LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 59: Objection!!
Nitya tossed over to the other side of the bed, after being disturbed by the pinging tone of a notification. She had fallen asleep with her phone on the bed by her side; she fumbled with the buttons, somehow managed to change the setting to vibrate and put it aside, all without opening her eyes. But then she felt the persistent vibrations once again; 'Ho-jinnie<3<3' - the name was flashing repeatedly on the screen.
She quickly received the video call, and there was a whiny kid in front of her, complaining about how she had been ignoring them for the last two days.
Nitya was going to say something, but she paused suddenly as she felt dizzy for a passing moment. She quickly placed her hand on her head, meanwhile the person sitting beside Ho-jin, just outside the frame, peeked in and looked at her at the same moment. It felt like she was right in front of him, yet so far away that his hand that had instinctively reached out for her, remained empty.
Ho-jin felt so helpless at not being able to help her then, that the only thing he could do was shout; he screamed out "Noona...are you okay?
Why are you alone? Is everything okay?"
She quickly hid her emotions, and tucked the pain away, as she couldn't be vulnerable in front of him. She had to be perfect in front of him, as he was younger than her- though not in age, but definitely in the relationship aspect.
She spoke, forcefully placing a big smile on her face. "Yes Ho-jin, everything is fine, how are you and the Hyungs? And I am sorry, I was slightly busy the past few days. I will be calling you regularly today onwards, like always!"
"Don't try to lie Noona, I know you are not alright, I saw that you had almost fainted. Let me call Ji-hun hyung real quick, only he can scold you; you never listen to one of us!"
"Shhh!" Nitya placed a finger on her own lips, indicating him to be quiet and then she spoke again, lowering her voice. "I will bring so many spicy water balls ('golgappe') for you, but only if you keep this secret and not tell anyone else! You are my good brother, aren't you? Especially from Ji-hun, as he will be too panicked after knowing this; I know this tour is very important for you all, so I don't want anything to go wrong this time, as we all remember what happened in the last tour…"
She took a pause, when Ho-jin interrupted her "So what do you think about the last tour- wait, scratch that. Before you say anything, let me tell you the fact that the last tour was the best tour of my entire life. We were all lucky and Ji-hun hyung had that encounter with you that changed all of our lives. And now I don't even remember how we used to live without you...you are such a huge part of all of our lives , especially hyung's- so tell me now, why are you hiding this big deal from him?"
"You have just stated the reason for me hiding my ailments along with your question- because you all love me. And because he loves me the most in this world, he will ditch everything and come back to me. Would I want all of this to happen?"
"But Noona, it is his responsibility to take care of you, as he is your boyfriend-"
"No, Ho-jin, stop placing everyone into boxes and making labels about what the role of boyfriend is, what should be the role of such a girlfriend, and how much they have to do to prove that they are perfect for each other! Let's stop this discussion here, I will call you back in a bit. Okay?"
"Okay Noona, but please take care!"
"Okay Ho-jin, bye, take care kiddo!"
"I am older than you- you do remember this, right?"
"Of course I do, but you are my younger brother in my eyes, so no more discussion on this! Now go...bye bye."
Ho-jin disconnected the call and turned towards the person sitting beside him. He was sitting quietly, with tears in his eyes and his fists clenched up; his heart was flinching at every word she had said about why she had to hide her ailments because of him, also knowing that this was not only because of the love but also due to the scars of the past.
Ho-jin spoke up. "So, what are we going to do now?"
"Preponing our tour! What else?"
"Okay, then I will inform everyone else!" Ho-jin got up and patted his shoulder, "Relax hyung, we are all with you." Saying this, he left the room.
Ji-hun smiled to himself, he already knew that he was the luckiest person alive, to have all of them by side.
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"After this, we boarded the plane and here we are…"
Dae Jung narrated the whole story in front of the students, basking in the attention; while Ji-hun was still hugging Nitya, as if she would vanish in a moment if he let his grip loosen even a little bit.
"Haha! What a great story!" Loud claps echoed in the hall as someone stepped forward from amongst her classmates. He continued with a smug look on his face, "You are telling me that you just fell for that? Don't you know that she can win an Oscar for her acting skills, as she is a pro at faking her illness. How dumb must a person be, to fall for that!"
The accusatory voice grated in everyone's ears again, irritating them initially. But after a few minutes, only ten people were standing there with anger boiling in their veins.
Ji-hun stepped forward and immediately, Nitya grabbed his elbow and shook her head softly in a gesture of 'no'. He stepped back, but by then Hyeon had started speaking, "Oh! So you are saying that our girl is a pro at acting as well, what great news! I already keep saying that she should definitely try working in front of the camera; but let's keep this matter aside. Tell me your introduction first, who the hell are you? And most importantly, why does it bother you whether or not we have fallen for her supposed act? Because I will be willing to fall for her act even after it has been repeated a thousand times, so can you please keep your valuable suggestions to yourself, as I don't like free and cheap stuff."
"I am Siddhant! And for your kind information, let me tell you that I am her closest friend. So please excuse us, or at least tell me who you guys are!?"
"I see! So you are Siddhant!" Dae Jung smirked. "Very close friend of hers, I guess; then you must definitely know us already! But nevermind, let me ask you this- do you know what her favourite place is? Colour? Food item? Scratch everything, do you know how long she has been dating Ji-hun for?"
"She won't be dating him...you guys are lying to me to make me jealous-"
Ji-hun growled out, "What need do we have to fulfill by making you jealous? If anything, I need to be breaking your bones, so you better leave. Or it would be even better that we should leave, you can stay here or wherever the hell you want to stay! Let's go, everyone."
"Guys, I am cordially inviting you all to the party today evening, everyone except you, Mr. Dumbhead! Today, we are celebrating the reunion of my Hyung and my would-be sister-in-law." Ho-jin announced.
"Ho-jin, we are in India, that doesn't mean that you can swear!" Chang Min was the one to grab his hand and yanked him backwards, scolding him. After that, he pulled Ho-jin along with him and also draped his arm across Nitya's shoulder. He guided her outside, saying "Come kiddo, I have something for you in the car. And after that, you can go with Ji-hun, as Kaoru and I have some paperwork to sort out with Yeoubi."
"Wait! You can't take her anywhere without my permission!"
A voice was heard in the background, making Nitya flinch again and causing her to hide behind Chang Min's shoulder.
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The phone vibrated once again, waking Nitya up. She checked her phone to see a notification 'Siddhant-missed call' on the screen. After that, a trail of messages appeared on the screen, with the most recent one being "Hide, as long as you can hide. I also got admission in your college and will be joining the college by next week."
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