"Lisa...", Jungkook whispers to himself.
"I'm sorry??", Lalisa frowns at the boy's wide eyes that are fixed on her.
"Nothing my lady....", Jungkook replies shaking his head, slightly breaking out of his trance, "I'll take my leave now...", He says bowing and then leaves.. or almost runs away from the court.
"Strange boy...", Lalisa whispers, "Hyun-seok ?", She calls.
"Yes my Lady?", the guard comes forward.
"From now on.. I want you to tail that boy... especially when he is inside Bright Hills or around the King...I'll give you a letter... show it to the King.. and you will be out of the royal guard's suspension..."
"Yes my Lady... Your order will be followed...", The guard replies.
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"WHAT?? SHE WANTS YOU TO LEAVE FOR BRIGHT HILLS?? ALL ALONE?? NOW??", Soyeon asks running around in her study.
" Well... that's what I believe I've been telling you since past hour..", Jungkook replies sitting on the arm chair next to the study table.
"Oh this is bad!", Soyeon exclaims.
"Why? I thought you said you can trust me things bigger than visiting court alone..", Jungkook raises an eyebrow.
"I meant after I complete preparing you!! This is too fast! Meeting directly with the king! Anything can go wrong at this point!! I...", Soyeon explains.
"Soyeon? Soyeon? Calm down!", Jungkook says making her sitting down the arm chair next to him, "Have faith in me! You have entrusted me with your everything and I vow not to fail you at any cost! Trust me Aunt!!", Jungkook tries to calm her.
"I know Jungkook, I know..", Soyeon says smiling a little, "You have such a good heart.. like a born hero.. If I am tensing right now.. it's not because I don't trust you, because I do, it's because that I do not trust them!! I do not trust the king! I know if I say this out loud and if anyone hears me.. I can be arrested immediately for treason.. but it is what it is! That man till date has done nothing for me to have faith in him... when everyone turned their heads from us.. he didn't help us.. knowing perfectly what's happening to us is wrong, he choses to be oblivious.. We are his subjects as well.. We deserve to have our voices be heard.. or at least a fair trial.. But instead our authority over Ya-gora is taken from us.. just like that.. I said one 'no', and our entire world turned upside down!", Soyeon informs truthfully.
Jungkook sighs before holding her hands tight.
"The worst part is that they are still playing with me.. waiting for a mistake to be done.. a mistake to be proved.. to take whatever our family still has left... They gave me a choice at the court's gate today.. they knew if I chose to go with you... I'll be seen as the mastermind and control taker... giving a bad impression to the case.. and if I did not go... they can easily force you to leave for Bright Hills.. without giving you any chance protest at all.. It was a win-win situation for them..", Soyeon sighs.
"I won't anything happen to this family anymore Soyeon.. I promise you. I'll earn your name back!", Jungkook says with a determination.
"Thank you Jungkook. I needed that..", Soyeon smiles as a tear falls.
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Jungkook sits on his bed looking at the luggage he has just prepared for the journey next day.
‘It’s gonna suck..’, He thinks sitting there. For unknown reason, he feels a major déjà vu vibe from all this. Like it all happened to him before. Packing for an unknown journey, lack of sleep due to excitement or anxiety, and more than all something tells his that his previous voyage wasn’t very welcoming by him, hence he knows, it’ll suck as well.
He closes his eyes and cracks his neck. ‘Lisa’.. , he thinks of his encounter with Duchess Lalisa before, ‘Why did I think of Duchess Lalisa as Lisa again… Like I’ve known her…', He tries to remember again, replying her laugh again and again in his head…
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“STOP LAUGHING AT ME LISA!! IT’S NOT FUNNY AT ALL!!”, Jungkook is almost at the verge of cursing the girl dying of laughter.
“So…In short… You are getting a boner …. By watching a mystery man… in your dreams….”, Lisa speaks out while clutching her stomach to control her laughter.
“ THE BONER WAS ONLY AN ONE TIME THING!!, Jungkook protests loudly causing a few heads to turn toward their director.
“ Calm down hero… if my boss hears me discussing about your boner on my break.. She might not give one next time”, Lisa whispers cautiously. Hwasa is a very nice boss to Liza and she is really grateful to that… But the lady is also quite strict about work hours.
“So… was he handsome?” , Lisa asks with a mischievous grin.
“ LISAA!!!” , Jungkook can’t believe that he is being teased like that. ‘ Gosh I shouldn’t have give her the last info..’, He wishes to slap himself.
“Why are you blushing?”, Lisa attacks again.
“NO I’M NOT!!”, Jungkook protests in vain as he himself can feel his neck getting hotter every second.
“If I knew beforehand… I would have never told you this much!! Why are you like this?!”, Jungkook blurts out as he feels more frustrated.
“ Because I’m your friend dummy… And it’s what friends do.. they pulls each other’s legs for their embarrassing moments!!”, Lisa tries to defend herself.
“I..I am sorry Liz.. I didn’t mean to say it like that… actually you are the first real friend I ever have in my life… I am still learning the rule…”, Jungkook feels bad thinking he made Lisa upset.
“Oh Kookie!! There are no rules of friendship that you need to learn!! Well except the rule of not saying ‘sorry’ and ‘thanks’ … so never repeat that again… ok?”, She looks at her friend affectionately; “ And about the new nickname… I kinda like Liz..”, She smiles vibrantly.
Jungkook blushes slightly… this feeling of belonging is completely new to him..
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Jungkook opens his eyes in a shock, sweating heavily. He quickly pulls out the diary he was documenting before and starts to write.
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“So you are leaving?”, Somi says with a teary eyes, “ Such an irony… I unexpectedly found a brother and now I have to say ‘goodbye’ to him as well…”, Somi hugs Jungkook tight, “Promise me please that you will return? That you won’t betray me like my parents who proposed me to come back soon but never returned?”, Somi says almost at the verge of crying.
“Somi… it’s not good to cry when a loved one sets out for a voyage.. It brings bad luck”, Soyeon protests.
“I’m sorry..”, Somi says in tiny.
“Don’t be… You are my sister…And I promise you my little sister, I’ll come back to you.. You and Soyeon.. both of you are my home now.. and doesn’t matter what happens.. I’ll always come back home to you..”, Jungkook promises while washing away her tears.
“Take care of yourself”, Soyeon says with a serious voice, “And be careful.. Everyone you find in the palace.. even with a friendly face.. are not your friends… Therefore, always be careful of whom to trust and to whom you can afford to let your guard down.. Though personally I prefer if you never let it down at all…”, Soyeon moves forward to hug Jungkook.
“I’ll remember that..”, Jungkook says hugging her back, “And don’t worry, I’ll not let my guard down easily..”, He smiles.
“That’s prodigy…”, Soyeon smiles back.
“I better start now to reach there on time…”, Jungkook says looking at the sun rising in the sky.
“Be careful… Goodbye…”, Soyeon bids him one last time.
The two women stand on the main gate as the carriage drives out with Jungkook in it.
Everything is in the hands of destiny now.
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So, new journey begins officially.
Let's wish for the best for Jungkook.
Do you think he has finally remembered everything? Who knew a person's laugh can be that much of a trigger for the memories.
He finally finds what he has been looking for his whole life; Purpose.
All the best, Jeon Jungkook.
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To be continued....