Jungkook finished his milk tea before going upstairs. The sweet taste left in his mouth was strong and didn’t dissipate.
Back in the dormitory, Taehyung and Jun looked like they were sitting on Taehyung’s bed playing games. Jimin wasn’t present, but the sound of water came from the bathroom, so he was presumably in the shower.
From the time he hung up the phone, his phone had been continuously buzzing. After he muted his phone, notifications kept popping up on his WeChat.
[Ms. Jeon invites you to voice chat]
“……”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and tapped decline.
Then typed: What?
[Ms. Jeon]: Son! Are you being moody or something! You child, how can you say you’re going to hang up then actually hang up? Mom still hasn’t told you how I chased after your father! You don’t want to hear it?
“……”
She chased his father, and he was chasing someone else. Their genders were swapped; obviously there was absolutely nothing to learn from her advice.
After deliberating for a while, he returned a string of ellipses.
[Jungkook]:…..
The other side quickly replied.
[Ms. Jeon]: You don’t want to hear it? Or do you not believe in my cheat code? Mom is telling you, what girls can’t bear the most is when guys show weakness.
……
………
Ms. Jeon]: Ah Kook???
[Ms. Jeon]: Quickly ask me how to show weakness????
“……”
Jungkook exhaled a breath.
Then typed: Well, how?
Ms. Jeon took a little longer to type this time.
Then a large paragraph popped up at the bottom of his screen.
[Ms. Jeon]: For example, if you usually give girls the impression of being a very strong man, a man that gives her a sense of security, then you suddenly get sick, very sick, and show a different side of yourself than usual in front of her, she can’t help but feel a kind of
A kind of?
Originally, Jungkook had only intended to give the screen a brief glance, but didn’t expect her advice to sound quite solid. He continued reading but as a result, she abruptly cut off at the most important part.
[Jungkook]: A kind of what?
[Ms. Jeon]: Wait a minute. I couldn’t remember the word and was asking your dad about it.
“……”
So he waited a few minutes.
[Ms. Jeon]: Your dad said that it’s called a feeling of heartache….
[Ms. Jeon]: Why do I feel there’s something wrong about that….
More than wrong.
When he saw those words, goosebumps popped out.
[Ms. Jeon]: Your father also said that one time in college, I had a stomachache or something. But, even though I was sick, I still went to give him breakfast. He was extremely moved at that time, and felt that I, your mom, was particularly lovable.
“……?”
He felt that, at this rate, the conversation was about to go off the rails.
[Jungkook]:….
[Jungkook]: Got it. I’m going to sleep, mom.
[Ms. Jeon]: !!! Remember to send the girl’s picture after you successfully chase her!!!
[Jungkook]: Mm.
The feeling of heartache….
Jungkook linked these four words to his father’s stone cold face.
His whole body shuddered.
However, though the words were a little nauseating.
It seemed that most of her advice was quite reasonable.
After being blown in the wind downstairs for too long, his head was feeling vaguely uncomfortable. He declined Taehyung’s invitation to join their game and went to bed early.
The words that Lisa sent to him tonight came to mind.
In fact, he was a little curious how she could tell.
To say that his mood wasn’t great, there was some truth to it.
It was from the time she went to the music club and told him she didn’t want to get in through the back door or the time when she earnestly complimented him saying he was a nice guy.
He had never experienced this before and didn’t really know where this slightly depressed and irritable mood came from.
However.
All the negative emotions were completely washed away by her cup of milk tea.
He suddenly remembered that it seemed that he hadn’t replied to her yet.
Jungkook rolled over and picked up his phone, pulling up his chat with Lisa.
[Jungkook]: Thank you.
[Jungkook]: The milk tea was very sweet.
—
When he got up the next morning, Jungkook had a splitting headache.
The pain was so bad that he wondered if he had drunk a few bottles of wine last night and lost his memory of it afterwards.
He frowned and took off his eye mask, picked up his phone and looked at the time, then looked at his WeChat messages by habit.
……
[Ms. Jeon]: By the way, I want to say one more thing.
[Ms. Jeon]: Mom told you this, not because I want you to get sick, but you have to know that when you’re sick, other people are at their weakest. The walls in their heart are the most flimsy, the most easily touched. You must seize the opportunity.
[Ms. Jeon]: As the saying goes, take advantage of every opportunity!!! /quick-witted
“……”
Jungkook was speechless for a while.
He felt a burst of intensive pain coming from his head, and his brain felt like a hammer was pounding on it. His eyes were burning, and his throat was a little sore.
It should be a cold.
After all, he ran downstairs last night without blow-drying his hair, and after that, he made a phone call and drank milk tea until his hair was dried by the evening breeze before returning to the dormitory. It was a matter of course.
He stared at the upper bunk’s wooden bed frame blankly for a while.
Suddenly, Jungkook wanted to ask his mother a question. She taught him to take advantage of every opportunity.
But this “opportunity”…. how should he take advantage?
—
After he made the decision to skip his morning class, Jungkook fell asleep again and didn’t get up until noon.
After eating lunch, he was walking on the road to the Department of Foreign Languages. Though the hammering in his brain eased a little, it still couldn’t be ignored.
Even he admired himself a little.
When he arrived at the French classroom, Lisa arrived earlier than him again. She was sitting inside, wearing a beige jacket on her thin, petite back.
He walked over and sat down.
Lisa turned around and greeted like normal, “Good morning, senior… ah.”
After seeing him, her voice trailed off and she was puzzled, “Why are you wearing a mask?”
“……” Before he could say anything, he heard her continue, “You’re not…. sick, are you?”
She asked, “…… Is it because…. of last night?”
She wore pretty much the same clothes today as she usually did. Her appearance looked soft; her hair was draped over her shoulder and her small face was white and clean.
Only, there was a slight frown on her face and a little guilt in her large, bright eyes.
“……”
Jungkook originally wanted to nod his head.
But he saw the emotions in the little girl’s eyes, and suddenly felt like he couldn’t follow through.
“No.” He paused and made up a random reason: “Last night…. The dorm’s air conditioning temperature was too cold.”
She wore a skeptical expression, “It’s like that, ah….”
“……”
After these words, the two suddenly went silent at the same time.
Luckily, it was just about time for class to start and Yang Chuan entered the classroom.
~~~
(Author (s) - Cherry Wine/车厘酒)