123 The Conditions For Friendship

Everyone looked at confused Young-Chul.

“I told everyone that we won’t shoot today. A message will be posted on our official handle. I just thought that you would need to rest today,” explained Kyung-Soo.

“But Hyung,” protested Young-Chul.

“No, she is right. You should leave and rest. Why didn’t we think of this before? We have cancelled the daily video, we should not have called you. You, go back home. We will see you in the evening,” chimed in Korain.

“So, you guys would practice?” asked Young-Chul.

“A little bit,” replied Korain. “Go home, Young, rest,” he ordered.

“If you want, I can come with you,” offered Kyung-Soo.

“No, no, I will be fine. I just need a good night’s sleep and I will be refreshed,” smiled Young-Chul but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. They were tired and sleepy.

“Go, see you in the evening,” said Kyung-Soo.

.....

Young-Chul stood up, looked at Nivritti, and mouthed, “thanks.” She smiled at him sweetly and Yong-Chul left the room.

“You all should not overwork and take care of your health. Then only us ASDians would be happy,” commented Jae-Hwa.

All looked at Jae-Hwa with open mouths. The girl who never spoke in front of ASD called herself ASDian. She spoke even though no one asked her any questions. It was something new for everyone. Everyone looked at her, shocked.

Jae-Hwa looked at everyone, staring at her, and gulped hard. She realised that she opened her mouth in front of everyone. She glanced at Nivritti who had her eyes widened and kept blinking, yet continuously staring at her with shock.

“You spoke?” teased Korain. Everyone started laughing loudly.

“We will keep that in mind, Jae-Hwa. Thank you for thinking good about us,” smiled Kyung-Soo politely at her.

“Let’s go and practice a little. We are already late today,” suggested Him-Chan.

“He is right, let’s go,” nodded Korain.

historical

Leaving the Rencontre team to work on scripts, the members of ASD stood up and went to the open area and played the song. Him-Chan kept guiding everyone and they started their practice. Nivritti finally realised that even the choreographer was not present today. Only the boys and the Rencontre team were inside the room. She pondered as to why they were practising in this large room when they had no dance crew today. They could have practised inside the K&Q building in their own room.

Maybe they had their own reason to do that. She didn’t think any more about that and concentrated on her work. After hours and hours of sifting through the scripts and selecting among them, her eyes grew tired.

She placed the back of her two cold fingers on her eyes to soothe them. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and Kyung-Soo was standing before her. She was taken aback. The sweat on his forehead was glistening like tiny pearls. He stood in front of her smiling sweetly. All the other members were slowly walking towards her. All were wiping their sweat with small towels.

“Looks like you guys are tired. Here, have some water,” Kyung-Soo placed three bottles of water in front of the Rencontre team.

“What do you want to eat?” Thae immediately jumped near Nivritti and sat next to her with a thud.

“Anything,” replied Nivritti.

“Wanna eat black bean noodles?” asked Jeong-Eun, excited.

“Jajangmyeon!” shouted Jae-Hwa, excited.

“You like it?” inquired Jeong-Eun.

“I love it,” she smiled at him.

“Control! Both of you. Your love for noodles is showing,” Nivritti teased both of them cryptically. Both Jeong-Eun and Jae-Hwa looked at her and smiled awkwardly.

“Do you like it, Ritti?” asked Him-Chan.

“I have never tried it,” she replied.

“What?” everyone shouted at once.

“I... have just never tried it,” she repeated herself.

“Then we have to get jajangmyeon,” announced Him-Chan. “I will place the order.”

Dae kept rolling his eyes at the conversation. “Everyone is assuming that I like black noodles. Everyone’s heart is as black as those noodles. Can no one ask me what I want? If I say no then everyone will think that I am rude. But they are rude, assuming that I like jajangmyeon. What if I wanted chicken or beef? Or just a simple sandwich? What is wrong with these people? Am I invisible to them? Everyone just asked stupid Ritti, as if only she is present here.” His blood started boiling.

“What do you want, Seong-ssi?” Him-Chan interrupted his thoughts.

“Ohh... anything, Johan. Whatever you guys are getting would be fine for me,” he lied as politely as possible.

While Him-Chan kept scrolling on his phone to place an order, Thae asked Jae-Hwa, “so, Jae-Hwa! You are an ASDian?”

“Yes, I am. I have all your albums, all your merchandise. I have watched all your videos and have gone to every one of your concerts in Korea. Sometimes it’s hard if your concert is out of Seoul but I try to attend every one of them except those you do overseas,” Jae-Hwa blurted out in one breath. She was too excited to talk about her being an ASDian.

“See!” Thae nudged Nivritti, angrily.

“Ha-ha-ha,” laughed Nivritti, sarcastically.

“What was that?” inquired Jung-Hwa, urgently.

“Oh, nothing!” shouted Jeong-Eun even before Nivritti could reply. “She is a traitor. She is not our fan. She looked us up while preparing for her interview for this job. She has a total of eight songs of ours in her playlist,” he mocked.

“What?” shouted Jung-Hwa, shocked yet disappointed.

“I...” Nivritti had no idea how to explain her situation.

“It’s okay!” Him-Chan put his phone down and chimed in.

“Hyung!” shouted Thae, Jeong-Eun, and Jung-Hwa in unison.

“Are we going to put conditions on our friends? We would be friends with you only if you are our fans?” asked Him-Chan.

“No!” all three maknaes lowered their head after Him-Chan’s explanation.

“He is right. Even if she had no songs in her playlist, she would still be our friend,” nodded Kyung-Soo.

“So, what she has only eight songs? So, what if she is not our fan? Did you ask her if she was your fan when you scolded her? Did you ask her if she was your fan when you tested her truth? Did it matter to you that she was not your fan when you stormed into that café to save her? Did it matter to you that she was not your fan when she saved you from that scandal?” inquired Korain.

“No!” said all three collectively.