After lunch, Eunha wanted to show Jaehyun around RCU. Lisa excused herself by saying that she needed to report for work at the Ice Rink and waved goodbye to them.
The group parted ways at the Sky Yard's entrance. Jungkook was headed the same way as Lisa as he needed to report for training at the Ice Rink as well. He rested his right hand on top of Lisa's head. As the two of them had a 20 cm height difference, this was a practically effortless action that he could carry out with ease.
A little annoyed, Lisa shook her head but was unable shake him off.
Jungkook used his left hand to wave to Jaehyun. "We're off. See you".
After saying this, he drew Lisa's head back slightly as if he was driving a darned machine and steered her away.
Jaehyun suddenly yelled. "Lisa".
Both Jungkook and Lisa halted. Lisa felt the evil grip on her head loosen. She turned to look at Jaehyun with her temporary freedom. "You have something else to say?"
"I'm competing tomorrow. Will you be there?"
Lisa tugged her lips. "You know. I hated English the most"
After she said this, Jungkook promptly twisted her head back. After the two of them had walked some distance, Lisa pointed out, "Hey, you can let go of me now".
Jungkook did not release her. On the contrary, he began to move her head around even more. As he did so, he commanded, "Guide dog, turn left, turn right" He chuckled.
"Lunatic!"
Lisa exploded. She pushed up her sleeves, ready to beat him up. Unfortunately, he firmly held her at an arm's distance. Due to the length of his arm, Lisa was tragically kept at a distance where she could neither evade nor hit him.
She turned and ran in an attempt to escape his clutches.
Jungkook could keep up with her steps with her steps with ease. Thus, he shadowed her with his hand still on her head. The two of them ran in this outrageous manner without caring that they were attracting the stares of passers-by.
At the intersection, Lisa almost ran into a patrol car. Luckily, Jungkook reacted quickly and pulled her back in time.
He grabbed her shoulder and yanked with force. The two of them collided due to inertia and her back pressed against his chest. Perhaps due to running, his chest was heaving heavily and exuded waves of heat. Lisa felt awkward in his arms and quickly leapt to the side.
She glared at him.
Due to their height difference, Jungkook was looking at Lisa from the selfie angle. Her face appeared smaller while her eyes appeared larger. He could vividly see her lively big doe eyes. Staring at him like this, she really looked like an angry kitten.
"Jungkook, I'm in a bad mood today. Don't provoke me".
Jungkook shoved the bag that had fallen down his arm while running back onto his shoulder. "Not even a word of thanks after my help? You have no conscience".
"Yes, yes, yes, yes. Thank you"
"Can you be even more half-hearted?"
Lisa tugged her chair in frustration. She asked, "What do you want, then?"
Jungkook thought for a while before suddenly quirking his lips. "Treat me to supper tonight".
____
Supper was at the usual food street.
Jungkook ordered numerous dishes and also two bottles of beer. He looked up and saw Lisa looking at him. He asked, "You want some too?"
Lisa nodded.
Jungkook ordered another two bottles.
Lisa had things weighing on her mind. As she finished a bottle of beer, her urge to spill her guts intensified. Therefore, when Jungkook asked her about her history with Jaehyun, she revealed without hesitation.
"I liked him in the past"
Even thought Jungkook had suspected this hearing her admit it personally still gave him a jolt. His heart pounded lightly. He could not explain why he felt so annoyed at this information.
Lisa pored more beer into her cup. she stressed, "Really, liked him"
Jungkook flagged the waiter over and ordered a few more bottles of beer. He then turned and, in a somewhat disgruntled manner, asked Lisa, "What did you like about him?"
"I don't know. I just liked him at first sight. At the age, everyone probably has someone that they had a crush on....didn't you?"
Jungkook shook his head. "No, I was dying from the amount of things that I had to do". As he spoke, he gulped a mouthful of beer, hoping that the alcohol would help to ease the burning discomfort in his heart. He prompted, "What happened next?"
"I was in the athlete class while he was in the elite class. In order to get closer to him, I came up with the excuse of wanting to pull up my grades and begged my dad to use his connections to transfer me into his class. Then, I conspicuously became the only student athlete in the elite class".
Hearing this, Jungkook nodded. "That sounds like something you'll do"
"At that time, Eunha liked him as well. She thinks that I'm still in the dark but she was the one who gave me the nickname of 'She-hulk'....anyway, things were a chaotic mess_thinking back now, it was all really childish"
"Did you give up speed skating because of the nickname?"
"Ah? It didn't effect me till the extent" Lisa shook her head promptly.
"Then why did you stop?" He pressed for an answer
Regrading this issue, Lisa was extremely embarrassed. Her eyes darted from side of side. Seeing Jungkook's imposing gaze on her, she scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Who doesn't want to go to the same school as their crush!" As she said this, she did not dare to meet his eyes. She did not know why she felt guilty, and purposely spoke a little louder to assert her words.
Jungkook looked at her steadily, a complicated expression on his face.
Lisa looked to the side. She spoke softly, "His goal was Peaking University. So I wanted...." To strive for the same school as him.
For a high school student, there was perhaps nothing more romantic then putting in effort together to get into the same elite university.
"At that time...." Jungkook suddenly said.
Lisa waited for him to complete his words. Unexpectedly, he paused and stared at her after speaking halfway. His usually bright eyes were obscured by a hidden emotion. She asked curiously, "At the time what?"
At that time, did you also have the same thought when you wanted to get into the same middle school as me?
Jungkook wanted to as this. However, he was not able to say it out.
There were some things that he did not even have the rights to ask.
Right now, his mood teetered between burning flames and freezing ice. It felt like he was being tormented. Thus, he raised his cup and in a few quick gulps, downed everything.
Lisa was stunned. "Jungkook. What's wrong with you? Drink slower...."
Jungkook originally planned to accompany Lisa as she vented her troubles. Who knew that he would end up being the one troubled instead. He put down his cup. As he refilled it with beer, he asked, "To actually go through with the decision to stop skating just like this, are you daft?"
"I was muddleheaded then. Forget it, let's change the topic. My heart feels like it's being jabbed with a needle every time this is mentioned. You're banned from mentioning ice skating in front of me in the future".
Jungkook huffed out a breath and forced a half-hearted smile. "Honestly, just how much did you like him".
Seeing Jungkook disdainful attitude, she did not have the guts to let him know that she had even confess to Jaehyun and was rejected. The reason for his rejection was quite remarkable too; Jaehyun said that he did not want to get into relationship in high school and wanted to concentrate on studying.
"What about now? Do you still like him?" Jungkook suddenly added.
Lisa shook her cup gently. She looked at the rolling amber liquid in it, her eyes unbearably somber as she replied, "Do you know? Some people can't be classified into 'like' or 'dislike'. In him, I see memories and time long passed. He was part of my youth a unique and irreplaceable youth".
Indeed, a unique and irreplaceable youth.
In this unique and irreplaceable youth, there was Jaehyun, Jimin and even Eunha. There were so many people who were present.
Except for him.
All of a sudden, Jungkook felt like he was being stifled. He straightened up, his gaze drifting across the room before finally landing back on Lisa's face.
Lisa's alcohol tolerance was not high. Drinking to ease her troubled mind, she became tipsy fairly quickly. Her cheeks were tinted a rosy pink by the alcohol and she gazed at her cup blankly.
"Stop drinking" Jungkook took her cup away.
"Gimme"
"Stop drinking, let's go"
"Noooo, let's stay for another while. I'll tell you more about Jaehyun"
"I don't want to hear it anymore"
He waved the waiter over and footed the bill. Then, without a care if she was willing or not, he hauled her up and dragged her off. Lisa was very cross. "What are you doing, don't touch me. I haven't eaten the lamb....skewers...."
Jungkook swiped a few of the lamb skewers off the table and stuffed it into her hands, Lisa stopped fussing and began chewing on the lamb skewers as Jungkook dragged her out of the eatery.
After they got out, he did not retrieve his bicycle. Instead, the two of them started trudging back.
Lisa ate the lamb skewers till her mouth was slick with oil. Jungkook fished out some tissue and helped her to wipe her mouth. After he was done, he used his hand to feel her cheeks. Her face was still quite heated.
Lisa began to sing after finishing the lamb skewers. Having previously gone through the ordeal of prolonged exposure, Jungkook was now immune. His brows did not even tick in the face of her ghastly-sounding tune
After singing for a while, Lisa abruptly became silent.
Jungkook's ears gained instant relief. As a result, he did not place much attention to why she quietened down.
When they reached her dormitory building, they stood facing each other. He lowered his head to say goodbye and saw her head drooping.
"Asleep?" He asked in a soft voice. He used his hand to nudge her head gently.
She did not react.
Feeling that something was miss, Jungkook slid his hand down. He lifted her chin to raise her head.
Then, he discovered her eyes brimming with tears.
She blinked. Fat teardrops rolled down her face. Caught in the street light, the tears glistened like lustrous pearls.
Even though he knew that this was probably Lisa feeling emotional after being drunk, Jungkook could not help feeling soft-hearted. He subconsciously gentled his voice and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Jungkook, I really regret it" Lisa began crying even harder. Her tears streamed into two lines that coursed down the sides of her flushed cheeks. "I regret it so much" she said again.
"Regret what?"
"Why did I give up speed skating just like that? I must had been insane"
Jungkook stroke her head and comforted her, "You probably didn't realize how important speed skating was to you".
Wasn't this the case for so many things out there? Not caring about something when it was there and only realizing how precious it was after losing it.
Once she started, Lisa could not stop. Her tears spilled out in an uncontrollable flood. As she tried to messily wipe them off, she sobbed, "Do you know what Coach Lee, my middle school coach, told me when I went back to visit him during summer vacation? He said that he thought I could have entered the national team, and didn't expect me to give up. You can't imagine how terrible I felt when I heard that. I can't bear to look at Jaehyun. Because whenever I see him, I'll reminded of what I lost. I. I really...."
She sobbed till she struggled to catch her breath. Jungkook pulled her into his arms, using one hand to hug her and the other to stroke her back gently and ease her breathing. As he did so, he comforted. "What's done is done".
She leaned into his embrace. In a listless and muffled voice, she murmured, "I'm such a fool, aren't I?"
Jungkook continued hugging her. Suddenly, his arms tightened.
He saw someone.
Yeonjun held a bouquet of flowers. When he saw the two of them hugging together, his initially lively steps abruptly slowed.
Around two, three meters away, he stopped and gazed at them.
Shock and devastation were written all over his face.
Jungkook had one arm wrapped around Lisa's waist while his other hand was gently pressed against the back of Lisa's head. He took one glance at Yeonjun and said, "Minor, please step back".
"...."