In the latter half of December, Jungkook was summoned by the Korean male youths ice hockey team to participate in the annual World U-20 Ice Hockey Championship held in Poland. "U-20" referred to the age criteria of the competition, meaning that only players under the age of 20 could participate.
Along with him another ice hockey from the RCU team named Mark Tuan.
The two of them would first had to Harbin to gather and train with the rest of the team for a month before flying to Poland. Mark was originally from Harbin and the training trip was like a trip home for him.
The day they flew happened to be the day before the province speed skating championship. Even though the speed skating team only assigned a few training goals to complete that day, Lisa set a few more goals for herself since she was not participating in the competition. However, her plans were thwarted by Jungkook's insistence that she send him off.
His reason was that it was embarrassing to have no one sending him off.
"Jungkook, are you a princess?" Lisa scoffed.
Rather than getting annoyed, Jungkook laughed, "I'll wait for you".
Lisa rolled her eyes at her phone.
Though she rolled her eyes, she still agreed to head over.
They took a taxi to the airport. As the two suitcases were too big, the taxi boot could only fit one and the other had to be placed in the front passenger seat. The three of them sat in the backseat with Jungkook sitting in the middle.
Normally, there was no problem with three people sitting at the back. However, Jungkook and Mark were too fit and tall. Lisa felt that space was cramped with the three of them squeezed together. Jungkook sat in bold and aggressive manner like a bandit. They sat so near that her thigh was touching his. She was not used to sitting so close to another person and felt slightly unaccustomed to being enveloped by his foreign yet familiar scent.
The atmosphere was a little strange; no one in the car spoke. The driver was a little aggrieved and felt that his car tires were about to blow from the tension. He wanted to grumble out loud but was afraid to do so.
Jungkook was the first to speak. He asked Lisa, "Don't you have a parting speech before I leave?"
"It's not like you're never coming back". Lisa curled her lips. She really had nothing to say. After thinking for a while, she asked, "How about I sing a son for the two of you?"
Jungkook quickly stopped her. "Don't. Have mercy".
Annoyed, Lisa swung her knee to hit him. Jungkook laughed as he dodged to the side.
Beside him. Mark looked out of the window silently.
As they messed around, the car suddenly jolted. Lisa's body lurched with the momentum and her head swung towards the car window. In a flash, Jungkook raised his long arm and put his hand next to the window with his palm spread like a shield.
Lisa's head bumped into his palm instead.
She was still a little confused at first, only realizing what had happened when she raised her head and saw his hand pressed against the window.
Lisa stare blankly at the lines on Jungkook's palm, at a loss how she could react.
She was really unaccustomed to how considerate Jungkook was....
Someone, please return that annoying Lunatic Jeon back....
Seeing Lisa in a daze, Jungkook smoothly withdrew his hand. He commented, "You're already a fool. If you bump your head, you'll become even more foolish than you are now".
Lisa glared at him.
____
In the midst of his morning training break, Yeonjun's mind wandered as he drank electrolyte water.
He was thinking about many things, such as when Lisa would return, if the plane would be delayed, if Jungkook that utterly shameless person would do anything to her, and ....
"Yeonjun" A voice called him from behind.
Yeonjun snapped out of the whirlwind of thoughts and twisted his head. He was astonished when he saw who it was. "Mom, why are you here?"
The one who called him was his mother Mrs. Choi.
Mrs. Choi wore a light grey skirt suit. Her makeup was impeccable and appropriately applied, showing off a good complexion with clear, glowing skin. Unfortunately, she had obvious wrinkles on her forehead and thin lips that had grown even more prominent with age. This made her face appear a little harsh and unfriendly.
When she saw Yeonjun, a smile spread across her face, "Aren't you going for a competition soon? I'll here to visit you".
"There are still several more days to the competition".
The province skating championship was split into short track speed skating, long track speed skating and figure skating. The short track speed skating competition was the earliest to be held while the figure skating competition would take place five days later.
"I'll accompany you for the next few days" Mrs. Choi said. Seeing how Yeonjun opened his mouth to speak but hesitated her smiled disappeared. "Don't you want to see me?"
"Ah? I don't meant that...."
Yeonjun only felt a little strange.
After chatting with his mother for a while, he put aside his doubts for the time being and resumed his training.
As for Mrs. Choi, she went to look for Coach Yang and started talking with her at the side.
Yeonjun had the best potential in the entire figure skating team. Tinted by her excellent impression of Yeonjun, Coach Yang treated Mrs. Choi warmly. When Mrs. Choi asked about Yeonjun's performance, Coach Yang was full of praise for him.
However, after praising Yeonjun, Coach Yang added, "That being said, I feel that Yeonjun has been a little distracted lately. Are there any issues at home?"
"Not at all. Both his father and I are doing very well".
"Mm. Perhaps he is young and still maturing. Of course, there shouldn't be an issue with this competition. Oh right, a few days ago, Coach Ma Rui the head coach for the national team saw Yeonjun's competition footage and felt that his skating skills and performance aesthetics are top-notch. In particular, Yeonjun's excellent performance aesthetics is quite rare among Korean athletics. From what he said, I feel that Coach Ma Rui is quite keen on accepting Yeonjun into the national team. What do you think of it?"
Mrs. Choi had a clear plan on her son's professional career. Hearing Coach Yang's words, she smiled and said, "I think that Yeonjun is doing very well under you. There's no need to head over to the national team".
Coach Yang was extremely flattered by Mrs. Choi's words. She laughed with a wide smile and waved her hand. "The national team is still a great choice".
Mrs. Choi pursed her lips and suddenly asked. "Coach Yang, I'll like to ask about a person".
"Oh?"
"It's this young lady called Lisa Manoban".
The truth behind Mrs. Choi's sudden appearance at RCU was not as simple as merely wanting to spend time with her son before the competition.
In order to learn more about her son's activities, she had installed the RCU app and clicked into the school forum. After typing Choi Yeonjun's name to the search bar, she found a stunning of news of a relationship scandal.
What on outrage! Yeonjun was only 17 years.
What made the whole affair even more ridiculous was that the relationship scandal involved not two, but three people. Toying around with two different guys at the same time with no qualms how could a girl of such character exist? Did her parents know about her behaviour?
Upon reading the details of the scandal that her son was embroiled in, Mrs. Choi was unable to sit still and immediately rushed to find Yeonjun.
After hearing Coach Yang's feedback that Yeonjun had been distracted lately, she confirmed her suspicions.
It looked like she would have to meet Lisa for her self.