Love Me If You Dare

Chapter 15

——

Lisa notices that Jungkook did not touch the fish and lamb casserole.  He didn’t eat from the beef dish either. 

Lisa : “Why…?” 

“He doesn’t eat red meat.” Jimin knows what she is about to ask : “He was on a six months cannibal hunt in California a couple of years ago.  He stopped eating red meat after that case.” 

Lisa : “I’m sorry….” 

“Never mind.  He also likes vegetables.  See, he finished this whole plate by himself!”  smiles Jimin. “ In his line of work, he comes across a lot of very disturbing sights at the crime scenes, especially during the time when he assisted the FBI investigation.  He is used to them now, but it’s because of accumulated experience. The first time he was at a crime scene, he threw up too.” 

—— 

After lunch, Jimin brings them to a beautiful apartment building.

The three bedrooms apartment Jimin found for Jungkook is on the first place. It has a very minimalist feel.  A palette of neutral and grey colours makes the place cold and uninviting.  There is a big 2metres x 2 metres bed in the master bedroom, covered in black bed linen. 

Jungkook takes a look around and nods : “Yes, I like this place.  Thank you.” 

“We are going to your apartment next.” says Jimin to Lisa. 

“Mine?  In the same building?” 

“Of course, then you can look out for one another.” Jimin whispers in her eyes : “I think it’s safer for you to have a male friend living close by.” 

Jungkook overheads this statement.  He has a smile on his face. Lisa is not sure what the significance of this smile.  Proud?  Pride? What is he proud of anyway? That he’s a man, and not a weak and vulnerable woman?   

——-

“This neighbourhood is probably outside my budget…”

“Take a look inside first before you decide.” Jimin pushes her into a small studio apartment on the second floor.  It’s neatly furnished.  A little chandelier hanging from the ceiling adds a nice feminine touch.  There’s two small orange sofas in the middle of the room.  There’s a tatami bed next to the window.  In the other side of the room is a clawed foot bathtub, with soft pink drapes around it.  Lisa can already imagine how relaxing it will be soaking the tiredness away after a hard day’s work.  This  place is perfect for her.

“How much is this studio?”  She knows it’s not going to be cheap but it’s worth the extra rent.  Jimin tells her how much the rent is.  She makes a quick calculation in her head.

“OK!  I’ll take it.” 

Jungkook looks around her apartment. He takes a look at the views outside the window :  “Wow, you’ll never see a sunrise through these windows.”  It looks into the wall of a tall neighbouring building. 

Come on, at the price she is paying, she can’t expect a sea view too!  

    He walks to the clawed foot bathtub.  He looks at it for ages, and then uses his fingers to examine the surface. Lisa thinks it’s weird that a man would stare at her bathtub for such a long time.  She walks over and tries to draw him away : “There’s nothing special to see here.”  

“Why are you blushing?” Asks Jungkook. 

   It’s not something Lisa expects him to say.  She subconsciously touches her face.  It’s … a little hot.   

    “Don’t be shy."  His eyes flashes her a haughty glance : “Woman feels the need to be naked sometimes. To be freed from the restraints of clothing. You express that when you are alone.  It’s normal human behaviour.” 

    Lisa's face is bright red now.  But perhaps they have spent enough time together by now.  She comes back with her counterattack :

“Is this what you read from your psychology books?  That’s just theories ‘on paper’,  you have no idea how woman actually thinks or behaves.”  

    -

    Lisa spend the next few days decorating her apartment.   She looks forward to her first day of work.  

    Jungkook has been busy too.  He bought a car - a Grand Cherokee.  They met each other at the lobby a few times.   Apparently, Jungkook works mostly from home.  He does not need to go to the office every day. 

    -

    Lisa works for a company calls ClearWorld -  a well-known international trading company. It’s not easy to get an internship there, but her good grades helped her to secure the job. 

    On Monday morning, Lisa takes the subway to work.  The company is in a building located near the embassy district, next to all the high-end shopping malls, entertainment and bars.  

    It is a magnificent building.  Everyone is very well-dressed.  They all look like they are very busy.  The atmosphere here is quite intense. Lisa has heard rumours about an employee who died suddenly of fatigue due to over working.  There’s also a story that a girl committed suicide recently because she can’t take the pressure of working here anymore.  Lisa doesn’t know if they are true.  But everyone does look like they are in combat mode and ready to ‘fight’.

    Lisa reports to the sector that is responsible for  automotive parts. This is one of the smaller divisions within the sales department. To her relieve, her reporting manager is quite nice, and her colleagues are friendly and helpful. They are all around the same age as her, so it’s easy to get along with them.   

———

Weekend.

It’s been a week since Lisa started work.  It’s been a busy week.  She is happy to relax in her little apartment.  

There’s a knock on the door.  It’s a courier package for someone calls JUSTIN.

The courier guy says to Lisa : “ I called Mr. Jeon.  He is not home at the moment. He said to leave this package with you.” 

- Justin?   She didn’t know he has an English name.  

- Justin. It’s a nice name. It suits him. 

Just before dinner time, there’s another knock on the door. It’s Jungkook.

They just look at each other.  She passes him the parcel.  She expects him to leave straight away.  But instead, he walks in without an invitation.  He starts inspecting the house. Then he takes a seat on the sofa and opens the parcel.  It’s a document file.  He starts going through the file. 

Lisa leaves him to do his own thing.  She goes back to the kitchen to prepare her dinner.