Jisoo did not intend to leave the villa… until she received a text message from Jungkook.
It’s 4am in the morning. She was still awake because she knew her brother brought a lot of police officers with him to the resort. That was not part of their agreement, and she was a little annoyed.
But she didn’t confront him straight away.
She knew he’s always had a mind of his own. Besides, it’s not appropriate to bother him at this critical moment.
She couldn’t change what has happened, so it’s better for her to let it go, so Jungkook knows that he owes her a favour. All she needs to do is to wait. Wait for his explanation. Wait for his apology.
This is how a wise woman should treat a man, with grace and gentleness.
As she had expected, he sent her a text message : I am outside your villa. Come alone. I give you five minutes.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. His tone is so arrogant! Even when he is trying to explain himself.
Her assistant wanted to go with her, but she refused. She didn’t want anyone else there when she is with Jungkook.
The sky was still dark.
No one was at the entrance of the villa but she could vaguely see a man standing by a tree at the edge of the forest.
The man was in a black suit. Tall and slender. He had his back to her, so she couldn’t see his face. But judging from the body shape and attire, it had to be Jungkook.
She smiled and walked over to him : “This is not one of those occasions which you can get away with a simple apology…..Ah!” She let out a small scream. Because the man turned around and quickly pulled her into his arms.
His arm tightly wrapped around her waist. Her face was buried in his chest. Just when she wanted to speak, he pressed his lips on hers. At the same time, he used his other hand to cover her eyes.
“Oh…” The man gave a small laugh as he slid his tongue into her mouth. Jisoo’s body was trapped, her eyes covered. She struggled and he deepened the kiss.
- So that’s what Jungkook’s kiss feels like. Cold, raw and powerful.
Before long, she lost consciousness.
———-
When Jisoo opens her eyes again, she finds herself lying in her bed.
The lights are on. Jungkook is sitting in a chair next to her bed. His eyes are dark and bright, staring thoughtfully at her.
————
The news of Chairman Kim’s attack has quickly reached the police, as well as Lisa.
She is on her way to Jisoo’s villa. Another police officer is with her.
Once she steps out of the car, she realises there is a lot of people surrounding the villa. Most of them are senior management staff from the company. Lisa is slightly surprised to see so many people there. She hears someone call her name.
It’s the assistant from her previous division. The young lady that commented Jungkook looked ‘kind of …vain.’
She looks at Lisa : “Why are you here with the police?”
Lisa gives a vague answer : “I just happened to meet them here. Why are you here?”
“Do you not know?” says the young lady. “Chairman Kim fainted in the forest. Luckily she was not injured. Director Jeon carried her back to the villa. All the staff at the villa saw it.”
Lisa : “I see… I am going to find Director Jeon now.”
The young lady is curious : “Where is everyone else from your division?”
Lisa smiles, but doesn’t answer her.
She doesn’t really care anyway. So she continues to tell Lisa some rumours she has heard : “Apparently, he looked very concern for Chairman Kim. Some people say he’s Chairman Kim’s boyfriend. You work with him. Any inside stories?”
Lisa takes a look at her: “Of course not. Don’t speculate.”
————
Jisoo's bodyguards are standing outside her suite. Her assistant greets Lisa. She is a woman in her thirties. She smiles at Lisa : “Chairman Kim is awake. Director Jeon is with her. Come with me.”
The master bedroom is at the end of a long corridor. The door is left slightly opened.
“Why did you kiss me?” They hear Jisoo’s voice.
Lisa is stunned.
Did she hear correctly? A ‘kiss’?
The assistant already has her hand on the door handle. But instead of pushing it, she pulls it to close the door. She signals to Lisa and they return to the lounge.
“Lisa, no matter what you heard earlier, it’s the private affairs of the chairman. Please do not tell anyone else. You understand?” says the assistant.
Lisa : “… I understand.”
She is confused. Why would Jungkook kiss Jisoo. She is his sister!
But in her heart, she can feel little flickers of pain.
————-
In the master bedroom.
Jungkook is sitting in the chair, crossing one leg over the other. He looks at his sister. She looks baffled.
He gives her a smile.
He has some softness in the eyes and gentleness in his smile. Looking at his handsome face, Jisoo suddenly feels like her heart has skipped a beat.
Then she heard him say : "I am sorry, but my first kiss is still…”
Then he pauses: “…emm.. not available anymore. But I have no desire to mess with my sister. Congratulations. It seems you kissed the Flower Cannibal No.2.”
—————
The sun is finally out. A golden glow covers the Orange Hill Resort.
Lisa is sitting by the window, in a daze.
“He” has fled. The police have issued a warrant for his arrest. Her colleagues from Customer 3 Division are escorted to the Police station.
There is nothing else for her do. Except to wait. Wait for Jungkook to appear.
Did he really kiss Jisoo?
Then she remembers the words of the assistant from her previous department : “He looked very concerned for her.” …
She has never seen him concerned or worried for any woman before. However, he seems to treat Jisoo differently. After all, he obliged when she asked him to take up this simple murder case.
Perhaps… she is the one he’s secretly adored for years? She is the only woman by his side all these years. However, he suppressed his feelings because they are meant to be siblings?
She smiles bitterly.
As she is still deep in thought, Jungkook walks in : “We are returning to S City tonight.” He sits down in a chair across from Lisa. His hands are tapping the armrests.
“Ah…” Lisa replies briefly. There’s nothing more for them to do here.
After a moment of silence, Lisa asks : “What actually happened to Chairman Kim?”
Jungkook replies coldly : “He stole my mobile number and sent her a text message.”
Ah.. that’s why Jisoo left the villa. Fortunately, she was not injured.
He looks annoyed.
…. because he angry that Jisoo is bullied by this guy?
She asks causally : “You kissed Jisoo?” The question has been on her mind for too long.
Yes, that’s the right tone. Like talking to a friend. She is just curious. That’s all.
“Yeah…” Jungkook leans back onto the chair. He closes his eyes : “At a critical moment of chasing after the Flower Cannibal No.2, I would take time to kiss my sister? Who do you think I am? Someone with no brains or moral standards?”
“So… you didn’t kiss her?”
“Nonsense. That ‘man’ kissed her.”
Joy is gushing out of her heart like a stream.
But then she remembers poor Jisoo, kissed by a monster. No wonder Jungkook is not happy.
As she is thinking about these things, Jungkook suddenly says : “I only kissed one person today.”
She feels her heart halts for a second.
Is he referring to the ‘accident’?
Lisa turns to look at him.
He opens his eyes and gives her a smile. A playful but arrogant one.
She blushes. Then her heart starts to pound like a rocket about to be launched.
What does this mean? That he cares about the kiss as much as she does?
Her heart is racing.
“Surely this is not your first kiss.” He says with his low magnetic voice.
Her face is red with embarrassment. But she tries to sound calm : “So what if it is? It’s your first kiss too, right? At the age of 26.”
It’s his turn to look stunned.
“Don’t worry.” He stands up, “In the future, when you have a boyfriend, he won’t know about this. Let’s go.”
…. When you have a boyfriend….
Lisa stands still for a while. When he has reached the door, he looks back, as if to hurry her up. She quickly picks up the luggage and makes her way to the door.
- Ah… Query solved. She is not special to him after all.
—————
The next morning, Lisa gets a call from Jungkook : “We need to head down to the Police Station, to look at some evidence.”
Lisa is not sure why they need to go there, but who is she to say no.
Jungkook asks again : “What are we having for breakfast?”
“Sorry, I didn’t have time to cook anything.” She didn’t sleep well after last night’s saga.
They decide to have congee in a little shop close to their apartment block.
Lisa seems to be a bit more pensive than usual. Jungkook looks at her : “You are very quiet today. Is everything ok?”
Lisa didn’t want to explain : “Uhh… just not fully recovered from my cold.”
“Oh.” Jungkook answers.
———-
Inspector Hwang shows them to a reception room. He takes out two pieces of evidence: Suga’s mobile phone and a bag of…hair?
“Take your time. I will be back soon.” He walks out, closing the door behind him. They are the only two people left inside the room.
Jungkook picks up the mobile phone. He fiddles with it for a while. Then he passes it to her : “This one?”
Lisa takes a look. It’s the picture Suga took of her at his house.
Jungkook deletes the photo from his phone.
Lisa asks : “This is the reason we have come to the police station? Just to delete a photo?”
He looks at her : “Whatever I have promised you, I will keep my word. No matter how trivial it is.”
“….thank you.”
Then he picked up the bag of hair. Within the big plastic bag, there are many little bags with a few strands of hair in each. Some of them are labelled. Some are not.
Lisa asks: “What is this?”
Jungkook is going through the bags as if he is looking for something : “Remember the calligraphy brush in Suga’s house?”
“Yes…”
“It’s made from hair. Women’s hair.” says Jungkook. “ His house has no calligraphy or paintings. There’s not even a trace of ink in the house. Yet a brush is displayed in an expensive box in the cupboard. And he told you he practises calligraphy… We took the brush for analysis. The results show that it’s made from hair from women. They are from women that he had a love interests with previously. He collects their hair… as souvenirs.”
Jungkook finds a bag with her name on it. “Take this. It’s yours.”
Lisa is disgusted. “No, I don’t want to touch it.”
“OK.” Jungkook puts the little bag back to the pile.
“No!” She shouts : “I don’t want to leave it here either.”
“So, do you want it or not?” Jungkook smiles. He is just teasing her.
“Take it away.” Lisa commands.
Jungkook smiles at her and puts the bag into his pants pocket.
Once they got out of the Police station, Lisa walks to a convenience shop next door to buy a cigarette lighter. She passes the lighter to Jungkook. He takes out the hair, and burns it. Soon the strand of hair has turned to ash, blown away by the wind.
————-
They are on their way to Jisoo’s office.
She thinks of what Jungkook has done for her.
He did not forget. Even when it’s only a photo, a strand of hair.
Why is he so nice to her?
He said Suga is obsessed with women’s hair. She wonders what was going through Jungkook’s mind when he was playing with her hair.
If he has no feelings for her, why is he so nice to her?
Perhaps, there is no gender difference in his mind? She is just a good friend, like Jimin.
“What’s wrong with you today?” Jungkook asks again.
“I’m tired….” She closes her eyes and turns her head away.
————
Jisoo has had a frantic morning.
The entire Customer 3 division has collapsed. The news has travelled to all the departments. She is working hard to minimise the damage done to the reputation of the company, as well as organising staff to take over the work from the collapsed division. She has no time to think about the kiss, or her feelings for Jungkook.
“Let’s keep this short.” She says : “Jungkook, for the records, you are fired. For incompetence. The division collapsed while under your administration.”
He smiles. Yes, that’s the best cover up.
Jisoo looks at Lisa : “Thank you for your help with this investigation. As we have agreed, your involvement in the case will be kept confidential. As a token of appreciation, you can choose to work in any department within the company you wish to. However, the position will be based on your qualifications and experience.”
In her heart of hearts, Jisoo does not want Lisa to continue to hang around Jungkook. Now she is giving her a chance to advance in her career. It’s killing two birds with one stone.
“Chairman Kim… Thank you so much….” Lisa is surprised and touched by her offer.
“You deserve it.” Jisoo answers.
But Jungkook doesn't seem as happy : “That’s not necessary.” He interrupts her sister. “She is mine now. She will not be working for you anymore.”
…Mine? Lisa thought to herself.
Since yesterday, she has been heartbroken by his suggestive words and actions that obviously don’t mean anything to him. Now she is pushed to the limits by this last phrase.
What does he mean by ‘mine”. Didn’t he tell her earlier that he doesn't care if she has a boyfriend?
Lisa looks at him : “Sorry, I don’t belong to you.” Then she turns to Jisoo : "Chairman Kim, can I have a think about it for a few days?”
Jisoo senses there is something going on between the two of them. But she just answers : “Sure. I’ll wait for your answer.”