THE MANAGER NIM

52. MYSTIC CHANGE

"Devdas! Let's watch Devdas!" Jungkook says passionately, standing near the television.

"What?!" keenly avoiding his desirable gaze, you reply back to the floor beneath your foot in a baffled tone.

"It's been on my watchlist since the day I saw that movie's female lead in a magazine cover, she looked so ethereal!" he sounds like an armature fanboy.

"Okay..." you reluctantly answer, eyes still lingering over your swelled leg.

You expect him to proceed on with the movie, instead, he swiftly shifts near you and the back of his hand glides over your forehead, scanning the temperature of your body. Feeling imprisoned by anxiety, you meet his concerned gaze with subtle panic.

"Are you alright? Is there something bothering you?" his eyes drifts all over your body with worry.

As you sit there observing the genuine concern smothering his eyes, desperate thoughts squirm at the back of your mind.

'If only I was her...' a feeble sigh escapes your nostrils in despair.

"Yaa Gomaa!" his voice tugs you back to reality and your eyes stretches at the tinge of reality.

You shove his hand weakly, "No, I'm alright, I...I just...feel, never mind I'll make some popcorn for us!" disregarding the pricking pain tormenting your swollen feet you raise up in a jiffy and hobble towards the kitchen.

'What the heck is wrong with me? What am I even thinking? At this rate, I might even break the third golden rule and lose my job forever! The audacity to have such thoughts despite knowing the fact that his heart is already an abode of an irresistible goddess! I should stay away from him at all cost for the sake of both of us.' the ghost of the thoughts you had continues to haunt your mind.

Clutching your chest to dampen the unstable rhythm of your heart, you stretch your other hand to seize the pack of popcorn kernel placed on the top shelf. The bloated feet make it even harder to reach the pack. Surprisingly Jungkook's slender arm reaches out towards the pack from behind, causing you to hold back your breath to muffle the wild rampage of your heart trying to blow apart the rules your brain devised to keep you on your lane.

His husky torso marginally grazing against your back warns you about the adjacent position and you hastily try to move away from his proximity at full tilt and end up flinching at the pain caused by twisting your wounded ankle. His burly arm firmly encircles around your waist and delicately lifts you off the ground. He effortlessly hoists your entire body and gently places you over the kitchen counter like a rice bag.

"Stay put! I'll make the popcorns." His words are imbued with a subtle hue of anger.

Like a pitiable dosser, you sit over there idly, admiring his sturdy shoulders from behind. While his elegant movements try to sweep you into a trance like a state,

"Where is cookie boy?" his sudden question pulls you out of it.

"He is with my sister Lily, I asked her to take care of him until we come back from our Australia trip."

"I see" he stays mum for a few compressed minutes and you fidget with your fingers, awaiting him to start another conversation to taper the awkwardness suffusing the air.

"Will you be able to travel with us? Should I talk to PD-nim_"

"NO!" you yell impulsively before he could finish whatever he was saying, "No, I'm alright, I'll be absolutely fine, no need to make any changes for my sake." Your reflexive answer hauls his attention. He closes the lid of the popcorn maker and swivels around to face you.