"You cannot show any relation with them." The man told me with a stern face. "Anywhere. Inside and outside the company. In a building or on the street."
"I understand." I bowed a little deeper than usual as an apologize and gratitude.
"It's better that you toned down your outfit and hide your face as well." He pointed the mask I had in my hand.
"Yes, Sir."
"Now, go. You have works to do." He motioned the door with his head.
"Yes, Sir. Thank you for your time." I gave him a bow before scurried to the door.
"Park Nambin-ssi." His voice made me pivoted on my toes. "They are idols now. Our company's artists. Please mind your attitude. Any rumors will be a hindrance for us all."
"Yes, Sir."
______
"He told me that." Nammie's tone sound cheery. But her blank stare was far from happy. That smile of hers couldn't fool anyone.
"But you're part of us. You're always around." One of the kids tried to go against the flow.
"But in reality, Nammie is close to us. Too close." Another kid stated the fact.
"What about that? She help us the most. She should be around." One among the youngest defended her.
"We are avoiding rumors, guys. They said cameras will be all around us. If any of us are getting caught, we might bring down the group." The wise old kid tried to reasoning. "Also the company."
The room got so silent yet it's deafening. The thing that could be heard were the screech and scratch of their brains. Sighs emerged here and there between untold words.
"Guys." Nammie's meek squeak made those heads directed towards her. "It's not like I'm gone. I'm still with you behind the lenses. We will still in the same room." She articulated her words with her gesture as always. Just a bit dimmed. "You can still see me. Imma watching you all closely like I usually do. Nothing's changed." She smile more widely till it touched her eyes.
A pause filled the gaps between them before a chuckle slipped in. Then smiles bloomed and laughter were cracked. Pats fell on the girl's head.
"I hope so. We hope so."
______
But one face on the furthest circle had the fake smile. His glaces to the blank wall hide his disagreeing thought. He surely knew the fact and the reason. He understood their positions. And he walked further than the others. There for, he recognized the pattern. He realized nothing would be the same.
A peek he took at Nammie explained everything. He found out that the girl knew it, too. Her hushed voice, her limited movement, her hidden trembling hands, and weak painful grins she threw around crunched his heart and chocked his throat.
And as the two's gazes collided, heat arose behind their eyes. They looked at each other for seconds. Then one mouthed apologize, the other answered by invisible nods. Their brief exchange was cut when the others started to move around.
______
"What should I do? I got a reprimand again. They said my eyes couldn't leave the kids. Like I was gouging my eyes out everytime I see them." Nammie's mouth getting more protruded. "Am I?"
"You made that promise, didn't you? To keep watching them as always. It's just your affection seeped through." Her counterpart scooped a big spoon of ice cream and putted it in her mouth, ceasing her pout. "You love them, though. They like your way of loving them, care for them. People get jealous. It cannot be helped."
Nammie tried to clear her own mind by blowing out airs. "Yeah. I love them so much, my heart hurts. I love them too much. I might become crazy or dumb these days."
"You are crazy. And dumb. As always." He fed her another spoon. "No one eat ice cream in a cold winter on the street." His words painted smile on gloomy Nammie. "And why do I keep giving it to you?"
Rainbows colored Nammie's pupils. "Because you know how to cheer me up?"
"Is that a question on an answer?"
"Yes." Nammie laughed at the man's rolled eyes.
______
"Where is Nammie?"
"Oh. She's around. I saw her just minutes ago with a guy from another company."
"Who? Park Nambin? She's with that guy who works with Super Junior. That Kwon guy."
"Guess she is close with him. The way they smile at each other say it all."
"Right. They looks good together. But she keep saying that they are just friends. I guess not."
The conversation quickly zoned out from his mind. He turned on his heel and walked faster to canceling out the rumor. He needed Nammie, not gossips about her.
As he came out from the room, he remembered Nammie was looking at him, he and other kids in his group, from behind the cameras. Her face was blank, no twinkling eyes or what so ever she usually had. The interviewer's question distracted him just for seconds, but then he realized that Nammie was gone. So when the lunch break started, he hastened his step to another room, looking for her. Afraid that she might be in pain or some short. He only had a brief moment for he should back to his works afterwards.
The name he heard was not unfamiliar. He knew the man. He should not be worried, but he was. Nammie's behavior was not normal on the past days. He sensed that something was wrong. He just couldn't pin point the problem.
"Hyung. It's time. We should get going."
He let out a harsh breath. "Alright." He felt defeated, but he understood that he was not his own. People depended on him. Too many lifes were at stake.
______
"I know." Frustrated, he ruffled his own hair, hoping something just clicked and rearranged his messy brain.
"She has her own things to do."
"I know, Hyung."
"And it's Taehyuk-ssi. Her best friend." The older didn't peeled his eyes from the screen in front of him.
"I get it."
"Then, please stop fidgeting. You're distracting people."
That was when the younger take a look to his surroundings. He saw people kept glancing over him with some of them talk in hushed voices. He was scrutinizing Nammie and her so called subordinate who were mingling on the other side of the set. He knew he didn't utter a single word about his frustration, however his body show it all.
"Sorry." He forced himself to look the other way.
______
Three pair of eyes. He saw three pair of eyes who were ready to end his life. And he was not afraid of it. He proud of himself. He knew his plan would work, but he didn't know that little plan would work that good.
He waved goodbye to the girl outside his car. The girl who was the center of the three pairs of murderous eyes. The oblivious girl who he cared about. The girl he vowed to protect.
The road he drove on was clear, as clear as the sky, as clear as the final picture in his head.
______
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(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
YOU ARE READING
Daily Challenge
Randomanything that crossed my mind at the day and become a story.. enjoy.. ╮(＾▽＾)╭
