To Kiss An Idol

39 The Restaurant Drama – The whole restaurant was silent. Even the manager of the restaurant was standing in a corner gulping at the situation. All were staring at Nivritti and the group of men. They were not ready to back down. A minute ago, they were harassing Jae-Hwa and now it was Nivritti’s turn. A few men kept moving forward inch by inch to help Nivritti but were scared due to the large stature of the bullies.

The large man’s fingers were deeply embedded in Nivritti’s arms. The redness on her skin between the man’s fingers was clearly visible. She flinched with pain, but the man showed no concern. She tried pulling her hand back, but it was useless. She kept tugging but the grip was firm.

“Hey! Let her go,” suddenly one of the patrons spoke.

All looked at him. He was a short, slim, bespectacled man. There was no way he could help Nivritti, but he was the only one who had the courage to speak to the bullies.

The rowdy men looked at him and started laughing and bellowing loudly. “Shut up and sit down,” shouted the bully.

“No, you shut up and let me GO,” shouted Nivritti and pulled her hand again.

The bully looked down upon her and pulled her closer. He snaked his hands around her waist and brought her near his chest. Her other hand landed on his chest with a loud slap. If she would not have stopped herself with her hand, her chest would have bumped into his.

“WHAT THE HELL?” she screamed.

“Asian girls are his weakness,” another bully winked at Nivritti. And the four men started hooting.

.....

She was uncomfortably close to him and wanted to get away from him, but his grip was tight, and he was too strong for her. She clenched her fist and kept wiggling her arms. But after the Asian comment, she lost her mind. She stopped wiggling and shouted at them, “you bigots! Utter morons! This proves you are complete idiots. Let me school you. She is of Asian ethnicity, but I am of south Asian ethnicity. All the people sitting around here are Asians. At least get your fetish right, assholes.”

“You are so close to me, and you are still not afraid?” asked the bully, impressed.

“Have dealt with idiots like you all my life,” snapped Nivritti.

“Oh, is that right?” he licked his lips with lust.

“Yes, asshole,” gritted Nivritti.

Being an alpha male, it was bothering him that a girl was not afraid of him. She was neither showing him any respect. That made him hurt her more. He stared at her and brought more pain. He took her hand and twisted it behind her back.

“Ahhh...” she groaned with pain. Her long, braided hair was pressed between her hand and her back which kept tugging her braid causing her more pain.

“Ritti!” exclaimed Jae-Hwa. “Please let her go,” she pleaded with those men, but they just kept laughing.

“Jae, never beg,” said Nivritti with attitude. His abrasive behaviour was making her angry. She thought back at every time every man who hurt her or teased her or harassed her and her eyes lit with angry fire. She removed her hand from his chest and brought it behind her back. She stared directly into the man’s eyes and grabbed his hand that was holding her arm. She caught his middle finger and kept staring at him with fury.

Even though it was uncomfortable for her, she twisted his finger all the way back that it could go. He groaned with pain and relaxed his grip from her waist as well as her arm. She turned 180 degrees without removing her grip from his finger, freeing herself from his grip and kept twisting it all the way back.

“Ow... ow... ow...” he groaned loudly, twisting his body in accordance to his finger to ease his pain.

“Now you know, what it is like to be bullied,” she chided and stomped his foot hard with her heels. The bully stumbled backwards. His friends had to help him. But he never stopped crying. One second, he would caress his finger and another he would jump on one foot and caress his other one.

Everyone present in the restaurant smiled at the scene but not the bullies.

“You bitch!” shouted the second bully. He moved forward and raised his hand at Nivritti. But before he could hit her, his hands were halted mid-air. Before anyone could understand anything, there was a ‘pow’ sound and the second man fell to the ground, hard. He cried with pain.

Nivritti immediately turned around and her jaw dropped to the floor. A tall, well-built, handsome man was standing before him in black clothes and a matching mask. She knew the man. She gulped with fear and confusion. She instantly looked around the restaurant, no one seemed to recognise who came to rescue Nivritti.

“JJ!!” she blurted out. She immediately covered her mouth as she realised that she said his name in a room full of people. Jung-Hwa’s eyes burned with anger when he saw four red lines on her arm. The blood pooled around the area the bully held her arm.

Nivritti could recognise Jung-Hwa’s mischievous eyes anywhere but now those eyes were filled with anger and hatred. She looked at his bodyguards and her mind started racing with ideas.

She had to get Jung-Hwa away before anyone could recognise him. It was not good for an idol to be seen indulging in violence. That could hamper his persona. She had to act fast.

The whole restaurant started murmuring. Nivritti heard words like CEO, Chaebol. It was clear that because of bodyguards, everyone thought some billionaire CEO entered the restaurant. A few girls awed as they thought they were witnessing real-life K-drama.

In the meantime, another bully started making his way towards Jung-Hwa to take revenge. Jung-Hwa too made a move towards him and opened his mouth,” stay...” But before he could finish his sentence, Nivritti jumped towards him and covered his mouth with her hand.

“Do not speak,” she shouted. She was afraid that his voice might give away his identity. She saw one girl picking up her phone and ready to record everything. She shouted, “don’t even think about it.” The girl put the phone down, ashamed.

Nivritti then looked at the bullies and screamed, “if you don’t want any more beating, leave the premises before the police come and arrest you.” The men helped their friend and ran away from the premises.

She had to act fast. Everyone knew what car Jung-Hwa drove. If they saw the car in front of the restaurant, the fans would recognise it and it would create a great scandal. Even the fans knew who the bodyguards were, luckily everyone was wearing a mask.

She looked at the bodyguard and commanded, “scatter. Don’t walk with JJ. Take Jae with you. Take one car directly to the K&Q building and bring the second car around the corner. Don’t take off your masks under any circumstances.”

“But...” protested one bodyguard.

“Don’t contradict me. Do as I say, NOW,” she ordered. Jung-Hwa signalled them to follow her order. She then pointed at Jung-Hwa, “you, come with me. Don’t speak, don’t look at anyone.”

Every bodyguard scattered as per her command. One took Jae-Hwa with him. She then looked at a waiter. “Where is your manager?” the waiter pointed at the man standing in a corner. She approached him hastily. He was looking scared.

“Are you the manager?” she asked, directly. She could not waste any time, the clock was ticking. Any moment anyone could recognise the puncher to be Jung-Hwa and his career would be over.

“Yes, ma’am,” replied the manager.

“Do you have CCTV around your premises?” asked Nivritti.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Run along and get the footage from the moment I arrived and then erase it from your system,” she commanded. Jung-Hwa looked at her, surprised. Her demand was impossible. No one in their right mind would do such a thing.

“Excuse me! I am sorry ma’am, we can’t delete footage,” protested the manager.

Nivritti pursed her lips and stared at him with fury-filled eyes. “Your restaurant is a new one. In just a few weeks, it has gained a reputation.” The manager beamed with happiness at her comment. “But this stupid restaurant is not safe for women, and I am the proof.” Now the happiness of the manager changed into fear. He knew where she was going.

Nivritti continued, “my friend and I were harassed, manhandled, abused here and none of you did anything. You didn’t even move an inch to control those rowdy men. They kept touching me and my friend and you all were mere spectators. Only your cashier tried to help. Being the manager, it is your duty that your customer eats in peace and not gets harassed. You failed spectacularly. Just imagine what would happen to you and your eatery, if I tell people how coward you are and how girls are not safe at all. Your reputation will go down the toilet. No women, no girl will ever enter your premises. They will stop their male friends, their relatives to enter too. Your restaurant business will be in loss. On top of that, I will file a case against you and your restaurant for emotional and physical damage.” She showed his hand to him. It was now getting blue in colour due to bruising.

“Better, I should document this,” she took out her phone and started taking photos of her arms.

“Please don’t do that ma’am. Then get me the footage. And delete it from your archive. If I ever find even a glimpse of that footage floating on the internet, I will sue your ass. Do you understand?” she warned him.