Chapter 9: Encounter

Human love is often but the encounter of two weaknesses.

Victoria sat comfortably on the backseat of the moving car as she is being driven by her manager to their destination to fulfill one of her many duties as an idol. Today, she is a guest star on a new show “Blind Test Show 180°”on MBC. Reading the rundown of the said show while inside the car, the show’s segment will showcase same items and the MC’s and guests must pick among high quality, high priced and low quality and low priced same items to determine which one is real and which one is not.

This should be really interesting! Victoria thought, smiling.

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“Annyeong-haseyo!” Victoria greets and bows to everyone she comes upon with on her way to the filming studio. Victoria -- always very polite with everyone and flashing her beautiful smile. They have arrived quite early today, and she is glad that her manager almost always never makes them late for their schedules. As she enters the stage area of the studio, she meets up with Park MiSun, one of the MC of the show.  

“Omo! Victoria-ssi!” MiSun exclaimed walking towards Victoria. “You look very pretty today!”

“Oh, thank you!” Victoria said with a big happy smile on her face, “You look really nice too MiSun-unnie.”  

“I haven’t seen you in a while. How are you?” MiSun continued having a warm catching up with Victoria.

“Everything is good, thank you unnie. How about you? How is your husband?”

“Oh! I am always very good. Oh my husband? You know him, always making more money than I do.” MiSun said jokingly and laughed. “Let’s have a nice recording today, arrasso?”

“Ne, ofcourse unnie.” Victoria said with a smile. And the floor director gestures them to sit on their right places.

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The recording went well and finished with a good laugh. Surprisingly, everyone had a great time including the whole crew. It was really interesting with the puppies and the girls being ‘’ models. Victoria had a great time and she mostly got the correct answers, and that was no surprise at all.

“Thank you everyone for a great work!” The PD said over the speakers.

As the crew and staffs start to pack things up, the MC’s and guests started to get up from their seats and ready themselves to move on to their respective schedules for the day.

“You were great Victoria-ssi.” Jun Hyun Moo, one of the MC’s said. “You have to come back again, ok?”

“Haha, I will ofcourse. I had a great time as well, thank you.” Victoria answered him sincerely.

“Yah, I was awesome too! Didn’t I Victoria?” Boom, one of the stars on the show cut in suddenly and looks expectantly at Victoria.

“Yes. You did good too. Everyone was great.” Victoria answered nicely.

“Ahh! Told you so! He~he~.” Boom said as expected with his fun personality. “But you’re really pretty today, Victoria-ssi. And I didn’t know you were really tall. Standing next to you earlier and removing my insoles, ahh really! I felt like a midget suddenly!” he exclaimed.

“Oh stop overreacting! You are short even when you’re not standing next to her.” Jun Hyun Moo playfully banters at Boom. “Seriously though Victoria-ssi, you are really pretty.”

Victoria just couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. How many times is she going to hear this from everyone in the studio? Of course, she feels very humbled, but apart from that she doesn’t feel or have done any different at all. She came here as normally as she does every time when she has a schedule, today though she is wearing a very nice blue sleeveless dress, the one that she bought herself a while back. She matched it with a sheer black stockings and a black faux leather knee-high wedge boots.

“Thank you very much. Ohhh, I’m so embarrassed.” Victoria said blushing.

“Aniyo. Nichkhun is really one lucky guy.” Boom said casually.

Nichkhun.

 Why is she hearing his name all of a sudden?

“Yah. What on earth are you talking about?”  Kim NaYoung overhears this as she was standing just inches apart from them. Joining in she continued, “Their WGM stint had ended ages ago, you dummy.”

“Ow, really?”

“Yes. It’s been over for more than a year. Aigoo, where have you been hiding?” NaYoung explained.

“So sorry! I guess I didn’t know.” Boom said in actually. “It’s just every time I see either Victoria or Nichkhun, I always presume the other one is somewhere close.”

“Haha. Yes, that’s what you get when you always see two people who have worked together for a long period of time.” NaYoung said as a matter of fact.

“So where’s Nichkhun?” Boom jokingly asked pretending to look around for someone behind Victoria.

Victoria who has not recovered yet from hearing the mere mention of Nichkhun’s name gives a polite nervous laugh.

“Yah! Stop playing around!” Jun Hyun Moo exclaimed and playfully hits Boom’s back and the two men acted like two kids hitting one another.

“How is Nichkhun though?” Kim NaYoung asked Victoria innocently. “Do you still contact each other?”

How should I answer this? Victoria asking her own mind. I should just answer honestly.

“No, actually I haven’t been in contact with him.” She replied, and it’s the truth. She and Nichkhun have never had any communication for the last 5 months. The last time Nichkhun contacted her was when he sent her a text message congratulating her for winning the Best Newcomer Actress. She did not reply.

“Ahh, I guess you both have gotten really busy.” NaYoung said nodding understandably. “Aisshhhh! It’s too bad though, you two really look great together! We honestly thought in the studio that you have fallen for each other for real.” She continued happily.

We did. Victoria wished she could say that out loud, but the truth remained in her thoughts and besides they aren’t together anymore.

“Either way, we know both of you had a really great time together. Oh mian-he, so sorry for bringing that topic up. I’m sure you’re getting sick of it by now he~he~.” NaYoung smiled apologetically.

“Aniyo unnie, it’s okay. That’s how it is.” Victoria answered giving NaYoung a smile making sure it was really okay.

“Victoria-ssi,” one of the staff suddenly appeared behind Victoria. “Your manager is already going on your waiting room.” He continued.

“Ahh, okay, thank you.” She addressed the staff. “It’s really nice seeing you again and working with you sunbaenims, I have to go now. Thank you so much again.” Victoria said while bowing to NaYoung and the two men.

“Ne! See you around Victoria-ssi.”

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After she bids her goodbye to the remaining staffs of the show, Victoria heads outside of the studio to an empty hallway. Walking unreservedly to the waiting room to meet her manager, her attention is fixed on the gadget she’s holding in her hand. Browsing the pictures she took using her cellphone, she smiles gently as she looks on the particular picture of her with the MC’s of the show she just finished recording.

What a really good feeling working with these amazing people. I’m really lucky to have this opportunity. Victoria said in her mind.

While Victoria’s mind is filled with her own thoughts, she didn’t notice that another person is also walking on the other stretch of the hallway. Her head still looking down, she hears faint sounds of footsteps closing in. As she looks up instinctively, she was taken back in surprise. Of all the people she could walk across with, it has to be HIM.

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A/N: Thanks my new subbies! :) Hmmm, I was actually going to make a poll about what you want me to do next. But then I realized I already know what will be the result of that poll before even asking. So, pleaseee wait for my next chapters! :)))

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENTS! KEEP 'EM COMING! :)