Lisa jogged over to Jungkook's car, immediately jumping into his embrace as soon as he got off.
She held him tight...
"Your car was just behind mine, but why didn't I see you? Were you in stealth mode?" asked Lisa with a smile on her face.
Only when she was in front of Jungkook would she reveal such a childish side.
Jungkook pinched her face with spoiling adoration. "I drove over from another freeway. I went to Icheon this afternoon and came back from there."
"No wonder..."
Because Lisa was too exhausted when she got off work, she didn't even bother to change, so she came back in her white lab coat.
Her whole body smelled of formaldehyde, and after she leaped onto Jungkook, his shirt was immediately tainted with the smell.
"Doll... how devoted are you? You've come back with the smell of formaldehyde."
"What? You don't like it?" Lisa threatened half-seriously.
"No, I like it very much."
"That's more like it."
The couple talked with laughter and smiles as they walked into the old mansion, hand in hand.
Uncle Lee had already arranged for dinner. It was Thai-cuisine tonight, and there was even delicious pineapple rice.
Lisa's appetite immediately spiked at the sight of all the food...
"Eat slower..." Jungkook didn't know how to respond when he saw how carelessly she ate.
Then he caringly passed some warm water to her.
Lisa took a sip and then finally remembered what Chaeyoung asked of her.
"Kook, I have a favor to ask of you."
"What is it?" Jungkook said as he gracefully ate dinner.
"Ahem... do you know of the 'Night of Lawrence's Pearl'?"
"Yes." Jungkook nodded.
"Chaeyoung said it was some Night of the Gamble God party for three days and three nights, and she really wants to go, but they say that there are hardly any invitations, so could you help me get one for her? You have a way, right?"
"Nope." Jungkook immediately refused.
Lisa, "-_-"
"How is that possible? You're the great Jeon Jungkook, kook... you definitely have an invitation, right?" Lisa didn't want to get Chaeyoung's hopes up for nothing, and no one would believe that Jungkook didn't have access to invitations given his status and power.
Jungkook slowly placed down the fork in his hand, beside the steak...
"Doll, I really don't have an invitation."
"How is that possible?" Lisa was suddenly a bit disappointed because she didn't think that Jungkook was lying.
"But..."
Hints of hope suddenly relit inside Lisa when she heard the word 'but'...
"But I can bring anyone and however many people I'd like onto the ship, without invitations."
"Whoa... then why didn't you say so sooner, you got me scared there for a second." Lisa was quite scared, but in the end, she found out that she didn't need an invitation at all, because Jungkook could get on, nonetheless?
He could board the boat with his face... that was the proof of real status...
"I haven't finished yet." Jungkook looked at Lisa with a smile on his face, feeling that his Lisa could also be so cute at the same time.
"So Chaeyoung can go, right?" Lisa asked to make sure.
"Of course. Bambam's going as well."
"Haha, that'd be great, those two could get together again. I think that they might've arranged this all along," Lisa laughed.
"Doll, come with me tomorrow night as well."
"Me? I shouldn't, I'm not a big fan of events like that." Lisa shook her head and didn't want to get herself mixed up in this rowdiness at all.
"But I want you to come."
"Why?" Lisa was a bit surprised because Jungkook rarely invited her to boring events like luxurious galas.
"Because the Night of the Gamble God really tests one's intelligence."
"So you want to test out my intelligence?" Lisa burst out laughing.
"No, I just want to show off your intelligence. I want the whole world to see how awesome my wife is."
"Ahem... I'll give you nine stars for this compliment, and the last star is reserved so that you don't get too proud."
"So... you've agreed?"
"But three days and three nights is too long, I can't push work aside." Lisa was still a bit reluctant.
"I've already called director Jung, he didn't dare to refuse."
Lisa, "-_-"
"Kook, is it really okay for you to threaten Director Jung like this? Will he try to take it out on me?"
"If he does, then it only means that he doesn't want to keep his director position anymore," Jungkook said slowly.
"Mr. Jeon Jungkook, does your wife know how tyrannical you are?" Lisa rested her chin on her hand and closely inspected Jungkook's gorgeous face.
"My wife knows, because I'm just as tyrannical in bed."
Lisa immediately covered her face, as it burned up like fire. Was it really appropriate to flirt so openly like this? But it was true. Jungkook was truly wild in bed.
Lisa liked South Hill Manor very much since it was all Jungkook's effort. Every corner of the house had his imprints and she loved it for that...
Plus, it had everything, from butler to maids. They truly lived an extremely luxurious life.
However, she understood why Jungkook was so considerate, as he arranged everything so that their future children could live a privileged life.
– Inside Jimin's private mansion –
Jimin climbed out of the pool, exhausted from ten or so laps.
Taehyung passed over a towel as he lied on the chair, closed his eyes, and rested...
"Night of Lawrence's Pearl... must be very interesting."
"I won't go even if it's interesting, it still wouldn't be more fun than Las Vegas. If you think a bunch of rowdy hillbillies are fun, then you should go with Chan." Jimin was clearly not in the mood.
"Hillbillies? Please, did you even know that Jungkook is going? Is he a hillbilly?"
"Jungkook is going as well?" Jimin suddenly filled with energy.
"Not only is Jungkook going, I think Lisa is going as well."
"Who said so?"
"I did." Taehyung was overwhelmingly confident.
Jimin, "-_-"
"Do you think you're an almighty god? You know all that's in the future?"
Jimin immediately lost his interest when he heard that Taehyung was only guessing.
"Just think about it. After we get on the boat, we'll be on it for three days and three nights. Jungkook will definitely go, because I had someone ask about it, and he's on Lawrence's VIP list. The most important guests are you and Jungkook, and from what I gathered, his assistant has cancelled all of his plans for the next three days and three nights, which means that he's definitely going. I think Lisa's going because I don't think Jungkook would leave his wife at home like that for three days and three nights. Plus, there are all those female stars and models on the boat, what if rumors get out? He wouldn't ever be able to convince Lisa that he's innocent."
Taehyung's analysis was quite reasonable, and Jimin thought he had a point.
He suddenly stood up and threw his towel off to the side...
"What are you doing?" Taehyung was frightened to see him like so.
Jimin didn't say anything, as he picked up the phone and dialed a number, "Tell that hairy Lawrence that I'm going to the Night of Lawrence's Pearl."
Taehyung laughed at how impatient he was...
Perhaps everywhere Lisa would appear in the future, would be Jimin's target destination...
– 8 PM the next night –
Jungkook, Lisa, Bambam, and Chaeyoung all appeared by the entrance of the luxurious cruise.
Others showed their invitation...
Jungkook, however, led them in without anything, and no one dared to stop them. One couldn't help but be amazed at how powerful he was.
"Do you know what the winner of the Night of the Gamble God will receive?" Jungkook asked them as he smiled profoundly.
Bambam, "I think it'll be a luxurious sports car, a limited edition Lamborghini, Bugatti, or something like that."
Bambam thought that Lawrence would definitely be very generous since he was a big boss of Las Vegas.
Chaeyoung, "I think it'll be a VIP membership of all the casinos Lawrence owns."
"What a terrible guess, that's so lame. Who wants a VIP membership?" Bambam said in disdain.
"I think both of you are pretty lame..." This time, even Lisa took Bambam's side.
"Fine..." Chaeyoung immediately shut up.
"Doll, what do you think?" Jungkook was looking forward to Lisa's guess, because she had always been fairly smart.
Lisa thought for a moment and said, "Since Lawrence is a big boss of Las Vegas, then it must have something to do with money. I guess the final reward must be American dollars."
"Pssh... I thought that you would be more imaginative, but it's just another boring guess," Bambam scorned.
"Yea girl, your intelligence has decreased, haha."
Lisa faintly smiled at their teasing....
Jungkook lovingly adjusted Lisa's bangs as he smiled gently. "Your little brain is still the smartest."
"Whoa... you mean that Lisa guessed right?"
"That's right, the reward is American dollars." Jungkook nodded.
"Damn... it's really the cold hard cash, isn't the reward a little too vulgar?" Banbam complained.
Money, it was as simple as that, but they never imagined it would be this. Lisa didn't think too much, but she guessed it right.
Just then, Jungkook added, "There are a hundred people on our City's VIP list this time, and each one of them has to pay two hundred thousand American dollars as the deposit and ticket for boarding the boat. Then these hundred people will compete, and whoever wins in the end will get the money, and Lawrence will contribute another fifty percent of that amount. This means that the total reward would be almost 120 million. On top of that, Lawrence will provide another sixty million, so the final winner will be awarded 180 million dollars."
"What... 180 million? That's far too exciting." Bambam was stunned.
"You rich people really know how to have fun... It's all about the adrenaline rush..." Chaeyoung exclaimed.
"So, you brought the three of us here, so you paid eight hundred thousand in total?" Lisa couldn't get over this easily. She wouldn't have come if she had known. What a waste of money.
"Let me correct you, it's not just eight hundred thousand Won, honey. It's eight hundred thousand American dollars," Jungkook smiled faintly.
"Ahem...that's, such a great sum, it's enough for us to go to Las Vegas for two days and two nights! Why did you have to spend so much money on this?" Lisa wanted to cry but had no tears, since she married into a wealthy household, and her husband was filthy rich. But... she still didn't like to waste money like this.
"Don't be afraid doll, we just have to earn it back."
"How? Do you really want to win the prize? You're crazy..." Lisa stared at Jungkook.
"That's exactly what I want. We can't count on those two, I'm going to have to place all my hopes on you, doll. Tonight you'll unleash your super brain and become the winner," Jungkook purposely teased Lisa.
"Yes girl, we all believe in you."
"Lisa, you're the best, go for it."
Bambam and Chaeyoung also followed suit...
Lisa was suddenly overwhelmed with pressure...
"Are you guys trying to tease me to death?" asked Lisa with puppy dog eyes.
Jungkook smiled and hugged Lisa's shoulder. "Okay, we won't tease you anymore. Let's head in."
Jungkook scanned his fingerprint. and the four of them each obtained a VIP card... It was undeniable that this was a 'Night of Wasting Money'.
Even the VIP card was plated with real gold, so Chaeyoung even asked whether she could take it with her when she left.
Then, the other three all rolled their eyes at her...
They've already gotten on the boat, why would they still care about some gold-plated card? Chaeyoung needed to get her priorities straight.
"You might as well find a wealthy man, taking away the gold card really drops your prestige," Lisa purposely added.
Then she looked at Bambam, and noticed that he began looking really awkward...
"Ahem, yeah, why don't you just pick up a wealthy guy? Or else you would've come for nothing." Bambam betrayed his feelings and jumped in as well.
"You filthy cop, say that to me again?" Chaeyoung was clearly upset, as she stared at Bambam with fury in her eyes.
"Maybe you heard wrong, I said that... The moon tonight is so round, haha." After speaking, Bambam purposefully raised his head to look at the moon.
Perhaps Bambam knew that he had the low ground, so he didn't dare say anything else...
Jungkook and Lisa looked at each other and smiled...
Jungkook and the three others were highly recognizable. Jungkook was wearing a mysterious black slim fit, custom-made suit.
As for Bambam, he wore a navy blue suit. Chaeyoung dressed up beautifully, with a fishtail short skirt paired with a white blouse with Korean styled lotus sleeves.
Golden high heels paired with her curled long hair made her look mature and sexy...
As for Lisa, she was weirdly dressed, as if she didn't belong here at all...
The male guests here tonight wore suits, and female guests mostly wore evening gowns or short dresses.
Each one was prettier than the other, but Lisa wore a black sweater with a Mickey Mouse pattern on it.
It was a simple overhead sweater, and her trousers had a loose waist but were slim fitting. On her feet was a pair of white tennis shoes.
It was an outfit that a student would wear and was way too casual for this event. Moreover, she was wearing a pair of black-framed glasses.
They covered her pair of pretty, clear eyes...
Lisa's hair was tied up in a trendy bun which matched her outfit, but it really wasn't appropriate for this event.
To be frank, before she left, Lisa didn't dress up because she was debating whether to come or follow her heart and stay home.
"Girl, listen to me and change. Your outfit is forgettable, you look like a passerby," Chaeyoung advised.
"Yeah, I'm not criticizing you, but as the young madam of JC, you're dressed like a nobody. It's not fitting to the occasion, you don't have to stun everyone here, but you should look at least presentable, right?" Bambam agreed with Chaeyoung.
"It's alright, it's not a beauty pageant. Anyways, even my husband isn't disgusted with me, you two should stop nagging me."
After speaking, Lisa playfully hugged Jungkook's arm and acted like a spoiled little girl.
As for Jungkook, he remained silent and grabbed onto Lisa's hand, his eyes filled with love.
No matter what Lisa wore, she was equally beautiful in Jungkook's eyes. That wasn't up for question.
Closeby, Jimin and his entourage had just arrived. There were seven or eight of them and they were all tonight's special guests.
Jimin was leading them, and to his left and right were Taehyung and Bang Chan.
Jimin was wearing a white shirt and casual black pants. He looked simplistic and refreshing yet his handsomeness was off the charts.
Although his looks were not up to the korean standards but ecompared to Jungkook, he wasn't losing in terms of presence.
"Young Master Park..."
"President Park..."
"Hi, Young Master Park..."
On his way, the guests all nodded and greeted Jimin.
"That looks like Lisa in the front," Taehyung focused his vision and said quietly.
"I'm not blind."
Jimin immediately saw Lisa as soon as he boarded the ship, and his gaze never left her...
However, her public display of affection with Jungkook made Jimin's fragile heart feel defeated, putting the prince in a sullen mood.
"Ahem... What's with this Lisa, showing her affection twenty-four seven. The saying goes that 'the more one flaunts their love, the faster it dies'. So I don't think they'll last long, haha. You should steal her from him as soon as possible." Bang Chan laughed.
"I won't disappoint you all..." Jimin said word by word as he strode forward.
After boarding the boat and getting their gold cards, everyone returned to their rooms according to the room number on their cards.
The cruise was eight stories tall, and apparently, it had everything, including a bar, a gym, a pool room, a karaoke bar, a nightclub, a restaurant, and anything else one might need.
It was a moving five-star hotel with a built-in mall, pool, and a mini-golf course.
It was extremely luxurious...
"Why don't I... share a room with Lisa?" When they were splitting rooms, Chaeyoung suddenly suggested.
Jungkook was speechless...
Lisa was also at a loss for words...
"Chaeyoung, you're in the way of their love, is that really what you want?" Bambam was looking down on her.
"But I'm scared to sleep alone, I'll have nightmares." Chaeyoung pouted.
"Don't you have Bambam?"
"Him? No, it's inappropriate for men and women to share a room." Chaeyoung awkwardly smiled.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. Why do you have to be so self-absorbed?"
"Even if you wanted to do something to me, I won't let you," Chaeyoung argued back.
"So... guys, do you guys want to sleep in the same room, or separate ones?" laughing, Lisa asked.
"I'm fine with whatever..." Bambam curled his lips and didn't say anything else.
"I, uh... I actually want you..."
"Ahem..." Jungkook coughed at a suitable time.
Chaeyoung changed her wording immediately. "I'll room with the damn cop and just suffer."
In the end, everybody was happy...
Right when Jungkook got back to his room, Rick, who was here again, called him away.
Lisa sat in her room for a while; bored, she decided to look for Chaeyoung and Bambam.
At her surprise, right as she walked out of her door, she bumped into Jimin in the hallway...
The two faced each other, and Lisa smiled awkwardly.
"Hi," she calmly greeted him and smiled.
She might've been a bit nervous, as her glasses began to slide down...
Jimin reacted quickly, catching the glasses instantaneously. He slowly opened them and placed them back on Lisa's small, delicate face.
"You look... beautiful tonight," Jimin said to her in a serious tone.
"Ahem... stop joking."
Even Lisa felt like her getup better suited a trip to the grocery store.
To her surprise, however, Jimin actually said she was beautiful...
She didn't know that Jimin loved her style. Perhaps it was because he owned an entertainment company and often hung out with women in the industry.
Therefore, he was tired of the evening gowns, long legs, and large chests...
So to his surprise, Jimin actually really liked Lisa's casual outfit.
The huge mickey-mouse design on the sweater was especially cute, no matter which angle Jimin looked at it from.
If they weren't at a public venue and Lisa wasn't married, he really would force her to a corner and push her against the wall.
"I'm not joking, I'm being serious."
Just as Lisa was about to reply, she heard Jungkook walk up from behind her and grab her waist.
Then, he smiled faintly at Jimin...
"Doll, is he your friend?"
"Uh... Jimin is a patient I looked after at South Side Recuperation Centre, we have... a doctor and patient relationship," Lisa explained.
"Hi, I am..." before Jungkook could finish his sentence, Jimin interrupted him and said, "Sorry, but I don't care even a bit about who you are. I only pay attention to people I care about."
After speaking, Jimin strode away as he didn't want to say another word.
"He's like that, don't mind him," laughing, Lisa explained to Jungkook.
"Mhm." Jungkook nodded and went back to his room with Lisa in his arms.
– Half an hour later —
The Western restaurant had prepared a delicate buffet for everybody.
There were more than a hundred people eating a lavish meal and drinking good wine in the spacious restaurant. The ambiance was great.
Close to the end, a man with blonde hair and blue eyes, who looked to be about fifty or so, walked to the center of the stage.
"That's Lawrence, right?" Bambam asked.
"No, he's Lawrence's assistant. We won't be able to see Lawrence in person until the end of the third day. That's when he'll appear," Jungkook slowly said.
"I will see everyone in the Cloud Hall in thirty minutes. Fifty people will be eliminated tonight, good luck to you all," he spoke in English.
After the crowd understood his words, they couldn't stop chatting because they felt like it was too cruel to eliminate fifty people on the first day.
They each paid two hundred thousand American dollars, they wouldn't be eliminated immediately, right?
"If one is eliminated, will they be forced to leave the cruise ship?" Lisa was a little worried and asked Jungkook quietly.
"They wouldn't be forced to leave the cruise ship, but... they'll lose their chance to compete and will have to become spectators," Jungkook said.
"Oh, that's good." Her heart rested assured when she heard that the losers wouldn't be forced to leave.
"Girl, don't you worry. With your freakishly high intelligence, you won't be one of the fifty to be eliminated." Chaeyoung grabbed Lisa's neck and jokingly laughed.
"Girl, I'm worried about you being forced out after getting eliminated." Lisa hopelessly looked at Chaeyoung.
"Hahaha." Bambam couldn't stop laughing.
"What the hell are you laughing about, maybe you'll get eliminated faster than me." Chaeyoung glared at Bambam.
"Impossible, although my IQ isn't as high as Lisa's, there's no way I'll be one of the fifty. I should at least be able to make it to the second day." Bambam was extremely confident.
"Hmph... load of BS, I'll watch you die soon." Chaeyoung clearly didn't believe him.
Jungkook didn't say much, and after the four finished dinner, they headed straight for Cloud Hall.
Cloud Hall had extremely lavish decorations, not falling short of the casinos in Las Vegas.
The ceiling was a screen simulating a vast blue sky filled with white clouds, giving people the illusion that it was eternally daytime.
"Isn't this idea copying the casino at the Venetian in Macau? It's like this there as well." Chaeyoung went to Macau with her friends before and had been somewhere like this.
"Mhm, it's more or less the same. It's the same owner anyways, so it won't be much different." Lisa nodded.
After they entered, the servers at the door gave everyone a hundred thousand dollars worth of chips, which meant that the hundred people all had the same amount of money to begin with.
They would sit down to play, and after two hours, the chips would be checked to see who had the most money.
The fifty people with the least money would be eliminated immediately...
"What are we playing? Do you know?" holding onto Jungkook's hand, Lisa asked in a quiet voice.
"Show hand poker," Jungkook's lips moved and produced three words.
"Oh..." Lisa nodded, it was the simple show hand poker, but she had only played it on the computer before.
She never played against real people before, and just thinking about it made her excited...
After, Jungkook circled the other three and said, "We'll need to split up in a bit, we can't stay together. We need to win against other people, it'll be better the more you win, as you'll have higher hope of advancing. However, don't take risks, don't gamble it all on a single hand. We have two hours, that's plenty of time. Good luck to you all."
"Alright, no problem. See you in a bit." Bambam was excited too and couldn't wait to try.
Gambling was illegal in Korea, so Bambam normally just played computer games. However, the cruise ship was different.
The ship had been moving ever since they got on. By that time, they were already in international waters, well away from the country's borders.
So, there were no limits as to what they wanted to do. Bambam, who had been a good cop all his life, obviously wanted a taste of the gambling life.
After he said that, Jungkook then looked at Lisa with unease. "Doll, there are all sorts of people here. Be careful and don't go too far, it'd be best if you stay within my sight."
"I know." Lisa smiled.
The guests were all gathered in Cloud Hall, and as the hosts announced the event's commencement, most looked for a table to sit down at, while the others held their chips and spectated.
Lisa was one of the spectators, and she looked around with red chips in her hand.
However, she accidentally bumped into a person so she quickly apologized, "My bad."
"Lisa, sit and play with me?" Taehyung smiled and invited her.
Lisa didn't know Taehyung very well, but she often saw him with Jimin. One didn't need to be a genius to guess that they were good friends.
Seeing that Lisa remained silent, Taehyung added, "Or you can sit at Jimin's table, he'll make sure you advance."
Lisa looked in the direction he was pointing at and saw that Jimin already sat down one table away from her and had activated his massacre mode.