To Kiss An Idol

152 The Lunch Time

Nivritti smiled at Thae’s sweet message. She was happy that Young-Chul was doing better. Now she had to decide whether to go back to the hospital or not. She wanted to see Young-Chul again but visiting him every day would not be good for anyone.

A nurse saw her holding hands with Young-Chul. What if she opens her mouth? What if she tells everyone about what she saw? Not even an NDA can shut people’s mouth. Yes, she will be sued but the news will be out in the open, that too a false news.

She thought that as she would get regular updates, she would be able to concentrate on her work, but Thae’s message removed her focus from her work. It was lunchtime and Jae-Hwa tapped on her shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh?” asked Nivritti.

“It’s lunchtime,” explained Jae-Hwa.

“Right!” Nivritti placed her phone down and put her laptop to sleep.

“Are you okay? You look concerned,” said Jae-Hwa.

“What? No, I am fine. Let’s go,” smiled Nivritti.

.....

They both were on the verge of leaving when a voice stopped them from behind. “San Jae-Hwa!” both Nivritti and Jae-Hwa looked behind and saw two women, Ji-Ho, Eun-U and a man, Do-Yun, who were part of the script team staring at them.

“Yes, Ji-Ho,” replied Jae-Hwa. Ji-Ho was an extremely attractive, curvy women. If she would not have been married, every man in the whole building would hit on her. She was working in the same capacity as Nivritti.

“Going for lunch?” asked Eun-U, a short-height, cute girl whose face looked cuter due to her pixie-cut hair. She was a new entry like Jae-Hwa, a scriptwriter but inexperienced.

“Yes,” replied Jae-Hwa.

“May we join you guys?” asked Do-Yun, a tall, lean, bespectacled man. He too was working in the same position as Nivritti.

“You guys want to eat with us?” asked Nivritti, shocked.

“Why are you so shocked? We can’t eat with you?” asked Ji-Ho.

“She does not mean that. She is just surprised that you guys want to talk to her,” explained Jae-Hwa.

“We talk to her,” protested Eun-U.

“Eun-U, you know that’s not what I mean. I mean you never had lunch with us before,” said Jae-Hwa.

“You scolded everyone on her second day that no one talks to her and now when we want to be friends with her and have lunch, you are shocked,” complained Do-Yun.

“Why are you guys giving my team a hard time?” interrupted Dae.

“Seong-ssi!” exclaimed Ji-Ho. “We are just talking. We were going for lunch so thought we would join these two.”

“Good suggestion. Let’s have lunch together,” suggested Dae.

“You want to have lunch with us?” asked Eun-U, surprised.

“What’s surprising about that? We always have team dinners and lunches. So, what’s new about this?” educated Dae.

“Okay, everyone. No more shocking or surprising faces. Let’s have lunch together and have a good time,” Nivritti took the rein in her hands.

Dae clenched his jaw tightly. “I am the senior, yet she is trying to be a leader.”

“Yes, let’s go,” said Eun-U.

“Where should we go?” inquired Do-Yun.

“We can eat in the K&Q cafeteria, or we can go to a nearby restaurant,” suggested Dae.

“Let’s go to a restaurant, the new one on the corner. It opened a few weeks back,” suggested Ji-Ho.

“NO!” both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti shouted together. Jae-Hwa was still traumatised by the experience and Nivritti was concerned that the manager would recognise her and would blurt out things before her team members.

All four, Ji-Ho, Eun-U, Do-Yun and Dae stared at both of them with shock. “What? Why not?” asked Dae.

Both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti looked at each other. They had to come up with an excuse, fast. To buy some time, Nivritti started laughing. Following her footpaths, Jae-Hwa too started laughing. She would once look at Nivritti and then at all four.

“We went to that restaurant recently. Food was not that good, and ambience is so…” said Nivritti and stopped to find a word to describe the ambience.

“So boring!” Jae-Hwa completed her sentence.

“Yeah, and the customers were rowdy,” added Nivritti.

“Yeah, yeah, right!” nodded Jae-Hwa.

“What nonsense! My friends gave me a positive review. They were practically raving about it,” said Do-Yun.

“Maybe they liked it, but we didn’t have a good experience. Can we go to some other restaurant?” asked Nivritti.

“Yes, let’s go to some new place,” said Jae-Hwa.

“Why are they against that restaurant? It looks like they are hiding something. What did they do? Did they damage some property? If I need to defeat her I will need every insight about her. I need to find her what happened in that restaurant,” thought Dae. “Come on, girls! They want to try that restaurant. One bad experience must not dictate the fate of a place. You can give the restaurant a second chance for your team members and friends,” he tried to persuade Nivritti and Jae-Hwa.

Jae-Hwa and Nivritti looked at each other, defeated. They didn’t want to go but now due to pressure from Dae, they will have to. “Fine!” both said.

“Great, let’s go,” announced Dae.

All exited the script department and walked towards the restaurant while talking and laughing. Both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti kept glancing at each other, nervously. Nivritti held her hand and squeezed hard to comfort her.

“Don’t think about that day. I am here with you. No one will touch you,” she reassured Jae-Hwa. Jae-Hwa too tightened her grip and squeezed Nivritti’s hand.

After walking for a few minutes, they reached the place. Jae-Hwa froze before entering the eatery.

“It’s okay,” assured Nivritti. Jae-Hwa took a deep breath and entered the restaurant. The first thing she noticed was the table they sat on last time. Ji-Ho was moving to that exact same spot.

“Not there!” Jae-Hwa shouted immediately.

“What?” asked Ji-Ho.

“Let’s sit there, it will be private and we all can enjoy better,” said Nivritti. Everyone liked her suggestion and nodded, smilingly.

While moving to their table, Jae-Hwa again froze when she crossed the area before the cashier. Her mind went back to when those men grabbed her. She shuddered with fear. Nivritti pulled her forcefully and made her walk away from that spot.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Jae-Hwa breathed heavily and just nodded. Dae observed everything. The freezing of Jae-Hwa, the fear on her face, Nivritti’s concern, everything. “What the hell happened here? Why is Jae-Hwa acting like this?”

They all sat in a corner table and waited for the server to arrive.

“What are we going to order? What did you guys have last time?” asked Do-Yun.

“Huh…” both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti replied, absentminded.

“What did you guys order last time?” asked ji-Ho, again,

“Oh! I think fried rice, chicken and bulgogi. Right, Jae?” asked Nivritti.

“Yeah, right,” Jae-Hwa smiled, faintly.

“Fried rice and chicken sounds good. Let’s also order a stew,” said Dae.

“Right, where is the menu?” questioned Eun-U.

“They have a digital menu. You can scan that QR code or wait for a server to bring you a pamphlet,” replied Nivritti and pointed at a poster that displayed the QR code for the menu on the wall.

Before they could scan the QR code on the poster, a waiter arrived with pamphlets. Nivritti looked at him and immediately recognised him. He was the one who pointed her towards the manager. Stealthily, she placed her palm on the side of her face and tried to hide from the server.

“Please don’t recognise me, please don’t recognise me,” she kept muttering to herself.

“Ma’am, menu,” the server said to Nivritti. Without looking at him, she politely took the pamphlet and opened her phone. Though her phone already had their menu, she could not tell the server that.

The waiter exclaimed, “oh!” at Nivritti’s face.

“Shit!” whispered Nivritti.

“Have you been here before, Ma’am?” inquired server.

Without answering him, she just laughed. She was still actively trying to avoid looking at him.

“Yes, they both have been, but they were disappointed. Hope you will change their perception,” educated Dae.

“Oh, sorry for your bad experience. We will try to make up for that today. I will get my manager,” replied server.

Nivritti’s eyes widened and she gulped with nervousness. She immediately licked her lips. “No, no need. I will be fine,” shouted Nivritti. She realised that she was too loud. She smiled at the waiter and politely said, “no need to disturb your manager. I will be fine. Please come back after five minutes to take our order.”

“Sure, Ma’am.” The server left.

“What?” asked Jae-Hwa slightly leaning towards Nivritti.

“The manager might recognise me. I practically threatened him for that footage, he would never forget my face,” replied Nivritti.

“Oh, shit!” said Jae-Hwa.

“Oh, shit is right. Oh shit!” replied Nivritti.

Dae could see the fear and anxiety on Jae-Hwa and Nivritti’s face. He was dying to know what they were hiding. Why were they acting like something big happened in this restaurant? He decided to pry. To find out what happened he needed to ask them questions.

“Ritti!” interrupted Dae.

“Hmm, Mr. Seong!” replied Nivritti.

.....

“When did you guys come here?” asked Dae.

“Ah… um…” Nivritti was in dilemma whether to tell him the truth or lie to him.