226 The Phone Calls
Thae looked at Jeong-Eun and Jae-Geun in a staring match. Jae-Hwa sat there with an awkward expression on her face. No one was speaking, just staring. Suddenly the bedroom door opened, and Nivritti appeared in the living room.
All turned to look at her and Thae shouted, “are you mad? You should have called me. Why are you walking on that foot?”
“I am not walking, I am hopping on one foot,” smiled Nivritti.
Everyone facepalmed making Nivritti smile awkwardly. Thae shook his head in disappointment and walked up to her. Without warning, he lifted her up and carried her to the couch. “TK!” she shouted.
“What? I just carried you to your room,” protested Thae.
“You need to give me a warning,” scolded Nivritti.
“Okay, next time I will. Now, we are leaving. Take rest. We will see you on Sunday after our live session would be over,” said Thae.
“Okay, good luck for the live,” said Nivritti.
“Will you watch it?” asked Jeong-Eun.
.....
“She does not have an ID for the live app,” said Jae-Hwa.
“What?” shouted Thae and Jeong-Eun, disappointed.
“You have never watched our live?” shouted Jeong-Eun.
“I have, I have,” lied Nivritti.
“Liar!” Thae kept shaking his head to show his disappointment.
“Okay! I will watch it this Sunday. I will buy the premium service,” said Nivritti.
“I can’t even…” Jeong-Eun started walking out of the door but then turned around and said, “bye.”
“Bye,” said Jae-Hwa and Nivritti.
Thae immediately followed Jeong-Eun but before leaving the apartment he turned to look at Nivritti and said, “you are lucky JJ is not here. He would have broken your other leg after hearing that you have not seen any of our live sessions.”
“I know,” pouted Nivritti. “When he heard that I only know a few of your songs, he was pissed. Don’t tell him, please.”
“I will try,” said Thae and after sticking his tongue out at her walked out of the house.
“Is that PJ?” asked Jae-Geun after Jeong-Eun and Thae walked out.
“No!!” shouted Jae-Hwa. She knew what Jae-Geun was going to ask.
“What are you talking about, Jae? Yes, the handsome one was PJ. Why do you ask?” inquired Nivritti.
“Does he like Jaehwa?” Jae-Geun gritted his teeth.
“What?” shouted both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti.
“What are you on about?” Nivritti’s voice turned into shrill.
“Why is your voice changing, Ritti?” questioned Jae-Geun with raised eyebrows.
Nivritti scoffed, “what? Nooo!! My voice is normal.” She lowered her tone. “It’s just pain. By the way, where did you get the impression that PJ likes Jae? Did you see something?”
“You said that, in the hospital,” shouted Jae-Geun.
“No!!! I did? No!!! Me? No!!” with every passing moment Nivritti’s reactions were getting more and more bizarre.
“I heard it,” yelled Jae-Geun.
“I don’t remember that. Are you sure I said that?” asked Nivritti.
“Yeah, first you said that Jaehwa was pretty, then you said that because she is pretty PJ likes her,” informed Jae-Geun.
“See, I didn’t mean that. I was clearly joking,” laughed Nivritti.
“Hey!” shouted Jae-Hwa feeling offended. “What do you mean you were joking? Am I not pretty?”
“Well! That’s debatable,” teased Nivritti.
Jae-Hwa grabbed the cushion from behind her and threw it at Nivritti, shouting, “you are so bad.”
Nivritti caught that cushion and placed it behind her head. “I know.” She then looked at Jae-Geun and tried to change the topic, “did you order food? I am starving.”
“No, I will order now. And give me money for the hospital bill and then some more. I will bring groceries for you tomorrow,” said Jae-Geun but he was still angry at Jeong-Eun. In his opinion, no one was good for his sister, especially not some K-pop idol.
While Jae-Geun ordered food on his phone Nivritti told Jae-Hwa that she laid out some pyjamas for her on the bed and she should change into them. Jae-Hwa walked into the bedroom leaving Nivritti and Jae-Geun alone.
Jae-Geun wanted to know more about Jeong-Eun. He wanted to know what he thinks about his sister. K-pop idols have neatly curated images, and the real person lies underneath all that fake persona. He wanted to know who Jeong-Eun really is.
But before he could ask, Nirvitti’s phone started ringing. She looked at her phone. It was a call from Kyung-Soo. She didn’t realise but her lips curved in an upward direction and a smile flashed on her face. The moment she realised that she was smiling, she started twisting her lips trying to stop herself from smiling.
“Hello, NK,” said Nivritti. Jae-Geun immediately clenched his jaw after hearing his name. He hated him as every time he would meet him, he would fight with him about Nivritti.
“Hi! Sorry, I could not come to see you. How are you feeling now?” asked Kyung-Soo over the phone.
“I am fine, now.”
“You really gave us a fright when you fainted and the blood… oh it would not stop oozing,” said Kyung-Soo.
“No, need to worry. Everything is okay now. You should concentrate on your upcoming live session,” said Nivritti.
“Yeah, we were doing that. We have half an hour break while we wait for those two idiots. Did they give you your things?” asked Kyung-Soo.
“Yes, they just left a few minutes ago,” replied Nivritti.
“Will you be okay alone?” asked Kyung-Soo.
“I am not alone, San-siblings are with me, and Jae is going to stay with me,” replied Nivritti.
“Oh!” said Kyung-Soo. Nivritti noticed a slight change in his tone. He didn’t like that Jae-Geun was there in her apartment with her. He knew that Jae-Geun was going to give him strong competition for Nivritti’s affection. He was tall, handsome and a doctor, a freaking doctor in one of the best hospitals in Seoul.
“Are you okay?” asked Nivritti after noticing the tonal change in Kyung-Soo’s voice.
“Yeah, yeah, just tired,” lied Kyung-Soo.
“Then I should let you rest. You only have a few minutes till those idiots reach home,” said Nivritti.
“Yeah, thanks. Oh, Ritti,” said Kyung-Soo.
“Yes.”
“Please call Choi-ssi. He asked us to tell you that no matter what time you get back from the hospital, you should call him,” said Kyung-Soo.
“Okay, I will do that,” said Nivritti and after saying their goodbyes, they disconnected the call.
“Who was that?” asked Jae-Hwa who came back while Nivritti was on phone.
“Oh! NK,” replied Nivritti.
“What was he saying?” asked Jae-Hwa.
“He told me to call CH,” replied Nivritti.
“Right! Choi-ssi. He gave all our things to One. They wanted to go and get it from the conference room, but I stopped them. Think about the gossip in the office when everyone would have found out that ASD were grabbing our bags,” Jae-Hwa visibly shuddered. Nivritti knew the trauma Jae-Hwa experienced when everyone associated her name with Jung-Hwa.
“I will call him right now,” said Nivritti.
“I will make tea for you guys while we wait for Pizza,” said Jae-Geun. He placed his phone on the table and moved towards the kitchen. Jae-Hwa grabbed all the bags and hung them on the hook near the door.
Nivritti dialled Chung-Ho’s number and he received it within a few seconds.
“Are you okay?” he screamed.
“CH! I am fine,” replied Nivritti.
“Hu-ssi also was concerned about you. I will inform him that you are doing okay,” said Chung-Ho.
“Thank you, CH and thank Mr. Hu too,” replied Nivritti.
“I am sorry on Seong-ssi’s behalf. Please note that he would never hurt anyone intentionally. He is slightly arrogant but not violent. Please forgive him,” requested Chung-Ho. “I know he wants to say sorry but is feeling guilty for doing that to you.”
“No need for that, CH. I know that was a mistake. I will call him and tell him that he must not feel bad. I am fine,” said Nivritti.
“We have approved five days of medical leave for you. So, don’t dare come to the office next week. Rest and let your foot heal,” informed Chung-Ho.
“What?” shouted Nivritti.
“Ritti! You can read scripts in your house, and I know those idiots visit you. So, they can select your scripts when they come to your house. Just rest, that will be better for you. Is your family coming to take care of you?” asked Chung-Ho.
“Shit!” shouted Nivritti.
“You haven’t told them,” scolded Chung-Ho.
“I forgot. I just received my phone. NK called to tell me that I should give you a call and now I am talking to you,” replied Nivritti.
“Call your family and then call Seong-ssi,” suggested Chung-Ho.
“Okay, okay, noted. I will do that,” said Nivritti.
.....
“Take care, bye,” said Chung-Ho.
“Good night, CH,” smiled Nivritti and disconnected the call.
Nivritti knew if she told her parents about her foot, they would force her to tell them where she was and the next moment, they would buy a plane ticket to visit her. But she was not ready to tell anyone where she was. So, she decided not to tell her family.
Also, she didn’t want to talk to them in front of San-siblings. If she would not introduce her family to them, they would feel awkward and if she would introduce them to her family, Apeksha would sure shot figure out that she was residing in Korea. Even if she didn’t figure it out what if Jae-Hwa just blurts out that?
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