Jungkook suddenly speaking of such strangely sentimental words caused Lisa to not know how she should respond. Fortunately, Jungkook's phone rang just then, dispelling her awkwardness.
The phone call was from Taehyung. The first call Jungkook would receive every year was practically all from Taehyung.
"Master J, Happy New Year!"
The sounds coming from Taehyung's end was very noisy. It seemed that he was out somewhere celebrating. "Praying that you'll not be single earlier in this new year, thus blacklisting me less!"
Jungkook laughed and said, "Mn, praying that you'll have less kill-worthy mistakes so that I blacklist you less."
Taehyung: "..."
He asked him unhappily, "Are you by yourself at the company?"
Jungkook glanced at Lisa standing in front of the window, and the corners of his mouth lightly quirked up. "I'm at the company, but I'm not alone."
"Oh, I feel sorry for the colleague working overtime with you."
Jungkook merely smiled and didn't explain anything to him. "If you don't have anything else, I shall continue working overtime."
"Go overtime, overtime, wishing you will marry your work!" Taehyung immediately hung up after he said this.
Jungkook walked up to the window and said to Lisa, "You still have an early shift tomorrow. You should go back first and rest."
Lisa thought for a moment and said, "Mn, then I'll leave first."
Jungkook watched as she grabbed her bag and walked to the doorway before calling out for her to stop. "I'll escort you downstairs."
Lisa gazed at him and didn't say anything. Jungkook laughed and took the initiative to explain. "I'm afraid that you'll be scared of the dark when walking downstairs by yourself."
Lisa: "..."
Mn. Although, she truly would be a little scared.
Jungkook escorted her to the underground parking lot. At this time, Lisa was truly rejoicing the fact that Jungkook had come with her.
Otherwise, she might have truly not dared to fetch her car. Opening the car door, Lisa was about to get in and sit down when she suddenly turned around and said to Jungkook, "During previous New Year's Eve, I have also been hurriedly drawing drafts at home alone. This year, I also feel the same happiness."
Jungkook watched as she drove away and then turned around to leave, a smile spread across his face.
He had previously urged Lisa to send him a message when she arrived home. Lisa sincerely obeyed Master J's verbal order and had immediately informed him that she had arrived home safe and sound.
Lili: 「Already home safe and sound 『enthusiastic』」
Justin: 「That's good then ^_^」
Justin: 「Remember to wait for me after you get off work」
Justin: 「 Oh, that's right. It should be today :)」
Lili: 「『OK』Wishing that you'll have a pleasant time working overtime. I'm going to go bathe and then sleep.」
Jungkook chuckled, sending his reply as a voice message.
Lisa curiously opened it. A sexy, tender male voice rang out through this dimly lit night. It could simply make a person die of intoxication.
【Good night, sweet dreams】
...Lisa felt that tonight, she might not sleep at all.
Despite her mental state being stirred into a restlessness that night, she still got to her shift on time.
When Lisa went to Starlight General Merchandise first thing in the morning, there was a line of people who had stayed out the entire night all ready to go, unable to take their eyes off the entrance of the department store.
...She simply hadn't expected these people to stay in this bitterly cold plaza on a freezing night.
She entered through the staff entrance. Her colleagues inside looked as if they were facing a great enemy. Lisa had previously never seen the lucky bag war, only pictures that other people had posted on Weibo. They had called it crazy. Today, she had the fortune to personally be on the scene and had certainly gained a lot of admiration.
Although lucky bags couldn't be bought at Fantasy Wardrobe, after the doors to the department store opened, everyone would come in like a swarm of bees. In that very chaotic environment, to prevent accidents from occurring, they had to inflate their spirit by 120%. Jungkook also personally came downstairs intending to help them keep the site orderly.
After all the departments had finished their morning meeting, everyone stood at their posts, waiting for the department store to open its doors.
At exactly 9:00AM, the security guards opened the door as scheduled. This caused the crowd outside to become restless, the clamor increasing significantly in volume. The people at the very front of the line nearly rocketed inside the split second the doors were open.
In less than a minute, a large amount of customers rushed into the department store, a long line already set up outside the elevator. Some of the more quick-witted individuals had already surged up the stairs.
The moment Lisa saw them come in, she had a feeling similar to a magnificent army of a thousand men and ten thousand horses attacking. This entire scene could simply be described as unstoppable.
"Frightening."
She couldn't help but sigh with lament. "This is even more frightening than the aunts fighting over discounted merchandise at the supermarket."
"Hahahaha." To the side, a colleague laughed and said, "After they grow old, they will become those aunts who fight over discounted merchandise at the supermarket. Therefore, don't blame yourself for being unable to snatch from those aunts. They had gained experience in their youth, ah."
Lisa: "..."
That really made a lot of sense.
At lunch, she continually discussed the lucky bag war from the morning with Jungkook. Before he left, Jungkook once again reminded her to not forget to wait for him after she got off work. Lisa lightly raised her eyebrows, very curious. "Where exactly are you taking me?"
If it were not for the fact that Jungkook's mom had already passing away and the Jeon Family were like that, she would have harbored suspicions that he had intended to bring her home to meet his parents with how nervous he was.
Jungkook still refused to answer. "You'll know when we get there. Don't worry; I won't sell you."
Although Lisa hadn't been able to find out the reason, she still obediently waited by the doorway after she got off work for Jungkook.
Jungkook drove his car from the parking lot and stopped in front of Lisa. She recognized his car and climbed in. Afterwards, she couldn't help but ask, "Exactly where are we going?"
This time, Jungkook didn't keep her in suspense again. Instead, he smiled at her and said, "Today is my aunt's birthday. I'm taking you to celebrate it with her."
"Aunt's birthday?" Lisa blinked, puzzled. Nevertheless, she didn't investigate in detail. "Then you should have said so a bit earlier. I haven't prepared a birthday gift."
"It's fine. I made all the preparations already. You eating with us is enough. My aunt's culinary skills are only a bit lacking compared to mine."
Lisa couldn't help but laugh. "You're so arrogant; does your aunt know?"
Jungkook said, "She was the one who taught me my cooking skills, but now I am the blue colour that came from indigo but is more vivid than indigo. She should feel gratified by this."
"Oh, then it's only right that you are the one to make this meal."
Jungkook glanced at her and quirked his lips. "I'll make it for you to eat next time."
Lisa turned her head to look out the window, not saying another word. After a moment passed, Jungkook opened his mouth to ask, "Are you not curious about this aunt I spoke of?"
Lisa deliberated for a moment before honestly answering, "I am somewhat curious, but I don't dare to randomly ask at present."
Jungkook looked down slightly, chuckling softly. "Last time was my fault. Don't take it to heart."
Lisa's cheeks puffed up as she remained silent. Jungkook continued, "This aunt I mentioned is not blood-related. She was my mom's best friend."
Lisa stared blankly. The mom he mentioned definitely wasn't Jun Ji Hyun, but his biological mother.
"She and my mom were senior high school classmates. Their friendship had always been very good, so afterwards, when my mom had to raise me by herself, we were fortunate that she would frequently look after us."
Jungkook looked forward at the road, his tone steady as he narrated to Lisa, "At that time, my mom, regardless of her family's opposition, was determined to give birth to me. Afterwards, she became estranged from her family. Possibly because she wasn't taken care of very well when I was born, my birth left behind an illness. Her health has always been fragile. In order to raise me, however, she would leave at dawn every day to go to work until dusk, working herself to exhaustion. I loved her dearly, but I was too young. I couldn't help her with anything and could only help her by sharing the housework."
Lisa knew that this experience was far from being as dull as he was describing. Not mentioning back then, even in this decade, it was difficult for a single mother raising her child. In addition, he hadn't even spoken of how much criticism his mother had suffered from society.
Lisa merely said, however, "So your culinary talents came from this kind of practice?"
With this topic brought up, a hint of a smile was caught on Jungkook's lips at last. "Actually, the most important thing was that the food my mom made was highly unpalatable. Honestly, I could only rely on myself."
Lisa also smiled and said, "Don't tell me that it's even more unpalatable than Chief Kim's cooked noodles?"
"Actually, I also am curious about how unpalatable Jennie's cooked noodles are."
Jungkook faintly laughed and then said, "Anyway, the moment I was able to hold a spatula, I refused to allow my mom to enter the kitchen. Every time I complained that whatever dish she made would be unpalatable, she would even say with a specially self-righteous and confident air, 'The more beautiful a woman, the more unpalatable the food she makes,' which convinced me that in the future, I must, by all means, not take a beautiful woman as a wife."
"Haha, your mom is very cute."
Jungkook said, "Because my mom really was very beautiful, I had, for a very long time, believed that what she had said was true."
He slightly tilted his head to glance at Lisa as he said this. "But after getting to know you, I can confirm that she was speaking nonsense."
...The hidden attractiveness was the most fatal.
Lisa felt that Jungkook was an expert at all kinds of things.
Perhaps it was mainly because he looked handsome and his voice was pleasant to listen to.
"My mom is just like you. She especially loved to dress up, but..."
Jungkook's voice once again softened, "To provide for me, she had no choice but to give up her beautiful clothes and accepted arduous jobs. I heard my aunt say that she used to love strolling through general merchandise department stores. Even if she didn't buy anything, she wanted to try on the beautiful clothing. But in my memories, she had never once gone to a general merchandise department store. Even if she had to buy clothes, she would be going to buy them for me. Only once had she taken me to Starlight General Merchandise, yet she had merely stood at the doorway, ultimately not entering."
Lisa's eyes became slightly red. She drifted for a bit, waiting for her emotions to calm down a bit before saying to Jungkook, "Your mom is a mother worthy of the greatest admiration."
"Mn. My greatest wish as a child was to give her many, many beautiful clothes after I grew up. But, she had no time to wait for me to grow up."
Lisa had just calmed down her heart when it began to flutter again from his words. She breathed in lightly through her nose, afraid that her tears would begin falling. Perhaps because Jungkook's past and hers had a few similarities, she felt especially touched.
"Sometimes, I would think that if my mom had listened to her parents and aborted me, she wouldn't have been so exhausted, right? She would still be alive right now and would have other children as well. She could have been very happy."
Lisa blinked her reddened eyes. In the end, she tilted her head to look at him as she said, "Standing here from a woman's perspective, I do support your mom in aborting her child, but I am very grateful to her for bringing you into this world."