his wish was about to come true. He realised that he had to get a hold of a reporter to get the news out in the world. And he knew the perfect person for that. The famous paparazzi reporter who had exposed so many actors and idols in her lifetime.

The problem was he had no idea how to contact her. He thought of asking Jae-Hwa and Nivritti as they were younger than him and would know how to navigate the world of the internet.

“Girls! If you want to contact someone and have no phone number, how would you do that?” he asked.

“Ohh! Who do you want to contact, Dae?” teased Nivritti.

Dae laughed shyly and said, “I read a book last night. I love the story and characters. I want to contact the writer to compliment her and ask her advice on the book that I am writing.” He lied smoothly.

“Wow! You are writing a book. That’s great, Dae,” clapped Nivritti with excitement.

“Yes, Dae, that’s awesome,” nodded Jae-Hwa.

“But I don’t know how to contact her,” sulked Dae.

“Do you know if she has any social media account?” inquired Nivritti.

“Yeah, right. If she has an account, you can send her a DM. you can tell her how much you liked the book and then ask her for advice,” said Jae-Hwa.

“Yeah, but don’t just write ‘hi’ and leave it. Write everything, like why you contacted her, what you like about her book and then leave a message that if she would have time, he would like to get advice. If she replied then you can ask her questions,” explained Nivritti.

“What is wrong with just writing ‘hi’?” asked Dae.

“Oh! Famous people don’t reply with just ‘hi’. They will ignore it. You have no idea how many creeps are there on the internet. And she is a girl so she will be extra careful, so you need to be extra, extra polite, and respectful,” replied Jae-Hwa.

“When have I never been polite and respectful?” asked Dae.

“She does not mean that, Dae. You don’t know how many creeps we girls have to fight with, every day. We know you, the writer does not. So, you have to also tell her what you do. She would be more interested to know that you are a scriptwriter, so you know the basics of writing a book. That way she will help you more,” said Nivritti.

“Ohh!” exclaimed Dae. “Thank you, girls!”

“Welcome, Dae!” both Nivritti and Jae-Hwa smiled at him.

“Okay, should I contact her now or after I check her phone? If I contact her beforehand and find nothing on the phone, she will never talk to me again. She will never believe me again. I will wait till I have proof,” pondered Dae.

Finally, the time to leave approached and he offered to drop Jae-Hwa at her house. That way he would get time to spend with her. He can try again to think against Nivritti. He wanted them separate, but their friendship was getting stronger.

Nivritti went away with Young-Chul and Jung-Hwa and Dae took Jae-Hwa with him. He stared at Young-Chul and Nivritti when they were walking out. When Young-Chul suggested that Jung-Hwa should lift her up, Dae was taken aback. How close were they that they had no issue touching each other? Were they sleeping with each other?

How many boys was she sleeping with? Did she start sleeping with them after she helped Jung-Hwa in that restaurant, or she helped him because they were already sleeping together? What was her relationship with them? No man likes a girl if he can’t get anything from her. It was obvious to him that ASD had some kind of relationship with Nivritti and all he could think about was, a sexual relationship.

He saw them walking out of the room and then ordered Jae-Hwa to get her bags. His lift passed the VIP level and again he gritted his teeth. “They park on this level, and I have to park below them. Am I below them? Am I inferior to them? Everyone looks down upon me, I will show them tonight. ASD, get ready for a scandal.”

Dae and Jae-Hwa reached near the car, and he placed the bags in the trunk. He pressed his key fob and the car unlocked.

“Go, sit in the car. I will lock the trunk and come,” said Dae.

Jae-Hwa moved towards the back seat and started opening the door. “Hey! Don’t make me look like a driver. Sit in the passenger seat,” pouted Dae. “We are friends, right?”

Jae-Hwa nodded and went to the front door. Smiling awkwardly, she opened the door and sat inside. She was not comfortable sitting next to Dae. She already had to sit next to him every day but that was before so many people. Sitting next to him, alone, that too in a confined space was making her feel uncomfortable.