To Kiss An Idol

171 The Nicknames

Nivritti felt awkward when Jae-Geun placed her legs over his thighs. She knew that he did that for a better view of her injury but still it was a strange experience. She immediately pulled her leg back and asked, “what are you doing?”

“What do you think?” he looked at her and asked. “Checking your injury.”

“I am fine. Your sister did a good job,” replied Nivritti.

“I will be the judge of that. Give me your leg,” he demanded.

“Just show him. You have no idea how stubborn he is,” Jae-Hwa shouted from the kitchen.

“So, if I don’t show him my leg, he will do what?” teased Nivritti.

“I will do this,” said Jae-Geun and slightly pressed her pinkie toe.

“Ahh…” she cried in pain. “You are so… so… BAD!” she shouted.

“Just give me your foot,” scolded Jae-Geun.

.....

Defeated, Nivritti moved her leg towards Jae-Geun.

“See, I told you, stubborn,” commented Jae-Hwa from the kitchen.

Jae-Geun shook his head in disbelief at his sister’s comment. He placed Nivritti’s foot on his thighs and took a look at the bandage. Jae-Geun did a good job of tying it. Slowly, he opened the bandage and removed the cotton. The dark pink skin appeared before him. Nivritti flinched with pain the moment the bandage was removed.

“Oh! Why it started to pain suddenly?” groaned Nivritti.

“The bandage was keeping your wound compressed and when I removed it all the sensation came back, hence the pain,” explained Jae-Geun. “Did you apply ice?”

“No,” replied Nivritti.

“Oh, you guys should have called me. You need cold compression every 20-30 minutes. That would reduce the inflammation. It’s a good thing that she tied the bandage tight, which provided you with compression. Okay, I am going to test if you broke your bones or not, just tell me how much pain you are in,” asked Jae-Geun. Softly he grabbed her toe and wiggled it in every direction.

Nivritti flinched in pain, but the pain was still bearable.

“How is the pain?” he asked.

“Not bad, bearable,” replied Nivritti.

“How long ago was your toe injured?” he inquired.

“Um… almost an hour,” she replied.

“It’s not swollen or bruised or deformed, so we can rule out broken bones,” he said. He opened a tube of medicine and applied the cream over her wound. He then wrapped an elastic bandage up to her calf.

“This is to help you with the pain,” he explained. “Sometimes the leg too starts to pain after hours. If that happens, you can take this painkiller,” he handed her a few tablets.

“Thank you!” smiled Nivritti.

“You are welcome. Now, you need to stay off your feet as much as possible and take rest,” said Jae-Geun. She nodded at him. “I have brought food, so you guys don’t need to cook and Jaehwa, make sure she walks less.”

“I can go to the office tomorrow, right?” inquired Nivritti.

“Oh! So many stairs,” he thought for a minute. “Walk as carefully as you can and keep the pressure on that toe to the minimum.”

“Okay, will do and thank you for coming. You didn’t have to do that,” smiled Nivritti.

“As I told Jaehwa, I am a doctor. I need to care for all injured,” replied Jae-Geun, politely.

“So nice!” commented Jae-Hwa, sarcastically. “Show off!!” Nivritti pursed her lips to avoid laughing at Jae-Geun.

“Jealous!” sulked Jae-Geun.

“You guys always make me remember my sister,” said Nivritti, smiling.

“Nivritti! Keep your legs elevated. That too will help with pain,” said Jae-Geun.

“Why are you calling her Nivritti, why not Ritti?” scolded Jae-Hwa. “Why you both don’t use nicknames for one another? Are you not friends?” Jae-Hwa sat next to Nivritti.

“Aisshh… this girl!” he raised his hand to hit her but stopped himself. “During our first meet, you said not to call her Ritti, and now you are asking why I call her Nivritti?”

“I said her friends call her Ritti. You were not her friend at that time. But you are now, call her Ritti and your pronunciation of Nivritti is weird,” taunted Jae-Hwa. fre𝙚𝓌𝒆𝚋noѵel.c𝚘m

“Tell me one thing, Jae-Geun. Is there a medicine for an unfiltered talk? Why is there no filter on her mouth? She speaks whatever, whenever she wants,” mocked Nivritti.

“Ha-Ha,” laughed Jae-Geun but Jae-Hwa sulked at her comment. “Okay I will call her Ritti, happy now?” he caressed her hair with adoration.

“Yes!” smiled Jae-Hwa. She immediately looked at Nivritti, “and you?”

“Shh…” Nivritti shushed her.

“Huh?”

“I am thinking,” said Nivritti.

“Thinking?”

“A nickname for him. I can’t call him Jae as that is your nickname. Somehow calling him Geun, does not feel okay to me,” Nivritti rubbed her chin while staring at a wall in front of her.

“JG, short for Jae-Geun?” suggested Jae-Hwa.

“Hmm… JG or SJ?” replied Nivritti.

“I like SJ. It has my full name,” answered Jae-Geun.

“Okay, then it’s settled, you will call me Ritti and I will call you SJ,” smiled Nivritti. Jae-Geun beamed with happiness. Finally, he got a nickname. Now he too was in her inner circle.

From the moment Jae-Hwa informed him about Nivritti’s injury, his heart was beating fast thinking about her being in pain. His mother was packing food for everyone but as soon as he received the call, he rushed out of his house and drove like a maniac to reach Nivritti’s house.

He ran up the stairs, not thinking about anything except Nivritti. His heart was aching at the thought that she was injured. He cared for her once and wanted to be there to care for her again. In the rush of coming to her house, he didn’t even ask for details about Nivritti’s injury from Jae-Hwa. And he kept thinking worse.

The moment he entered the house and saw Nivritti calmly sitting on the couch, his heartbeat slowed down. He even got angry at Nivritti for living in a building without a lift. He tried looking at her injury but could not see that. Her lower leg was hidden behind the centre table.

After he checked her injury, finally he could breathe easily and now she gave him a nickname, he grinned from ear to ear after that.

“Happy now?” questioned Nivritti.

“Very,” smiled Jae-Hwa.

“Um… SJ! Can I get my wound wet?” asked Nivritti.

Jae-Geun’s heart stopped for a minute after hearing his nickname for the first time from her mouth. He even stopped breathing. He just kept staring at her.

“Oppa!” Jae-Hwa slapped his upper arm and brought him back from his dreamland.

“What?” shouted Jae-Geun.

“What are you thinking about? She asked you a question,” informed Jae-Hwa.

“Sorry! Was thinking if brought everything uhmma gave to me,” replied Jae-Geun. He then looked at Nivritti and asked, “what did you ask me?”

“Can I get my wound wet?” Nivritti repeated.

“Oh, you didn’t take shower yet?” asked Jae-Geun.

“No.”

“Best would be to keep the wound dry for at least a day. Tie a plastic bag around your feet and then try taking bath. Just skip showering for today,” winked Jae-Geun.

“What?” laughed Nivritti.

“Yeah, you are staying in the house, going nowhere, so just take a rest and skip the bath,” smiled Jae-Geun.

“Fine! I won’t. Today is my free day,” laughed Nivritti.

Suddenly, Jae-Geun’s phone started ringing. He glanced at the phone and said, “sorry, I have to leave. Phone from the hospital. Jaehwa! Take care of her and eat the food uhmma send. Don’t dare order takeout, do you understand?”

“Oppa!” pouted Jae-Hwa.

“Bye guys!” shouted Jae-Geun and ran out of the house as his phone again started ringing.

“Doctor’s life!” commented Nivritti.

“Yeah, sometimes he doesn’t even get time to eat his food. NAs when he was preparing for medical school, he would not sleep for days,” praised Jae-Hwa.

“And there is it, again the pride for your brother,” smiled Nivritti.

“I am proud of him. I just don’t show him. I love to tease him and if I praise him before him, he will become smugger and super show-off,” replied Jae-Hwa.

“Siblings!” said Nivritti.

“Feeling fine?” asked Jae-Hwa.

“Yes, you, brother and sister are too good to me,” replied Nivritti, sweetly.

“Kindness is always paid back with kindness. You helped me and now I am repaying that back,” Jae-Hwa grabbed Nivritti’s arm and softly tightened her grip.

“No, I returned your kindness,” replied Nivritti and she too placed her hand over Jae-Hwa’s hand.

“What? What kindness?” asked Jae-Hwa.

“You were the first one to speak to me on my very first day. And you scolded everyone for not talking to me. You are my very first friend in Korea. Of course, I will protect my friend whenever, whenever I can,” smiled Nivritti.

.....

Both girls leaned towards each other and hugged adoringly. Tears of happiness streamed down Jae-Hwa’s face.

After showing love for each other, Nivritti wiped Jae-Hwa’s tears and sitting next to each other, they started working on scripts. Now they could freely concentrate on their work as they had nothing else to do, not even cook food.

Of course, Jae-Hwa’s mother sent bags and boxes full of food. Nivritti knew it would be impossible to finish the food tonight.

Taking a rest for half an hour every three hours, they kept reading the scripts. Night arrived, they had dinner, and they went to sleep. Jae-Hwa helped Nivritti walk to her bed and placed two pillows under her foot to keep it elevated. Luckily, the compression bandage kept all the pain away.