Chpt 29

A Reason to Stay

Nari breathed deeply as she got out of her van. She had arrived at the shoot for 2D1N and she was eager to return to the routine of being a host. When the other members arrived, Nari greeted them enthusiastically, feeling like a rookie once again. 
Once JooHyuk saw her, he kept a distance. Rather than stand right next to her, he stood on the opposite end of the line, next to JunHo. The other members all noticed his change in movements, but thought nothing of it as the cameramen and the PD’s signaled that they were ready to begin. Nari followed along and smiled as TaeHyun introduced the place where they would be basing for that shoot. As PD Yu HoJin gave a history of the location and a brief overview of what they were going to be doing that day, the members nodded along and made small jokes here and there for the benefit of the viewers. 
After the introduction was over and done with, the cameras were off and the members had a chance to themselves. Suddenly, a food truck entered the base, with JooHyuk’s picture on the side, smiling widely. 
As the truck parked, the driver handed a letter over to JooHyuk. The letter was bright pink with a beige border, definitely written by a woman. 
The letter contained the information about where the food truck came from and who sent it. When the name of the fans were read out, Nari recognized one in particular; it was the nam of the woman who attacked her and was now captured. Nari stood still, stunned. JooHyuk glanced over to gauge her reaction. 
Nari’s eyes glazed over, as she recalled the accident all too well. She remembered the photograph that the young rookie cop showed her in the hospital. She connected the name to the photo, promising herself never to forget. The other members knew the name of the sasaeng fan, but went along with the moment, trying to show that they were grateful to the fans. Once the food truck got set up, the members took turns taking selcas and photos with the crew holding plates full of steaming food in front of their faces. Everyone looked elated to get a hot meal and the crew ate and ate until all the food was emptied. 
JooHyuk noticed that Nari didn’t go near the truck or the food. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable and, rather than join the others in their meal, she retreated to her van to browse through recent news articles. 
Her Manager called her out when the crew were ready to move to another location to stat the day. As she returned in front of the cameras, she stayed to herself and kept her distance with JooHyuk even more now. She couldn’t help but feel like that food truck gift was a reminder to her about what fans are capable of and to what lengths they are willing to go to protect their fandom. 
There was some tension in the car as the members were not sure how to talk about the meal. Everyone in the bus knew that, although one fan was behind bars, the others had the potential to keep an eye on the idol and could prove just as dangerous, if not more, to any potential threats. They knew this just by there mere mention of the culprit’s name in a letter. Once the other fans still acknowledged that woman’s loyalty to JooHyuk, they did not recognize that she was guilty. Before the food truck took off, a group of energetic women, ranging from their mid-twenties to late-forties, bombarded the members. Instinctively, Nari backed away and headed away from the crowd. She was convinced that one of then, at least, would attack her or yell insults at her.
After the girls were greeted by JooHyuk, they put their plan in action. One of them in the front took something out of her backpack and launched it over her head, towards Nari. JooHyuk looked at the object mid-air and noticed that it was a broken piece of a clay brick. Before anyone could warn Nari, the brick piece struck Nari on her back, between her shoulder blades. The girls began commending their fellow fan on her aim, but JooHyuk rushed over to Nari. Once he left for her, the coast was clear for the girls to get closer to Nari. As they approached her, the ones in the back hollered insults at her while the ones in the front prepared for something bigger. The crowd of girls managed to reach in front of Nari, so that they were now looking at her. The same woman who launched the brick at her, began kicking her. Another woman kicked at the back of Nari’s knees, causing her to kneel down. The girls at the back were now holding back the other members and any cast members who were trying to interrupt. The front-line girls proceeded to kick Nari in her stomach, causing her to double-over . They got a good few kicks in to her arms, legs and even her face before the security was summoned and the girls were forcibly removed. The police arrived at the scene and took the girls away. 
As the ambulance arrived, Nari managed to stand upright, accepting help from everyone but JooHyuk. As she walked away from the group, the PD approached her, explaining to her what would happen to the shoot and constantly apologizing. Nari stopped in her tracks and looked at the PD, feeling the blood from her now-injured chin moving down her neck.
“PD-nim, I think I’m done with this show. You can tell the viewers what you want for this episode, but they’ll find out the truth eventually. I’m never coming back to this show.” 
The PD looked shocked, but he allowed her to leave. Nari watched him as he returned to the other PD’s, explaining to them what had just transpired. She refused to look back at JooHyuk. There and then, on her way to the hospital, she had decided that whatever feelings she once had for him, were disappearing quickly. Being with him was not worth all this hurt, especially as she was the only one getting hurt. She made up her mind to forget him altogether. 
She listened as her Manager was talking to CEO Han about the events and kept insisting that Nari would never return to that show, or any show. She was attacked once too many times. She could have overlooked the first accident, but this time, it wasn’t just by one fan; it was a group of them. Her fear grew with each second and she felt paranoia growing just as fast. She was legitimately afraid to be in public, and the best way to get rid of this fear would be to leave SK as soon as possible.  

 

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City-of-Cnblue #1
Chapter 37: Enjoyed this soooo much! Debak!
Yongmi5 #2
Chapter 37: Thanks for writing such a great story. I really enjoyed it. Fighting!!
Yongmi5 #3
Chapter 15: Nari is more complex than I thought. She does have many issues to resolve. Food being just one of them. Thanks for the update. Fighting !!
Yongmi5 #4
Chapter 9: I just found this today and I thought I would give it a try. It 's really good and the flow is good too. You are very talented and just want to encourage you to keep writing. I like Nari a lot. I think she and Jonghyun would make the perfect couple since they are both musicians. Anyway fighting!!