"That's why I must very clearly let people know, I have a girlfriend." Jungkook set his phone down off to the side and made his concluding statement. "That will prevent a whole bunch of unnecessary problems."
That was why... he was so high-profile about it?......
Such a thoughtful person.
Probably every girl has had this dream, that the person you like is a celebrity in other people's eyes, yet he very plainly tells everyone that he belongs to you ... When a woman flaunts her happiness, it causes the other women around her to be envious, but when a man flaunts his happiness, it causes all the women in the world to be envious ...
Men actually very rarely flaunted their happiness for people to see.
She was still feeling touched by this when she felt something warm on her waist. Jungkook was really using his hands to measure. "Sure enough, just as I thought: just enough to fill the hands."
Using his hands to measure her waist.
Such a romantically evocative action, like skin-to-skin contact ... Lisa was still caught up in the warmth of her emotions, and unconsciously, she raised her head to look up at him. His eyes were such a deep black, reflecting the light of the desk lamp. The contours of his nose bridge and jawline were so smooth, as if they had been drawn with a single stroke of a brush.
So ridiculously beautiful.
She was looking at him and was also being looked at by him.
And then, with a smile, he stuffed an earbud into her right ear.
He opened up the Duomi music player[1]on his mobile phone, and then just like that, a familiar melody started playing.
It was himself, Unrivalled Allure Toupai DaRen, gently singing "Ruo Xiang Xi" [If We Had Cherished]. So soft and tender, so relaxed, as if he was singing for only her to listen:
[1:13] "How many regrets of parting were found in the dreams of last night?
A scene was there before her eyes, appearing because of the song: a limestone pathway, the sound of the morning bell and evening drum, mist pervading the air, and the sound of a flute leisurely playing.
"When did you record this? ..."
"A few days ago."
"For one of your association's events? Or a birthday blessing?..."
"For you," Jungkook could not help smiling. "Besides Wanmei's anniversary celebration, I haven't participated in any types of those events for several years already, and I don't record birthday or event well wishes anymore."
Oh, right...
She had forgotten about that.
There seemed to be something in her chest that was slowly spreading outward, a feeling so warm she could not restrain a smile from rising up onto her face.
"I recorded ten songs," he continued telling her. "All ancient-style."
She gave an "mm" in reply.
Then, after thinking for a moment, she reached over, felt for a strawberry, and fed it to him. "To reward you."
As he munched on the strawberry, Jungkook could not help laughing. His voice indistinct because of the strawberry in his mouth, he complained, "With just one strawberry?"
Lisa also felt she was being stingy, so she immediately added, "Tomorrow, I'll go buy you lots and lots of goodies to eat..."
Before her words were finished, the sound of her voice faded ...
He had "fed" himself and the strawberry he had been eating straight into her mouth, almost half-forcing her to consume it. The sweet and fragrant flavour spread between their lips and teeth. When he finally pulled himself away from her lips, he could not help licking his own lips. "That strawberry was pretty good. Very sweet."
......
......
She was the one who had basically eaten it all, k?
Lisa nibbled on her own lip and stole a look at him. Picking up the plate, she went to the kitchen to wash the remaining strawberries that were in the refrigerator and bring them back for him to eat. Jungkook nonchalantly picked up his headphones and continued listening to the competition's finals performance...
The moment she walked into the kitchen, Mingyu ran out from his own room and set his small plate that was now empty on the table. "Little Golden Master, I finished mine, too." Lisa suddenly understood. It must have been Mingyu who, while eating his strawberries, had... casually gossiped with that artist, and that was how that picture came about.
This practice of the entire country watching Toupai date his girlfriend...
Who was the one who started it? T.T ...
Outside, the wind suddenly picked up.
By the time she placed the freshly replenished plate of strawberries beside Toupai's hand, the gusting wind had already changed over into a torrential downpour.
When Jungkook heard the clap of thunder, he remembered that he had lent his car to Eunwoo. He looked out at the wind and rainstorm. Neither taking the metro nor the bus would be very convenient in this weather. His eyes turned toward Lisa, and it seemed as if he was mulling over something. "The rain is coming down so hard. It won't be very easy for you to get back. How about staying here tonight?"
That did not seem very appropriate. She tried to think of another option...
"If it's still raining this hard by ten o'clock, then stay here." Jungkook carried on, "You can sleep in my room. I'll go sleep with Mingyu."
That seemed... still not very appropriate...
She continued to wrestle with herself over it.
"I have to get up very early tomorrow morning. When you wake up, you can head back to school yourself."
Huh? He had to get up early?
Oh, right! He needs to get up early. If I head back so late, he'll definitely accompany me. Going there and back, out in the gusting wind and pouring rain will be so exhausting.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything." He even gave his promise.
Lisa struggled for a little while longer but finally agreed.
When you are about to sleep in a room, that room will definitely take on a different meaning and significance to you.
For example, the feeling she got from seeing the light blue blanket covering Jungkook was completely different from the one she had when she was lying under it herself ... In a state of confusion and turmoil, Lisa finished up her shower. Wearing the button-up shirt and sweat pants he had given her, with the sleeves and pant legs rolled up three or four times, she stood by the bed and stared blankly at it for a long while before finally sitting down on it.
It was soft. As soon as she laid on it, she sank right in.
He liked sleeping on soft mattresses? Why had she never noticed this before? ... That actually wasn't very good for the spine... Lisa's thoughts were jumbled as she pricked up her ears to listen to the sounds in the next room. It was quiet.
He should have gone to bed already?
But, the soundproofing here in their place was very good, so even if they were not sleeping, she would not be able to hear anything, right?
She turned off the wall lamp at the head of the bed. The room fell into pitch-blackness, and there was only the sound of heavy rain outside the window. She sniffed. The blanket smelled like him, a light scent, slightly fragrant. The instant she thought about the fact that this bed was his, she, for some reason, would grow anxious... especially while she was wearing his shirt and sweat pants... T.T ...
She couldn't sleep at all, you know? ...
Battling between the two ideas of "sit up and go play on the computer" and "knock it off and just sleep," she dozed off. She was one who did not adjust well when sleeping in a bed other than her own, and as a result, her slumber was rather restless. After several vivid but chaotic dreams, she was suddenly startled out of her sleep by something. Carefully, she tried to sense what it was. It seemed someone had entered the room...
She immediately tensed. Rolling over lightly, she tried to boost her own courage.
"
"Did I wake you?" Jungkook's voice was right there beside the bed. Bending over, he explained quietly, "Mingyu is too noisy in his sleep, and he kicks, too, so I came back..."
"Mm..." She grasped the covers lightly.
"You go back to sleep. I'll go sleep on the couch," he told her softly with a smile.
The little details of the expression on his face could not be seen. He was only a silhouette outlined in the dark. In this moment, his voice seemed even more mysterious and captivating, carrying in it an obvious sense of drowsiness. Extremely captivating.
So close.
So close that you dared not speak.
"How about... you sleep on the bed and I'll sleep on the couch? You have to go to work tomorrow. It'll be too exhausting if you sleep on the couch," she suggested softly.
"No, it's alright." He stroked her hand that was gripping the blanket. "Sleep now."
A tone like he was coaxing a little child to bed.
When he finished saying this, he walked to the closet, pulled out an extra blanket and pillow, and went to sleep on the sofa.
As for when he actually fell asleep, she was not too certain. All she knew was, after he came back into the room to rest, she slept even more nervously. That sort of anxiety, where you were worried that the way you looked when you slept was embarrassing or that you would make strange noises when you were asleep, lasted all the way until the morning light began to show... The second Jungkook's mobile phone alarm rang, he immediately shut it off and sat up.
At the same time, as if she had finally been set free, she also sat right up.
"It's just five o'clock." Jungkook let out an amused chuckle when he saw her like this. "Don't you not have class? You can sleep until you wake up naturally."
Lisa was so embarrassed she could die and immediately scrambled for a reason. "I want to make breakfast for you..."
He smiled, not exposing her excuse.
He needs to change?
I need to change, too, ah...
When this thought popped into her head, she immediately grabbed her clothes that were beside the pillow, opened the door, and was about to head into the washroom to change.
But she had not expected, when she pulled open the door...
Eunwoo was standing right there beside the kitchen, cupping a large bowl of noodles in one hand and holding a pair of chopsticks in the other as he ate. On the sofa was Mingyu, biting down on a slice of bread while cutting open a bag of milk with scissors, and beside him sat Minghao, who was wearing a pair of headphones and fiddling with the DVD player... Everyone's movements were very quiet, not making any noise at all, as if they were in a silent film...
Speechless, she gaped at them.
They seemed to sense something and all turned to look at her.
"Did we wake you up?" Eunwoo continued eating his noodles as he very apologetically nodded at Lisa. "So sorry we disturbed you guys."
Minghao also pulled off his headset, and with a couple dry laughs, he said to her, "Don't mind us, eh, Lily. The two of us really did not know that you had stayed here last night. We had just pulled an all-nighter watching a late night movie and wanted to come here to catch up on some sleep. Who would have thought? ... You say, what a coincidence, eh? We happened to be able to catch 'The New Dream of the Mandarin Ducks and Butterfly Lovers[2]'..."
Minghao continued laughing dryly.
Mingyu could not stand watching this any longer and sternly reprimanded the two flippant jokers, "From now on, if you want to come over, you need to call first. Toupai belongs to someone now. His bed is only reserved for his wife to sleep on, understand?"
Lisa completely froze...
From behind her, Jungkook's hand had already come to rest on her shoulder. "Don't pay any attention to them. Go back into the room and change first."
As if she had been given a pardon, with her head bowed in embarrassment, she slipped past him, darted back into the room, and closed the door behind her.
T.T......
She had not even done anything...
So why did she have this guilty feeling, like she had been found out?
[1]ๅค็ฑณ. See Duomi.com. Also available as an app, which is what Jungkook would have on his phone.
[2] ๆฐ้ธณ้ธฏ่ด่ถๆขฆ "Xin Yuan Yang Hu Die Meng." There are a few dramas/movies out there with the name "Dream of the Mandarin Ducks and Butterfly Lovers" (or "New Dream..."). The plot lines of these are not what is relevant here. Mandarin ducks and butterflies, in Chinese culture, are creatures that represent love, always appearing as a couple and "frolicking" together. Minghao is joking that he got the opportunity to catch Jungkook and Lisa "frolicking" together (in the bedroom).
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