To Kiss An Idol

118 The Gift for Apeksha

Nivritti reached her house and immediately ran to the bathroom. After drinking too much coffee she needed to relieve the pressure.

“Ahh! This girl,” she cursed Jae-Hwa the moment she came out of the bathroom. “My intake of coffee has increased because of her. I will have to put my foot down. If she wants to drink coffee she can go with PJ.” For a second she smiled when she remembered how both acted in the morning while picking up the laptop bag. “Idiots!”

Sulking she changed into pyjamas and went into the kitchen. She opened her fridge and stood in front of it staring at all the food inside. She sighed loudly and pondered, “why did they have to give me so much food? Will I be able to finish it any day soon? Ahh... Jae!”

One by one she started taking the containers out and saw that she would still have food left for a whole day after eating tonight. She knew few side dishes were supposed to be stored for months so she let them sit in the fridge and for the food that had less shelf life, she took all out.

As she didn’t have to cook, she had a lot of time on her hand. The whole day she kept working on scripts so decided to take some time off from it. She knew she had hundreds of scripts to read, she just wanted a few minutes of rest from her official work. She needed to rest her eyes from staring all day at the screen.

She looked around, the house needed cleaning. While her food was thawing on the kitchen counter, she dusted the shelves, changed all the sheets, and mopped the floor. She made a mental note to buy a small vacuum for cleaning the couch and chairs. While the clothes were in the washing machine, she took a shower to get rid of the dust that settled on her after cleaning her house.

With her hair tied in the towel, she sat on the couch and switched on the television. First, she tuned into a news channel and updated herself with Korean news. About fifteen minutes in, she got bored and started flipping the channels. Leaving a k-drama on, she went to the balcony when her washing machine signalled the completion of the wash cycle.

She dumped all the clothes on the dry line and removed her towel. Locking the balcony door, she came inside and sat before her television. The k-drama was a romantic comedy. Even though her heart was hurt, she closed the way to her heart, she still enjoyed romantic comedies.

She was smiling at a comedy scene when an advertisement for Rencontre flashed on the screen. Her smile widened. Looking at all the boys, she felt a warmth in her heart. She just met them weeks ago, but they felt like someone she knew for ages.

.....

Her mind flashed back to the morning when everyone felt bad for her after she screamed at the sight of Yong. And also, after she told them her story. She smiled at Thae who hugged her from behind and kissed her head. Poor boy! He started crying.

She smiled when the vision of Jeong-Eun sitting next to Jae-Hwa flashed before her eyes. She realised that every time ASD came to read the scripts, he sat next to her. Her jaw dropped with surprise. “How did I not notice that before? PJ! That sneaky, sneaky boy. Well, they look good together.”

Abruptly her face fell with sadness. “What am I thinking? I don’t wish such things for Jae. I don’t want her to undergo scrutiny for dating an idol. Oh, the horror! His fans would rip her apart. The death threats she would get. But what if it is what she wants? Please, God! Don’t let her face struggles and tribulations. Hope she gets everything she wishes for even if it is dating her bias, PJ. I wish from the bottom of my heart that his fans would accept his dating life.”

Jung-Hwa appeared on her TV. And her mind shifted from Jeong-Eun and Jae-Hwa to Jung-Hwa. Her sadness turned into a smile. That sweet boy showed concern for her injury. He made sure to check her arm and then sat next to her. She grinned from ear to ear after she recalled that he called himself detective, just like Apeksha.

She realised that it was days since she called her home. “Ohh what that headache is doing right now? Why hasn’t she called me? Oh right! She doesn’t have my number. Wait! But she has my Swipe ID. I know how she will call me. Let me send her some of my bonus money,” she smiled wickedly.

Nivritti grabbed her phone and transferred ten thousand rupees to her sister. She placed the phone on the table and smiled at the screen. She knew she would receive a call immediately. “Five, four, three, two, one,” and she pointed at her phone. But it lay silently on the table.

“What? Maybe she didn’t see the message. Let me wait for a few more minutes,” pouted Nivritti. A few seconds changed into a minute which in turn changed into ten minutes. The television kept talking loudly but Nivritti’s concentration was on her phone. She was getting annoyed that Apeksha was not calling her.

“What the hell? I want my money back,” she shouted and instantly her phone screen lit up and started ringing loudly. “Uhh... finally!” she screamed. With a devilish smile on her face, she picked up the video call and stared at her sister.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you,” screamed Apeksha, excitedly.

“Oh, you greedy, greedy person. You remembered me after I sent you the money. Tch, tch, tch,” teased Nivritti.

“No, I have my internal tests in a few days. I was busy cramming for my papers,” sulked Apeksha.

“Excuses, excuses! Even mom didn’t call, and neither dad,” pouted Nivritti.

“Hey! As if you kept calling us. Wait! Are you watching a Korean drama?” asked Apkesha. Nivritti immediately realised that her television was on. She jumped to grab the remote but the remote refused to get into her grip, it slipped even further. Nivritti kept fumbling over and over again to grab the remote, but it kept slipping away. Finally, she grabbed the remote, but it slipped from her hand and landed on the floor with a soft thud.

“What are you doing?” shouted Apeksha and Nivritti realised that she could mute the video call and the sound from her end would cut off. She pressed the microphone symbol on her screen and then reached for the remote. With a swift motion, she switched off her TV. Her secret was about to come out in the open.