Lisa had just stepped out of the dormitory building when she spotted Yeonjun standing outside.
The sky was overcast today. Even though he looked quite good standing there quietly all by his lonesome self, he appeared a little forlorn.
Lisa called out, "Yeonjun, why are you here?" As she said this, she suddenly recalled the scandalous nonsense that she had just seen. She prayed that Yeonjun had not seen it.
When Yeonjun saw Lisa, he immediately turned and left.
Lisa quickly followed him. "What's wrong? What are you keeping silent?"
Yeonjun picked up his pace.
Lisa felt that he must had found out about that incident. In this time and age, gossip spread even faster than viruses could reproduce.
She hurried after him and tried to tease him into speaking. "Hmm, could it be that the pill Chaeyoung gave me is working? I've really became transparent?"
Yeonjun kept a stoic expression and refused to look at her.
Lisa kept reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Hey"
He finally stopped and turned to glance at her. His gaze travelled down and landed on her hands.
Yeonjun's mouth twitched. He stared blankly at the pair of fair and fine-looking hands on his wrist, feeling immensely upset all of a sudden.
"Doing this" He shook his wrist, his soft eyes slightly confrontational as he asked, "Aren't you afraid that Jungkook would see?"
"I knew you misunderstood" Lisa explained, "There's really nothing going on between Jungkook and me".
If she had said this previously, Yeonjun would have definitely believed her without hesitation. However, it was different now. Only heaven knew how his heart crumbled when he saw those ambiguous photos.
"Liar" He replied. His voice was a little aggrieved and accusatory.
"It's true, he just wanted to take a look at the scare on my head. If you don't believe me, see for yourself. Here" Lisa lowered her head and parted her bangs for him to see. She paused for a while before straightening back up. Yeonjun looked at her steadily, his eyes clearly showing his disbelief.
"Wait, I'll call Jungkook and get him to explain personally" Lisa took out her phone, dialled Jungkook's number and tapped on the "Speaker" icon.
When the call connected, the first thing that Jungkook said was "What do you want to eat tonight?"
Lisa was annoyed with how carefree he was. She scolded, "Jungkook, you still have the mood to eat? I've been ruined by you!"
"Mm?"
"Someone took photos of us earlier at the sports field. The rumors are really bad and the whole school is mistaken about us. It's all your fault for wanting to look at the scare of my head" The last sentence was the main point. Right after saying this, she sneaked a look at Yeonjun.
Yeonjun perked his ears as he waited for Jungkook's reply.
On the other side, Jungkook felt that something was off as he held his phone and processed what Lisa just said. It felt like her manner of speech was slightly different from how it was usually like when the two of them were alone. Her words were also a little measured and long-winded. Was he mistaken?
Jungkook did not affirm nor deny Lisa's words. He retorted, "You're the one who pounced on me first".
Yeonjun's face fell even further.
Lisa rushed to explain, "It's because you were being a jerk and provoked me. I was trying to beat you up".
"Huh" Jungkook gave a sudden laugh. Seeing how Lisa hurriedly explained matters, he was more or less certain that this brat had someone else beside her. Jungkook revealed. "Why not mention that time when you acted like a rogue towards me in the music room?"
Yeonjun felt like hitting someone.
This issue was getting more and more complicated. Lisa really had to admit that Jungkook was the bane of her existence. She held her head and said, "Is it even meaningful to mention something that happened so long ago? Let's talk about now. You're not my boyfriend and I'm also not your girlfriend, isn't it?"
Stated clearly like this, Jungkook had nothing else to say. He kept silent for a while. Then, he asked, "What's your point?"
"Since we don't have that kind of relationship, please clarify it to everyone. Oh, right, let them delete that post as well it leaves a bad taste in my mouth".
"Why not make things clear yourself?"
"You're more famous than me; you words carry more weight. I'm someone inconsequential and my words don't count, get it? What's more, do you know that the account which started this is called 'Jeon Jungkook's Gossip Information Counter?' I'm embroiled in this because of you!"
Lisa hung up and purposely shrugged towards Yeonjun.
Even though the entire process was a little suspicious, the end of the conversation was still quite convincing.
Yeonjun could not figure out why he still felt so conflicted. Lisa saw that his dismal expression did not lighten. She nudged his arm. "Hey, I'll treat you to a movie?"
Yeonjun pursed his lips and nodded.
At Jungkook's end, he searched up the account! "Jeon Jungkook Gossip Information Counter" and followed it. There was an odd sense of satisfaction from following his own gossip.
The latest post by this account was the one on Lisa and him. He clicked in and appreciated it for a moment. Tsk, how lewd. He saved the images.
Only then did he message the account.
After exiting the account, he texted Lisa: "Do you still want to have dinner together tonight?"
Lisa: "NO"
____
Lisa was extremely upset after seeing the gossip. Here, she went out with Yeonjun with the intention of lightening up her own mood.
They planned to grab a meal before the movie. When choosing a restaurant, Lisa browsed thought the reviews and asked Yeonjun what he felt like eating. Yeonjun leaned over. Heads next to each other, he pointed at the screen. "This one".
That was a restaurant serving western cuisine. It had good ratings but was a little expensive. Lisa nodded. "It seems a bit pricey".
Yeonjun said, "I'll treat you".
Lisa had retuned him the money from selling his medal quite some time ago. As he did not have much to spend on, he was now a person of minor wealth and giving a treat was not a big deal.
Hearing this, Lisa shook her head. "It's alright, I'm treating! I'll provide for you today".
Yeonjun about to reply her when she interrupted him with an earnest expression, "I'll steal Jungkook's money to raise you".
Yeonjun had frozen at Lisa's previous sentence. When he heard her next line, his lips quirked. He seemed a little shy and avoided looking at her. His gaze fell on the distant around and he said softly, "You really do have the courage to say anything".
During the meal, Lisa checked the gossip account and saw that the post had been deleted. Jungkook was quite fast in taking action. However, when it came to things like this, deletion did not make much of a difference. This was because the images had already circulated and people would have saves copies.
Her head hurt.
Forget it. Lisa rubbed her head and went to the washroom.
While she was away. Yeonjun settled the bill secretly.
When Lisa came back and realized it, she protested, "Didn't I say that It's my treat?"
Yeonjun's mood had completely recovered. He raised a smile and appeased her, "You can treat the next time".
....
The movie was quite decent. When they came out after it was over, Lisa stopped in front of the claw machine at the cinema. She did not speak and gazed silently at the stuffed toys in it.
Yeonjun asked, "Do you want to play?"
"I'm terrible at it" Lisa was a little helpless.
"Give it a try?"
They bought some game tokens. Lisa failed the both attempts she tried. She then scooted to the side of Yeonjun. "Do you want to play?"
Yeonjun moved in front of the joystick. This was his first time playing a claw machine in his 17 years. He was attracted to its novelty and turned to look at Lisa. He blinked and asked, "How do I play?"
"Aim carefully and be steady about it...." Lisa generously shared her years of knowledge.
Actually, it did not make a huge difference whether she shared it or not.
Yeonjun focused on the claw in the machine. With a concentrated gaze, he caught a Despicable Me minion stuffed toy.
When the minion was slowly raised, Lisa tensed and held her breath. Her eyes were fixated on the stuffed toy and she did not dare to speak for fear of distracting him.
Yeonjun safely delivered it into the chute while carefully controlling the joystick. Throughout the whole process, Lisa watched the minion unblinkingly.
Even the the minion was in her hands, she still felt that it was a little surreal.
"Are you sure that this is your first time playing?" Lisa asked.
Yeonjun nodded.
"Try again"
He tried and succeeded again. This time, he caught a small panda.
Yeonjun's innocent face was bewildered. He queried, "Is it meant to be hard?"
"Oh, shush!" This arrogance was simply too maddening....
Yeonjun saw Lisa seemed to have gotten a huge blow. He scratched his neck and asked, "Are we continuing?"
"Yes!"
....
In the end, with two strings of stuffed toys hanging from her shoulders and a huge Doraemon in her arms, Lisa jaunted home under the stares of the crowd.
"I finally know why everyone calls you a prodigy" Lisa exclaimed with undisguised admiration while stroking the numerous stuffed toys.
"That's not why...." Yeonjun was a little speechless. Seeing her like this, he was a little worried that the stuffed toys were heavy. "I'll help you to take some".
"No, it's fine!" Right after this, Lisa felt a little bad. She hurriedly took down one string of stuffed toys and passed it to him. "Here, it's the fruits of our labour, have half of it".
Yeonjun accepted the string of stuffed toys. After sending her back to her dormitory building, he returned it to her. Neither he nor his roommates were interested in stuffed toys.
Brining back so many stuffed toys, she was met with her roommates squeals of delight. She secretly revelled in their reactions and crouched on a chair to distribute the toys. "Here, here, here, here, everyone has a share".
Her arms full of stuffed, Park Chaeyoung asked Lisa, "My King, where did all these came from? Don't tell me you caught them, I won't believe it".
"Yeonjun caught them. He is prodigy indeed" Lisa tsked and shook her head as she recalled how Yeonjun caught the stuffed toys. "This person can't be trusted to roam about unsupervised, he is capable of bankrupting people".
This was not what Chaeyoung was concerned about. "You went on a date with Yeonjun this evening?"
Lisa was struck by her questions. She swept her eyes across the room and realized that all three roommates were looking at her curiously as they waited for her reply. She shook her head. "Not really a date".
Chaeyoung was confused. "I don't understand. So do you or do you not like Yeonjun?"
Lisa held her chin and thought about it. She gave a long sigh. "Honestly speaking, Yeonjun is my cup of tea. But he is too young now and I'm unable to make a moved on him....I'll raise him a little more and see how it goes. Mm, see how it goes".
Mina's tone was a little weird. "What about Jungkook?"
Lisa was puzzled. "What about Jungkook?" Then, she recalled the afternoon incident and shook her head. "Oh, what happened earlier was really a misunderstanding. Don't mention it anymore".
"But....don't you like Jungkook?"
Lisa gasped in shock and almost fell from her chair. It seemed that there was a huge misunderstanding about her?
She pointed at her head. "Like him? It'll happen when my head gets cracked by the door!"