To Kiss An Idol

But one action from Jeong-Eun and everything came flooding back. He hated whenever she would cry but would be glad that he would always be there to comfort her.

“You will tell me if something like that ever happens, if you ever get another nightmare, deal?” ordered Kyung-Soo.

“Fine! I will disturb you by calling you the moment I have a nightmare,” teased Nivritti. She smiled but suddenly her smile faded. She abruptly realised what she said. She used to call Ritvik when she would get into a nightmare and he came to take care of her. She didn’t want history to repeat itself. She closed her eyes, hung her head low and scoffed at her stupidity. “No, I won’t call.”

Kyung-Soo understood her feeling. He knew everything about her. She had told him about her life, but he was slightly hurt at her comment. “Why because you used to call him after nightmares? Why do you keep comparing everyone to him? Why do you think everyone will treat you the same way he treated you? Do you see no difference between him and other men? Are my boys and me the same as him? Is there no difference?” questioned Kyung-Soo in anger.

“I am just being cautious NK. I don’t want history to repeat itself. I don’t want to get burned again,” she replied softly.

“That means you will never trust anyone again,” said Kyung-Soo, defeated.

“I don’t know what will happen in future or what I will do in future. I really can’t answer that, NK,” answered Nivritti. “Maybe I would trust, maybe I won’t, I don’t know.”

Kyung-Soo closed his eyes and simply nodded at her. He knew she needed time to open her heart. “Well! I should go else PJ would come back up looking for me.”

.....

“Okay.”

“And don’t forget to send a good night message to MY, else I will have to come back in the middle of the night,” teased Kyung-Soo. “It seems I am their driver, one does not how to drive, and one is not allowed to drive.”

“I will,” and Nivritti smiled. This time her eyes twinkled with happiness. Kyung-Soo relaxed after looking at her sweet smile. He said goodbye and left her alone.

Nivritti sat back on the couch and closed her eyes. She moved her hand towards her face, first, she rubbed her forehead and then wiped her whole face. There was nothing on her face to wipe yet she felt something heavy hanging on her face. It was her fear, her baggage.

She opened her eyes and looked at the leftovers. Her food was cold by now and after such turns of events she didn’t really want to eat anymore. She thought for a moment about what do to. She knew she could keep the gravy dish and had to throw it away. She packed the fried chicken and placed it in the fridge.

After grabbing her laptop and phone, she switched off the lights in the living room and went to her room. She placed two pillows under her foot and kept it elevated. For another hour she kept reading the scripts and marking the things Dae told her that she would have to present to the CEO.

She realised that Dae didn’t send her the template that he talked about. Maybe he forgot. And it was late to ask him. She made a point that she would ask him about the template tomorrow.

Yawn after yawn, signalled her that she was getting tired. She shut down her laptop and placed it on the nightstand. She picked up her phone and messaged “good night” in the group. Everyone immediately replied to her.

She bit her lips and hesitated for a minute but then send a private message to Kyung-Soo.

Did you guys reach home safely?

Yes, we did.

Is PJ, okay? How did he react when you told him?

He was furious. He wanted to confront Dae today itself. But I told him that he should talk to Jae first. By the way, why is he so concerned about that?

You don’t know?

What?

Ha-ha.

Tell me.

PJ likes Jae, it’s so obvious. How have you missed it?

Whaatttttt????!!!!!

Oh my God! You really are an idiot! Don’t you observe things?

Hey! No need to be so over smart. I have so many things to do. I missed some signs, so what?

And people call you genius. Ha-ha.

Stop laughing.

Yes, boss.

Is your leg okay?

It’s fine. Take care of PJ. I will make sure Jae talks to him tomorrow. Good night.

Good night.

She was smiling after chatting with Kyung-Soo. she sighed peacefully and closed the conversation between herself and Kyung-Soo and opened the conversation tab of Young-Chul.

“Sleep well, enjoy a full night of sleep and wake up recharged. Let your mind and body heal with all the love everyone keeps sending you every minute of every day. Good night MY.” And she sent the message.

Within seconds she received a reply, “do you want me to pick you up for the hospital, tomorrow?”

“Thank you, but no, both our sessions are at different times. You are one hour early. I will take a cab, don’t worry. Just concentrate on getting better,” she replied to Young-Chul.

“Okay, then see you tomorrow. Good night,” replied Young-Chul.

She was done with good night messages. She shut the screen off and placed the phone on the laptop. She switched off the lights and covered herself with the blankets. Her head was a little heavy due to crying and her eyes were burning after staring at the screen for long. So, the moment her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.

The whole night she kept hearing the clicking sound of a camera. She kept dreaming that her photos were plastered all over social media, newspapers, and billboards with headlines that she was a loser and a runner. She ran away from her previous life.

Even her parents kept shunning her in her dream. They kept saying that she was not their daughter as she broke Ritvik’s heart. Ritvik was the right person in the relationship, and it was she who destroyed a perfectly good relationship.

In her dream, she was back in her old house that she shared with Ritvik. He was standing before her shouting at her, “how dare you leave me?” suddenly the house changed into a cage, and she was in it. “Now, you will spend your whole life here,” he laughed and laughed.

Nivritti kept tossing and turning in her sleep. She would groan, she would faintly cry, she would wake up one moment but as her sleep was heavy, she would go back to sleep instantly. She was glad that she was going to therapy the next day. All she had to do was endure a night of nightmares.

When her alarm beeped loudly in the morning, she groaned and moaned and tried to wake up. But her eyes were still heavy, and her leg was aching due to lack of proper sleep.

“Can I take a day off?” she thought. “No, no, I can’t take a leave so early and I have to help PJ talk with Jae. I also have to ask for the template from Dae. Ah!!!!”

Somehow, she got off the bed and while squinting took off her bandages. She limped her way to the bathroom and got ready for the day. She had no energy to cook breakfast, so she just ate a bowl of cereal and drank coffee. Even after having a cup of black coffee, she was not fully awake.

Her leg was in pain. Reluctantly, she had to take pain medication and she ordered a cab. She reached the office and the guard as usual saluted her.

“You don’t look well today,” said the guard.

“No, no, it’s nothing. Just a leg injury, thank you for asking,” she smiled at him and went upstairs. She looked around, a lot of chairs were empty, even Chung-Ho was still not there. She cursed herself for being so early. “Ah! I could have slept a little more. Huh! What sleep? Asshole Ritvik! I could not sleep for even a minute. When will he leave me alone?”

She went to her seat and set up her system as well as her laptop. She looked at the script department’s common mail ID and started clearing her inbox. She placed her head in her palm and while resting her head kept staring at the screen.

Her eyelids were droopy due to lack of sleep. The addition of pain medication was doing her any favour either. Her eyes kept closing for seconds. She was fighting hard with sleep. Suddenly a hand over her shoulder woke her up. She jumped from her seat and yelped.