Chapter 19: Group Meal
The restaurant Jungkook had chosen was a specialty restaurant whose selling point was greens and organic food. The restaurant claimed to be collaborating with an organic farm — all their plant-based foods were free from chemical fertilizers and pesticides, their meats were sourced from animals fed with organic feed, and all their eggs and dairy were certified safe and secure.
As the cost for these food products was high, the price-range of this restaurant was also very high.
When Lisa arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, Jungkook and company had also just arrived. The five people in his group had taken two cars over, and the tall men unfolded themselves out of the cars one by one. Jungkook saw Lisa and waved at her.
Lisa walked over and asked curiously, "With so many of you, why didn't you all borrow a car from the team? Wouldn't that be more convenient?"
"Ahem," Jungkook seemed rather embarrassed, "We are all unlicensed."
So that's how it was.
Lisa saw that two of the five people were sporting sunglasses and face masks, their entire visage covered up securely. Although she couldn't see their faces clearly, Lisa could identify one of them as Jaehyun from the person's height. As for the other person, they were a head shorter than Jaehyun, about the same height as Soobin; Lisa really had no clue who it could be.
Jungkook introduced her. "This is Elder Nana, you've seen her before."
"... ah?"
That person waved to Lisa, "Hello, I'm Nana." The person's voice was somewhat muffled coming from behind the mask.
Lisa gaped. So she would be eating together with two Olympic champions and three national champions today? She suddenly felt like she was standing at the peak of life ...
Jaehyun noticed Lisa spacing out, and in his typically arrogant tone, he said, "You should be honoured to eat with us. What is there for you to be dissatisfied with?"
Whack! Nana's palm thumped onto Jaehyun's head. "You're butting in here for a free meal. Be a little more humble, will you!"
Lisa's eyes were as wide as saucers — Nana actually smacked Jaehyun's head? She had swung her palm freely and cleanly, without any hesitation whatsoever. How domineering! That's Jaehyun, you know!
Jaehyun rubbed his head and grumbled, "Can you stop hitting my head?"
"That's fine. I'll spank your butt next time."
Jaehyun: "..."
Lisa stared at Nana with a look of worship until Nana felt a little embarrassed and explained, "I've never spanked him before."
Jaehyun felt that a childish word like 'spanking' was really damaging to his heroic image. He ignored the two women and took the lead to walk towards the restaurant. "Let's go. I'm starving!"
The shortest ones among the group was Soobin and Nana, and they were still at least 1.7 to 1.8 metres tall. Walking amongst them, Lisa felt as if she had stumbled into the world of giants.
Jaehyun and Nana were carefully covered up, obviously concerned about being recognised. They were public figures after all, these were the kind of things they always had to worry about. They had believed that even their mothers would not be able to recognise them dressed up like this, that they would be able to rest easy ... unexpectedly, as soon as they entered the restaurant, they were recognised.
Oh, not them, but him — Jungkook.
As soon as the lady receptionist in her pretty cheongsam saw them, her hands flew to her face and she squealed, "Ah, Jungkook!"
Jungkook was taken aback. He took a closer look at the girl and then asked dubiously, "Do I know you?"
"No. I'm a fan of yours."
Jungkook was a little surprised. So he had fans now?
The lady then looked at the tall man next to Jungkook and she instantly realised, "You're Jae —"
"Shhh —!" Jungkook made a shushing motion at her, his index finger before his lips. "We're just here to eat. Please don't make a scene."
The girl looked at his clear lake-water eyes and her face reddened. She stammered, "S-sorry."
"It's fine, thank you."
"Y-you're, um, welcome. Then, can- can I ..."
Jungkook helped her finish her thought, "Get an autograph?"
"Yup!"
"Okay. Where should I sign?"
The girl ran to the front desk to get a pen and a pastel-coloured purse. "Please sign on the purse!"
Jungkook signed then returned the pen to her. Then, Jaehyun sauntered up coolly and asked, "Need me to sign?"
The girl was smiling blissfully as she cradled the purse in her hands. "No need!"
Jaehyun's broad back stiffened for a moment, looking ever so cold, bleak, and lonely.
Lisa smothered a smile. Even though Jaehyun was wearing a face mask, she could just imagine his expression right now. All this while, he was the one who had refused to sign autographs, but this time, he was unexpectedly the one to be refused.
Their private room had been booked in advance. The overall decor of the room was retro in tone. Upon entry, the first thing they saw was a carved screen. After making their way past the screen, the original wood-coloured walls and ash-grey woven carpet came into sight. Right in the middle of the room was an old-fashioned table set for eight, and there was a cabinet and an antique rack in the corners of the room. Several imitation craftworks were displayed on the rack. The ceiling was slightly darker in colour than the walls, and several egg-shell ceramic flower lamps of varying sizes hung down from it at varying heights. Filtered through the egg-shell thin porcelain, the lamp light was soft and delicate, and the lotus motifs painted on the porcelain was exceptionally bright and beautiful.
Soobin cupped his cheeks and sighed, "This place is really very posh and nice. Big bro Jungkook was really thoughtful!"
Lisa walked over to a window, and there she saw a short ceramic pot with a diameter of about half a metre. In the pot, water lilies were planted. The verdant round leaves floated on the surface of the clear water, and a few pale pink lotus blossoms raised their heads up proudly from their midst, like young maidens shrouding their bashful faces. Lisa cried out in surprise, "These water lilies are actually real! No wonder I could smell something fragrant!"
Nana came over to see as well, and the two of them stared at the pot of water lilies in curious fascination. It should be noted that water lilies were a little more delicate and fussy — they had very strict requirements in terms of water temperature. It was really quite troublesome and difficult to get water lilies to bloom in winter. Right now, the temperature outside was below zero; the entire world outside was grey and dreary. Entering this room to see this pot of blooming water lilies was truly a great boost to one's mood.
"Lisa, Nana, come sit," Jungkook called out to them.
He had already pulled out chairs for them. Lisa and Nana were seated next to each other, with Jaehyun on the other side of Nana and Jungkook on the other side of Lisa. The two Olympic champions had already removed their face masks and their sunglasses. Nana sported a clean bob, and she had dark eyebrows and large eyes, cool and charming.
After they were seated, Jungkook said to Lisa, "If you like them so much, why not raise a pot of your own."
When Lisa heard this, she sighed. "Too poor."
"Are water lilies very expensive?"
"It's not water lilies that are expensive. It's rent. The house I'm living at right now is very small, and I'm still sharing it with other people. If I want to keep some water lilies, I think I can probably only keep them in the toilet bowl ..."
Almost every youth who first steps foot into society would have experienced the dilemma of being short on cash, and Lisa was no exception. This was why her current goal was just to save and save and save, so that she would have enough money to upgrade to a house with better conditions next year.
Jungkook looked at her contemplatively for a moment and then asked carefully, "Do you need help?"
"No need, no need. I'll move next year. Speaking of which, my article made the headlines last time, giving me quite some reward money. If you want to help me, then make it onto the headlines more. Hahaha."
Jungkook smiled. "Okay, let's work hard together."
The dishes they ordered were served one by one, and the young people chatted as they ate. Perhaps due to the ingredients, the dishes were all very delicious.
Among the six people, Yoongi was as quiet as ever, but what surprised Lisa was that Soobin also had very little to say this time. He sat quietly and ate calmly and sedately, looking very well-behaved. Lisa found it a little strange. "What's up with Soobin?"
Nana said, "His tooth is aching!"
So that's why. No wonder he wasn't sucking on a lollipop today. What a pitiful child. Lisa wanted to pass the bowl of beef stew in front of her to him. "Here, eat some meat. This one has been cooked till it's very soft."
But Jungkook stopped her. "Don't give him meat."
"Why?"
Nana gave her a simple explanation. There was more and more meat containing Clenbuterol on the market these days, and there was stimulant-positive substances inside Clenbuterol. In other words, if one accidentally consumed meat with Clenbuterol in it, there was a risk of their urine testing positive for stimulants. Therefore, the national team had always discouraged their athletes from eating out. Especially during times when there were competitions, this discouragement was pretty much an outright rule.
The more Lisa heard, the more confused she was. "So why can you all eat then?"
"We're adults, so even if we occasionally happen to eat some meat with Clenbuterol in it, we'll be able to metabolize it very quickly. Soobin is still young and his body is still growing. Who knows whether any of that crap will remain in his body after he eats it. That's why we never let Soobin eat meat products outside, not even once. This is a matter of principle."
Lisa then asked, "Didn't the restaurant say that everything served here is green and organic?"
Jaehyun threw a contemptuous look at her. "You believe everything others tell you? How stupid!"
Alright, so she was being called 'stupid' by Jaehyun now. How rare. Lisa suddenly recalled that post she had seen not too long ago. Some netizens said that Jaehyun had "a face of someone with late-stage Chuunibyou syndrome, treatment not recommended". Now, as she looked at Jaehyun, the description made more and more sense, and so she could not help but giggle behind her hands.
Jaehyun huffed. "Don't look at me so adoringly."
... Fuck, what kind of description is this?!
At one side, Nana suddenly pushed aside the glasses filled with juice which had been set out on the table. "Why don't we drink something alcoholic?"
The eyes of the four boys lit up. Big sister had spoken! They would naturally obey. Very soon, the waitresses had brought over several bottles of beer and helped them pop the caps. Yoongi accepted the bottles and began pouring the beer out for everyone. Soobin had already poured away the juice in his glass, and filled with expectation, he moved forwards with his empty cup, especially quick. However, when the mouth of the bottle Yoongi was holding reached his glass, Yoongi directly skipped over it to pour for someone else.
Soobin: =.=
Nana said, "Soobin, you're still underage so you're not allowed to drink. Waitress, give him a glass of warm milk."
"Alright."
Soobin puffed out his cheek and said sulkily, "I don't drink milk."
"Be good and listen, or else I'll beat you up."
"..."
Lisa finally realised that Nana was pretty much the boss of the swimming team. Even Jaehyun dared not cross her — someone at Soobin's level was basically small fry.
When Yoongi moved to pour a drink for Lisa, Lisa took the bottle from him and said, "Thanks, thanks, thanks! Let me do it on my own!"
However, Jungkook stopped her and took the bottle, and after pouring till her cup was about one-fifth full, he said, "This much will do. Girls shouldn't drink so much alcohol."
Lisa was indignant. She squinted at Nana's brimming glass and said, "Then what about Nana?"
"She's not a girl."
... fine.
Done pouring, Jungkook stared at her. His eyes were as cool as the autumn waters under the light of the porcelain lamps. He asked softly, "Why were you laughing earlier?"
"Ah?"
"Just now, why were you laughing when you looked at big bro Jaehyun?"