To Kiss An Idol

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then called Dae. He was resting on the soft, comfortable mattress in Missmatch’s room. His phone rang and he jumped in fear. Did someone find him? Did his wife find out that he was meeting with a girl in a hotel room?

He jumped from the bed and looked at his phone. Suddenly the feelings of pleasure, happiness, fear, all changed into anger. “Why is she calling me?” he gritted his teeth. “Oh wait! Shit! Did she find out I am the one leaking the info? She is smart. What should I do? What should I do?” he started panicking.

He exhaled a few times to calm himself down and then picked up the call. He cleared his throat and said, “Oh my God, Ritti! Are you okay? I am sorry, I am extremely sorry.”

“Dae! Relax! It’s okay. It’s no one’s fault. These things happen,” replied Nivritti.

“But the blood, oh, there was so much blood. Even the doctor was not able to stop it. Is that okay now?” asked Dae in a sad voice.

“Yes, yes, I have a cast now. But that is okay too. I don’t if CH told you, but he has granted me a week of leave for me. I thought I should inform you too,” said Nivritti.

“Oh, of course, when you have a cast, you should minimise your activity and walk less. Take rest and you can keep working from home,” said Dae.

“Yes, be assured. I will keep working from home,” replied Nivritti.

.....

While she was talking, Jae-Geun brought the tea for everyone. He handed one cup to Nivritti. She just bowed her head a little to thank him. One sip of the hot, aromatic tea and she started feeling better. The warmth enclosed her completely. And the love she was receiving from one was filling her heart with happiness.

“If you need anything, you can always call me,” suggested Dae.

“I will keep that in mind, Dae. Thank you,” said Nivritti.

“I am sorry again for your injury. Get well soon,” replied Dae.

“No need to say sorry. Everything is fine.”

“Take care, Bye,” said Dae.

“Bye, Dae.”

Nivritti disconnected the call and looked at Jae-Hwa who kept staring at her. “What?”

“What did he say?” asked Jae-Hwa.

“Who? Dae? He kept saying sorry,” replied Nivritti.

Jae-Hwa rolled her eyes and looked at Nivritti. “Yeah, he must be sorry.”

“Jae! It was an accident,” assured Nivritti.

“Yeah, right! Oh, how I wish King would have knocked him out,” Jae-Hwa blurted out.

“Excuse me!” shouted Nivritti.

“Oh shit!” mumbled Jae-Hwa.

“Jae! What happened?” asked Nivritti. A moment flashed before her eyes. She could swear that she saw Kyung-Soo grabbing Dae’s collar.

“Nothing! He was in the way, so, King moved him away,” Jae-Hwa said a white lie.

“Did he hit him?” asked Jae-Geun.

“No, Oppa, King’s anger is enough to make people run away. He does not need to throw his hands,” replied Jae-Hwa.

“Oh, yeah!!” said Jae-Geun and rolled his eyes. He knew that Kyung-Soo was capable of throwing hands. He fought with him in the parking area.

While talking and drinking tea, the doorbell rang, and food arrived. Jae-Geun brought the plates and glasses, and Jae-Hwa brought some water bottles and a few cans of cola to the table. The mouth-watering smell and the hot steam hitting their faces made them hungrier.

Due to medicine or maybe pain, Nivritti ate less. Both the brother and sister kept pressuring her to eat more but she denied it. All she wanted to do was rest. After dinner, Jae-Geun gave her medicine and helped her to her bed.

Before Jae-Geun left, Nivritti paid him the hospital bill and gave him extra money to bring groceries.

“Oh, my God! You can’t wait, can you?” he scolded her.

“You want me to wait for groceries?” teased Nivritti.

“Ahh…” he gritted his teeth. “Not grocery, Medical bill!!”

“Oh, that! Well, I was paying you for my future food and it would not look nice if I omitted the hospital bill,” she explained.

“Well, if you say it like that,” Jae-Geun accepted defeat. “Jaehwa! Lock the door behind me and don’t kick or punch her during sleep.”

“Hey!” protested Jae-Hwa and punched him hard on his upper arm.

“Ow! We already have a broken toe. Do you want broken arms too?” taunted Jae-Geun.

“Oppa!” shouted Jae-Hwa.

“I am kidding! I will go. I will get bring a syringe to give you medicine and I will get your clothes for you. Anything else?” he asked.

“No,” replied both girls.

“Oh, yeah! Message me the list of things you want me to buy from the store,” ordered Jae-Geun.

“Yes, sir” saluted Nivritti which made everyone smile.

Jae-Geun started walking out but he turned back and said, “Ritti! If you feel any discomfort, itching or extreme pain or as if something is pinching on your nerves, if your skin changes colour, call me immediately. Or call a cab and run to the hospital. Okay?”

“Okay. Don’t worry, she is with me,” said Nivritti looking fondly at Jae-Hwa.

“That is what I am worried about,” teased Jae-Geun.

“I will kill you,” shouted Jae-Hwa and again lifted her hand to hit him but Jae-Geun ran away. Nivritti laughed at the cat-and-mouse relationship between brother and sister.

Jae-Geun left and Jae-Hwa locked the door. As Nivritti had so many medicines in her system, she fell asleep instantly. Of course, after sending messages to Jae-Geun, RASD and Young-Chul. But he was not replying to her. He didn’t even talk to her after her injury. But she was feeling so sleepy that she didn’t even give a single thought as to why he stopped sending messages.

The next morning, she woke up after hearing the banging and clanking of the utensils.

“Jae!” she shouted.

“Coming, coming!” Jae-Hwa replied and came running at her.

“What? Are you in pain? I checked your foot. Everything looked okay. Is the cast uncomfortable?” Jae-Hwa bombarded Nivritti with questions.

“Am I allowed to speak?” asked Nivritti.

“Yeah, sorry.”

“I need to go to the bathroom,” said Nivritti.

“Oh, that! Wait!” Jae-Hwa went to the living room and brought the cover that the doctor gave her. She wrapped Nivritti’s cast neatly and then helped her walk to the bathroom. “Call me after you are done.” Nivritti nodded and closed the door.

The girls had breakfast and they were sitting in the living room working on their laptops. Jae-Geun arrived with lots of bags and huffing and puffing, sweating all over, and sat on the couch.

“Did you order groceries for a whole year?” he scolded Nivritti.

“That was her. She dictated and I just wrote,” pouted Nivritti.

Jae-Geun turned in to look at his sister. “What? I am staying here. I will cook so I need all the ingredients. She does not know what is needed to cook Korean meals. Ask Mom to send more kimchi tomorrow.”

“Oh, my God! Fine! I have to run to the hospital. Ritti! Let me give you your medicine, first,” said Jae-Geun. He took out a syringe from the packets and Jae-Hwa brought the medicines they collected from the hospital. Within that was a liquid medicine meant to give through injections. Jae-Geun measured a few ml of the medicine and injected it into Nivritti’s upper arm.

“You might feel sleepy. So, take as much rest as possible. And I have brought a few supplements, Jaehwa, make sure you both have some,” he ordered both girls.

“Okay,” replied Jae-Hwa.

“Okay, I will run. I am late for hospital,” said Jae-Geun and ran away.

True to his words, Nivritti fell asleep for a few hours after he injected the medicine. Jae-Hwa brought a blanket and covered Nivritti and made sure that her foot was well elevated over a soft cushion. After making her comfortable, she kept working on her scripts.

No one disturbed the girls for the whole day. Jae-Hwa prepared a hearty meal. Nivritti woke up in the evening and was feeling uneasy as Jae-Hwa kept doing all the work and she could not help her. She asked Jae-Hwa, if she could help her peel, cut, or dice anything but Jae-Hwa refused.

“If you want to get better soon, keep that foot elevated and rest. Do you understand?” scolded Jae-Hwa.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Nivritti woke up. She had no idea what the time was. All she knew was she needed to pee. She looked at the phone. It was around midnight. She somehow got off the bed and started hopping towards the bathroom.

She kept squinting in the dark and hopping towards the bathroom. Suddenly there was a beep-beep-beep at her door. Was someone trying to break in? Was someone trying to figure out her code? She had to do something. She had to warn Jae-Hwa.

But before she could shout and wake up Jae-Hwa, the door flung open, and a dark figure ran past her. She was not ready for the things that were about to happen.